Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Taffy Howard group photo from her congressional announcement this AM.

@SoDakCampaigns

So, Taffy Howard posted this photo from her announcement this AM in Sioux Falls..

Not a large crowd on this one.. I’m seeing State Rep. Tom Pischke, Former State Rep. Manny Steele, a couple family members, and a smattering of others.  Her announcement in Rapid City ended up being canceled due to weather.

Funny that Tom Pischke is there, as he was a big backer of Liz May last primary. I think May had more people at her announcement for that race.

What are your thoughts?

House redistricting team accuses Sen. Schoenbeck of being ‘intelligent’ in defense of their own map

@SoDakCampaigns

Members of the House Redistricting Committee have found an interesting way of countering arguments that they’ve drawn a map that protects their allies. They’re accusing State Senator Lee Schoenbeck of being intelligent:

Senate Pro Temp Lee Schoenbeck — one of the most influential Republican lawmakers — accused House members of maintaining “gerrymandered” boundaries in order to preserve current districts that are favorable to their plans for reelection.

“It looks like someone accidentally spilled something on the map,” he said of one district proposed by the House. “They are making a concerted effort to create or protect districts for people.”

and..

He (State Rep. Drew Dennert) charged that Schoenbeck was “a very intelligent political operative,” who had taken to attacking the House proposal because he was losing support.

Read it all here.

Well, darn that intelligent Schoenbeck. I’m sure Dennert is doing his best not to be accused of that same flaw.

Probably the most interesting thing that came up yesterday besides this story was that independent of it, I was contacted by a State House member who was asked his thoughts on how the map looked. They hadn’t been provided the House version, so they called me looking for it.

Just in case it was a fluke, I called another member of the House of Representatives. They hadn’t seen it either.

And we continue to move towards to the special session.

State Rep. Taffy Howard announcing for Congress… And signs on to letter calling for 2020 election to be de-certified.

@SoDakCampaigns

It looks like Taffy Howard is having a busy day. First, it looks like she’s done ‘exploring’ her run for congress, considering how ridiculous the exploring was in the first place when she was running the whole time:

And, according to one twitter source, Taffy also just singed on to a letter demanding a do-over for the 2020 election, which demands a forensic audit of the results of all 50 states:

“We have come to the conclusion that all 50 states need to be forensically audited. Voter rolls should be scrubbed with a canvass of the voters to ensure future integrity of our elections”

“We call on each state to decertify its electors where is has been shown the elections were certified prematurely and inaccurately”

Yeah.. kind of like trying to make someone un-pregnant after the baby is nearly a year old. It just isn’t a timely effort.

Associated Press reporter focusing on citing Noem critics for attack piece on Governor

@SoDakCampaigns

The Governor’s Communications Director Ian Fury pointed out an interesting piece about the coverage the Associated Press is giving Governor Kristi Noem:

The story does serve as a counterpoint to Groves’ sources on a number of issues.

Groves going to Painter is troubling because he deceptively fails to mention that the professor is anything other than a partisan opponent of former President Donald J. Trump and his allies…

It is out-and-out fraudulent that Groves fails to mention that Painter ran for U.S. Senate in the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (MDFLP). The MDFLP functions as the local brand of the Democratic Party, and here he is telling voters that Trump is a Russian agent…

and..

Groves also relies on a local Noem-hater for his coverage, without giving the reader the proper context to frame his opinions in his October 1 article “South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem defends daughter’s licensure.”

Johnson is the owner of Johnson Appraisal, and in November 2020, he wrote in his “Watertown Public Opinion” column that Noem’s mask policy was endangering the public..

and..

Finally, in 2019, Noem took Johnson off the South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources, where he had served since 2003, including 14 years as board chairman.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Johnson has been out in front going after Noem with his latest attack column: “Brad Johnson: Appraisers furious with Gov. Kristi Noem’s intervention on daughter’s behalf.”

Read the entire story here, and judge for yourself.

