Author: Pat Powers

A court case which illustrated the current intra-party battles between traditional Republicans, who have long been serving the party and their Trumpy upstart counterparts, decided today in a Yankton County Court room with the traditional Republicans emerging victorious.

If you remember the court case that made the media earlier this year, “YANKTON COUNTY REPUBLICANS vs. DUANE BECKER, GREG ADAMSON, ROGER MEYER, DISTRICT 18 REPUBLICAN POLITIAL ACTION COMMITTEE” the most recently elected version of the Yankton County Republican Party had initiated a lawsuit against the former board, who, before their departure, made a decision as a body to form a political action committee so they could spend funds that they had raised consistent with the wishes of their donors.

The lawsuit was brought by the new board in an attempt to claw back those funds because they believed they could spend them better.

As it had been related by the media:

On Dec. 7, Butch Becker, the outgoing treasurer, used these assets to write a check for $12,000 to the District 18 Republican Political Action Committee, an organization formed one week earlier by three now-former members of the Yankton County GOP’s executive board: Becker, Vice Chair Roger Meyer and State Committeeman Greg Adamson.

and..

Meyer further added that the legally defined scope of the PAC is to support Republican candidates, meaning the money will not be used to “go on vacation” or other superfluous activities.

Read that story here.

Of course, the current GOP Board didn’t like that. And so, they brought suit. Inexplicably, they hired an expert in Florida Probate Law, and the traditional GOP group that made up the defendants hired Joel Arends, who has litigated a number of politically involved cases successfully.

This afternoon in front of Judge Cheryl Gering, on behalf of the defendants, their attorney Joel Arends, argued that the courtroom was not the venue for the fight, arguing free speech on the former boards’ part, and that a court of law was not the venue to resolve and intraparty dispute.. to which the judge apparently agreed.

As I’m informed happened late this afternoon, I’m told the judge agreed, and dismissed the case, delivering a win to the defendants.

I hope to have my hands on the court decision in short order, but that’s what I’m getting through the grapevine tonight.

Word out of the Brookings GOP meeting this morning is that Matt Wagner, who had declared his candidacy for District 8 House for the open seat, has suspended his campaign for the office. This leaves incumbent Tim  Reisch, former Lake Co. Sheriff  Tim Walburg, and election truther Rick Weible competing for 2 seats in the Republican primary.

Also coming out of the meeting is that apparently former State Rep. Doug Posr announced he is running for a seat on the Brookings County Commission.

More to come.

 

Attorney General Jackley Requests SCOTUS To Reverse Colorado Ballot Disqualification of Trump

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined an amicus brief requesting the U.S. Supreme Court reverse the Colorado State Supreme Court ruling that kept former President Donald Trump off the ballot for that state’s Presidential Primary election.

The originating lawsuit was filed by six Colorado voters who insisted Trump is disqualified from office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment because of his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.

A state district judge ruled the insurrection clause does not apply to the presidency and allowed Trump to be on the ballot.  Then the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling barring Trump from the GOP primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.

“Congress, not the Colorado State Supreme Court, has the authority to decide whether to disqualify a person from running for office under Section 3 of the 14^thAmendment,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This decision violates the U.S. Constitution and deprives voters of their fundamental right to decide elections.”

The 24 other Attorneys General who joined the brief are from: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The Arizona State Legislature and the legislative leadership of North Carolina also joined the brief.

The brief can be found here: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/INAG/2024/01/05/file_attachments/2737840/23-719%20tsac%20Indiana%20West%20Virginia.pdf

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What do we do about HJR 5001?
By Sen. John Wiik, SDGOP Chairman

As I traveled back and forth to Pierre this weekend, my phone was ringing constantly.  What do we do about HJR 5001?  What are you going to do?  What can I do?  After an Executive Board meeting and over 50 phone calls about this matter, I felt that three things needed to be said and to be solved before we can move forward on this issue.

