As Taylor Rehfeldt underlined her legislative dominance in the District, Tyler Tordsen recaptured his legislative seat last night from Tony Kayser in a rematch from 2024 which had Tyler emerging victorious this time around, reuniting the legislative team of Taylor & Tyler for District 14.

It’s in recount territory, but unless Leah Anderson badly borked up the results, they should stand just fine.

(In the Senate Larry Zikmund handily dispatched former legislator, former attorney, & former Minnehaha GOP Chair R. Shawn Tornow, so it looks like the entire gang is back together for District 14)

 

Remember when Josephine Garcia claimed to be endorsed by God?

I don’t think God missed that one either.

He could have smote her from the sky with a lightning bolt for her blasphemy. But he took a more subtle touch last night.

D4 was a bit odd to monitor this last night, as those house races went back and forth. And you could tell geography played a big factor in who won, as some counties went strong for their favored sons. But when it was all said and done, Ryan Kohl from Milbank was the victor followed closely by Fred Deutsch.

Kent Roe was in the hunt all night, but his advocacy for data centers might have caused him some headaches and shaved a few badly needed votes away.

Dylan Jordan should have never been there in the first place, and except for his home area of Deuel county, nobody wanted to bring back the legislator who signed pledges to have planes shot down.

Let that be an example to the new class coming into Pierre.  Stupid things win you stupid prizes.

Sleepy Carl Perry can go back to his nap. Al Novstrup can breath a sign of relief, and go back to his business in Sioux Falls. And no one in Aberdeen apparently wanted the idiot with the emu back.  In District 3, it was a complete clean sweep, with Katie Washnok absolutely shoving Carl Perry out the door on not much less than a 2-1 basis.

Long-time legislator Al Novstrup took a shove out the door as well, as his 24 years of legislative service came to an abrupt end. And in a move that surprised none, Nobody wanted Kaleb Weis, his wife or his emu in Pierre as they rejected his candidacy and staged bird escape on a 2-1 basis.

This represents a change from one of the most dysfunctional teams that last session also included one of the legislature’s worst, Brandei Schaefbauer, who sat this race out. (On a related note, Shad Olson was back in court yesterday having his Initial Appearance On A Probation Violation. A next status hearing is 07/09/2026 at 08:30 AM)

Aberdeen might be shocked, and not know how to act with competent legislators. But this will be interesting to watch.

Poor Phil Jensen. After last night, the SD Freedom Caucus is looking a bit lonelier after last night’s primary election:

Between retirements and moreso because they were thrown out of office by their electors, the Freedom caucus is no more. Unless, you count Phil Jensen barking at the moon.

• John “California” Carley? Gone.
• Dylan Jordan? Gone 
• White Boy Summer Logan Manhart? Gone. 
• Heather Baxter? Gone. 
• Tony Kayser? Unless he can come up with 50 votes in the recount, he’s gone as well. 

Five of the worst legislators are now attaching “former” to their legislative status in a major move to shift the House and Senate closer to sanity.

We’ll see if Phil can find a phone booth to have his meeting in next session. But not looking like they’re going to be sending out a lot of press releases anymore.

Sorry about the disappearing posts from late last night/early this AM. When swapping out some expired advertising, something got nuked, and I had to restore from backup.

Statement from Rep. Dusty Johnson

Sioux Falls, S.D. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) issued the following statement:

“It has been the honor of my lifetime to represent South Dakota in Congress these past eight years,” said Johnson. “While I am disappointed in the outcome, I am committed to helping Republican candidates get elected in November.”

Johnson will serve out the remainder of the 119th Congress, which ends January 2, 2027.

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I don’t know that anybody has a good feel for it. But I think at least in the congressional race, Marty Jackley is going to win… by-a-lotta..  (reader joke).

Okay – who wins? Who gets turned out?  The floor is yours.

 

On the edge of the primary election, Glacial Lakes Energy has sent out a letter to their shareholders encouraging their vote for specific candidates in the District 4 and 5 legislative primary elections.

And in particular, they had harsh words for one of South Dakota’s worst legislators, District 4’s State Representative Dylan Jordan:

“Some candidates publicly claim they support ethanol, yet their actions and comments tell a different story.  Dylan Jordan, District 4 candidate for House of Representatives, has publicly stated more than once that he does not like ethanol and will not use it, while also saying he “won’t do anything to hurt it.” In an agriculture based state like South Dakota – where communities and families depend on ethanol – that should give voters pause.”

It could be worse. At least Dylan didn’t pledge to bring legislation to have the military attack them.

 

Thune to Democrats: Enforcing the Law Isn’t A Choice

“Democrats haven’t exactly demonstrated an eagerness to come to the floor and defend open borders – and I strongly suspect that’s because at some level they know that their position is completely indefensible.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor: 

Click here to watch the video.