House members claim that Senator Schoenbeck is out to get them in redistricting. Based on their monitoring of the dakotawarcollege.com comment section.

@SoDakCampaigns

So after the story in the Argus today where the State House and Senate are at odds over redistricting, reporter Joe Sneve posted the following on twitter as evidence provided him by House members that State Senator Lee Schoenbeck is out to get them:

What’s that cliche’ about when you assume things?  Because apparently there are House members who are pulling a comment (made by someone commenting as Lee) pretty far out of context.   Because the comment didn’t come in connection with redistricting.

It came under a post where GOP Chair Dan Lederman was taking Citizens for Liberty Lobbyist Tonchi Weaver to task for her column in the Rapid City Journal attacking Governor Kristi Noem:

In a recent column, Citizens for Liberty lobbyist Tonchi Weaver spent a good number of column inches attacking Governor Kristi Noem for allowing people to exercise self-determination. Weaver tried to claim some great conspiracy of the Governor’s when the COVID epidemic first hit when Kristi suggested in an executive order that the sick and elderly take COVID seriously and stay home for three weeks to help flatten the curve of death and severe illness. In that same executive order, Kristi also suggested people wash their hands and eat well-balanced meals.

I feel compelled to tell people that despite Weaver’s alarmist column, no one who failed to wash their hands or who ate an extra dessert when COVID first hit was unjustly persecuted by the state.

Read my post here, and the original column here.

And it was under my coverage of the GOP chair’s column where Senator Schoenbeck wrote the comment.

Given the fact that the lobbyist for Citizens for Liberty was attacking Governor Kristi Noem, and the State GOP Chair was responding.. not to mention the groups’ track history for attacking Republicans.. it wasn’t unlike a number of comments under that post.

But apparently there are some paranoid House members who believe that defending Governor Noem and wanting to be rid of the Citizens for Liberty goofballs is tantamount to trying to take them out. And they’re monitoring the comment section for those they think might be criticizing them?

Not sure what to say to that. (Except that if House members are paying that much attention to my comment section – it’s a great plug for advertising here, because you know you’re getting your message in front of many of our state’s leaders! )

Governor Noem Appoints First Members to Freedom Scholarship Board 

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Governor Noem Appoints First Members to Freedom Scholarship Board

PIERRE, S.D. — Governor Kristi Noem today announced the appointment of five board members for the Freedom Scholarship endowment. The appointments set the stage for the state to begin delivering awards for its first-ever needs based-scholarship program. Dana Dykhouse, Miles Beacom, Phyllis Heineman, Diana Vanderwoude, and Chris Houwman will serve as the inaugural board members for the Freedom Scholarship endowment.

“I am grateful to these five South Dakotans for volunteering their experience and talents to help us launch the Freedom Scholarship. This endowment will allow us to tap into a network of students who are eager to excel in their studies and professional pursuits,” Governor Noem said. “This scholarship will ensure that South Dakota is securing some of the top talents in our colleges and universities. As more and more companies move to our state, we need today’s workforce ready to take on tomorrow’s jobs.”

Dana Dykhouse is the CEO of First PREMIER Bank and currently serves on the board of the Build Dakota Scholarship Fund. Miles Beacom is the CEO of PREMIER Bankcard and has a strong record of community service, including as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business. Phyllis Heineman is a former educator, South Dakota State University alum, and has previously served on numerous boards, including the South Dakota Partners in Education. Diana VanderWoude has 40 years of experience in healthcare administration and education and is currently the Vice President of Learning, Education, and development for Sanford Health. Chris Houwman is CEO and President of Malloy and currently serves on the South Dakota Workforce Development Council.

The Freedom Scholarship endowment was created in the 2021 legislative session. Senate Bill 171 initially authorized $50 million to be allocated to the Freedom Scholarship endowment. In partnership with First Premier Bank, T. Denny Sanford, and other private donors, the fund is now at more than $175 million in commitments.

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