• The 2022 convention.  Most of this issue stems from the Republican convention of 2022.  I understand the frustration with the events of that convention, and I have been looking for solutions. That frustration comes from a disconnect between our voters and our delegates. As a party, we then failed to achieve the primary goal of a convention—to unify the party around our candidates and march together locked arms to victory in November.  In some respects we are victims of our own success, having reached over half of SD voter registrations and over 90 percent of state legislative seats.  Factions have developed within our midst. The only opponent some can see is the other side of our own party.
• The gradual replacement of the SDGOP with the House and Senate Republican PAC’s.  This development has become an incredible convenience for the executive board and Chairman of SDGOP, but having those hands off the wheel have not served the county party organizations well.  The county parties see their influence falling away and are perhaps trying to find new ways to stay relevant in this changing political landscape.  In the same frame of thought, the Senate and House caucuses are gradually able to be more detached from the county party organizations.
• A tremendous change I have witnessed, perhaps since the 2021 passing of Rush Limbaugh, has been a lack of civility in disagreement.  We are a big tent party and there is absolutely no officeholder or even voter that adheres to this platform to the letter.  I served on the last two platform committees, one as chairman.  The pressure to tighten the platform to fit a certain mindset within the party is real, and only serves to frustrate everyone.  Many floor debates are heard quoting the planks of the platform that fit a certain mindset—while another plank is quoted back to the other side of the same issue.  There is room for disagreement within our party.   Our common goals of small stable government, economic growth and adherence to our Constitution will continue to push us forward in a common direction, but we need to learn that disagreement is ok.  We’re operating in the arena of ideas, and we can debate without the fear of retribution for a different idea. The basic ideas of conservative Republican policies are proven to work, and unlike Liberal and Progressive ideologies, the more we debate our ideas, the better they become.  It’s up to us to educate our voters and respond to our own party without harsh lecturing.  We need to engage each other and maintain civility in all circles.

With those three things in mind, the crisis points that bring us to the annual introduction of bills or resolutions that will effectively change our entire election system in South Dakota stem from a belief that delegates are straying from the voters.  When a Party loses a connection with its voters, it has no business being a 51% registration party.  We must not create a situation that seven hundred people can overturn an 80/20 primary election.  56% of those 700+ voters ruled the day—but many in the party believed that too many delegates ignored the will of the voters.

Enter this year’s attempt, HJR 5001.  Last year’s SB40, with its problems was much cleaner and would have allowed the legislature to tweak things as we go and fix mistakes.  A constitutional amendment is forever.  I vehemently disagree with HJR 5001 being a Constitutional Amendment.  HJR 5001 has flaws that the legislature will not be able to fix and therefore surrenders its sovereignty to the interpretations of courts.

There are some who believe the only interpretation of this HJR 5001 once the clarification lawsuits start will be to open the primaries and no longer allow Republican voters to choose Republican candidates.  Independents and some minor party activity is not adequately addressed, and a judge will have to intervene.  Is there a way to fix this?  Possibly.  I don’t believe that it’s necessary, as we have a system that has provided some of the giants in South Dakota political history.  From Bill Janklow and Marty Jackley to Chris Nelson, Josh Haeder and beyond, the SDGOP convention has provided greatness for South Dakota, and we should not surrender that connection we’ve built for our voters.

Finally, I look at our SDGOP convention as a system similar toour Electoral College.  If we move to a complete primary system, what is the incentive for a candidate to visit places like Mcintosh or Milbank or Martin?  If HJR 5001 passes, it would be entirely possible to stay in counties with single digit prefixes on their license plates and rarely stray from an interstate, leaving the possibility of countless small towns once again left out of another vote or another political decision.

I cannot speak for the entire Central Committee—I can’t even speak for our entire Executive Committee.  I can only speak for myself as a small county chairman and the SDGOP Chairman.  Let’s keep our disagreements out of the Constitution and open the dialog to solve our problems in our own Party.  Please send HJR 5001 to the 41st day on Wednesday and start working together better Thursday and beyond.

Gov. Noem Announces District 34 Legislative Appointment

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem appointed Becky Drury to represent District 34 in the South Dakota House of Representatives, effective January 16, 2024. The vacancy was created after Jess Olson announced her resignation. Drury will serve during the 2024 legislative session.

“I am proud to appoint Becky to this role,” said Governor Noem. “We have worked together in the past to create real solutions for the people of South Dakota – and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”

Drury has served as the state representative for District 32 since January 2021. She has since moved to District 34.  She resigned the District 32 seat in order to take this appointment.

“I’m thankful to Governor Noem for appointing me to fill the vacancy in the House of Representatives in District 34,” said Drury. “It is my honor to continue serving Rapid City. Much like my service on the City Council, where my goal was for the betterment of all of Rapid City, this move will carry on my goal to serve Rapid City and our great state.”

During Rep. Drury’s time in the legislature, she has advocated for victims of child abuse, supported teachers, looked for solutions to workforce shortages, and focused on creating more transparency in state government. Drury has also served as a member of the Rapid City Common Council and on the Wall School Board. She has a Master’s Degree in Administration and a Bachelor of Science, both from the University of South Dakota.

Governor Noem has been continuing the process of considering candidates for District 32. Interested parties can submit resumes and cover letters to [email protected] by Tuesday, January 23^rd, 2024.

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Representative Tim Reisch Legislative Report
January 14, 2024

Happy New Year to the good citizens of District 8! I look forward to serving you in 2024. The ninety-ninth legislative session of the South Dakota Legislature kicked off on January 9th with Governor Noem’s State of the State Address. She began by thanking the veterans in attendance for their service, and then congratulating the SDSU football team on winning their second straight national championship. The governor then highlighted many of the attributes of living in the great State of South Dakota.

On the second day of the session, the Chief Justice of the SD Supreme Court delivered the State of the Judiciary Address. Chief Justice Steven Jensen spoke of both the challenges and accomplishments of our court system. He also highlighted the work that the specialty courts do to divert individuals from penitentiary time and reform their lives.

Because we anticipate a higher number of bills to be introduced this year, committees in both chambers began considering bills on the third legislative day. Unlike the US Congress, our state legislature ensures that every bill filed by one of its members gets a hearing. I will again serve as Chair of the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee this year. Being named a committee chair as a freshman legislator is a rarity, but my years of military service combined with my experience as county veterans service officer and time in state government have prepared me well for this important role.

I also serve on the House Education Committee. I am passionate about providing as much support as possible to our school districts and state supported universities. Governor Noem has announced a measure (HB 1048) aimed at raising teacher’s salaries. I absolutely support raising teacher’s salaries but the way the bill is currently worded has raised concerns among school administrators. I plan to work closely with District 8 School Superintendents to try to get this right.

I also enjoy serving on the House Judiciary Committee. My experience serving as Miner County Sheriff and as the SD Secretary of Corrections has been useful in weighing the pros and cons of the many bills that come before us. Several bills have already been introduced that increase the penalties for crimes. While it’s often popular to throw the book at criminals, I believe it’s also important to consider evidence-based practices that have been proven to reduce the likelihood that the offender will commit additional offenses upon their release from prison.

I consider it a great honor to serve as your state representative. If you live in District 8, you may leave a message for me while I’m in Pierre by calling 605.773.3851. You can also email me at [email protected].

Starting Out Strong
By Senator Casey Crabtree

MADISON–Lawmakers from across South Dakota assembled in Pierre to kick off the 99th Legislative Session. For 38 legislative working days, the House, Senate and Governor will work together on the necessary policy changes to make South Dakota an even better place to live.

On Tuesday, Governor Noem delivered her State of the State address and highlighted the freedoms and values that make South Dakota an incredible place. In particular, safe communities and economic strength. It can be easy to take both for granted, but state leaders can never waver on sustaining and protecting either because our residents need both to thrive. This year, those two topics will be major focal points for me and the Senate. 

So far I’ve introduced two proposals this year. SB 78 is aimed at propping up South Dakota’s ethanol industry. Today, South Dakota is the fourth largest production state of ethanol, but we only rank 22nd in E15 retail sales. In South Dakota, 64 percent of the corn we grow is used for ethanol production, supporting 11,000 family farms and 30,000 jobs. By encouraging gas stations to carry E15 at their pumps we can keep our homegrown fuels closer to home and closer to consumers which will increase profits for corn growers and reduce fuel costs for consumers. 

SJR 501 was introduced again this year with Rep. Tony Venhuizen of Sioux Falls. South Dakotans value hard work and we also value taking care of our neighbors. SJR 501 would ask voters in the November General Election if the State’s Medicaid program should have the option to consider a work requirement to receive those benefits. We should not encourage able-bodied adults to live off of welfare programs. Instead, we should incentive work and encourage adding value back to the economy and community.

In the days ahead, my colleagues and I will be introducing a number of proposals related to education. The best investment we can make in South Dakota’s future is to afford our youth the best education and to value hard work. We’re looking at ways to improve student assessments, protect teachers from violent students, incentivize new teachers, and care for children facing neglect and abuse at home.

The Legislature will likely consider around 500 pieces of legislation this year along with numerous appointments to state agencies and boards. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to hearing from my constituents throughout District 8 on their thoughts about the bills before the Legislature. I also look forward to greeting constituents when they visit the Capitol. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the people of District 8. It is an honor.

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Tim Reisch Announces Reelection Bid to the State House

Rep. Tim Reisch has announced that he will seek a second term in the State House of Representatives from District 8 in 2024.  Reisch was elected to his first term in 2022 finishing first in a three-way Republican primary.  He serves as Chair of the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, and as a member of the Education, Government Operations and Audit and Judiciary Committees.

Reisch has lived a life of public service including a 40-year stint in the SD National Guard which culminated in his serving as its Adjutant General from 2011 to 2019 under Governors Dennis Daugaard and Kristi Noem.  He also served in Governor Mike Rounds’ cabinet as Secretary of Corrections from 2003-2011. His first foray into politics came early when he emerged from a field of seven to be elected Miner County Sheriff at age 24.  He was reelected to four subsequent 4-year terms as Sheriff before beginning his service in state government.

Reisch holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Upper Iowa University; a master’s degree in administrative studies from the University of South Dakota and a master’s in strategic studies from the US Army War College.  In addition to his duties as a state legislator, Reisch also serves part-time as Miner County Veterans Service Officer.

Reisch and his wife Anne are active members of St. Agatha Catholic Church in Howard and proud parents of five children and six grandchildren.  He is also an active member of Howard’s American Legion Post 145.  “I look forward to continuing my service to the citizens of District 8 which includes all or portions of Brookings, Kingsbury, Lake and Miner Counties.”

Yesterday afternoon, an e-mailed survey went out to a number of South Dakotans asking them to respond to the question they were dying to know the answer to…

They recognized the first name.. but when it came to the other one..

A few hours later, the same Toby Doeden in the poll was announcing that he was forming an ‘exploratory committee’ regarding a congressional run..

Toby Doeden of Aberdeen is announcing his intentions to challenge Johnson, who has been in Congress for three terms.

and..

Doeden tells The Dakota Scout that his status as a political outsider is what he believes could make him an attractive alternative to voters.

Read the article here.

Doeden started right out of the gate going hard negative on Congressman Johnson in the video announcing his exploratory committee, without making any case why people should support him, aside from being a Trump supplicant.

Where have we heard all this before? Exploring the race for Congress against Dusty, while going hard negative.. It IS like the Taffy Howard effort, without even Taffy’s limited name ID, and starting fully 6 months later than Taffy was in the cycle.

Doeden claims his outsider status will make him attractive to South Dakota voters. The problem with that assumption is believing Dusty is somehow not popular. Basically ignoring polling showing that Dusty ranks as high as the second most popular politician in South Dakota among Republicans, and overall the most popular politician in the state.

I would say that it’s going to be a long campaign, but it really isn’t.

We are in the hot campaign NOW, and anyone thinking an ‘exploratory committee’ in mid-January is a good gimmick or idea is listening to bad advice. Dusty has had the best ground game among the state’s political campaigns for at least the last four years, and he’s already out collecting petition signatures with an established volunteer team.

Doeden joining the contest along fellow wannabee candidates Patrick Schubert & Justin McNeal might add more flavor to the race, and Doeden might be better funded than the other two. But he is a long ways off from showing he can run a real race.

Sounds like the Minnehaha County Central Committee meeting went from bad to chaos today, according to reports.

After 2/3 of the Minnehaha County GOP at the meeting voted to add a motion of no confidence to the agenda, a vote was held where a majority expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the chair.

No surprise, but I’m hearing they expressed they have no confidence in R. Shawn in a vote that went 28-23, but Tornow declared they could not remove him, and he would be chair until an election was held.

As they moved towards a similar no-confidence vote on the Secretary, a substitute motion for adjournment was called by a Tornow ally which the chair quickly recognized, supposedly without a vote, despite not being through the meeting agenda, because he saw the way this was going.

Tornow’s tenure has been marked by a lack of competence, and that fact has not been missed by a majority of the central committee. He might try to cut off his detractors by adjournment, but R. Shawn might just have been put on notice that his days are numbered.