Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Senator Mike Rounds’ Weekly Round[s] Up
MAY 19-25, 2025

Welcome to the Weekly Round[s] Up! We had yet another busy week out in DC. The highlight of my week was meeting with veterans who traveled to Washington this past week as part of the Midwest Honor Flight. There were 76 South Dakota veterans in attendance representing 37 towns across the state. This group of veterans selflessly served our nation in the Vietnam War, the Korean War and World War II. We’ll never be able to repay them for their sacrifice, but welcoming them to our nation’s capital so they can see the memorials that are dedicated to their service is a great tribute.  More on the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota groups I met with: Tom Heinz, President of the Coffee Cup Travel Plazas; members of A.B.A.T.E. of South Dakota; Steve Bumann, Chief Investment Officer at BankWest; South Dakota members of the Zero to Three program; South Dakota veterans who were in town as part of the Midwest Honor Flight; South Dakota members of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association; R.F. Buche, President of the G.F. Buche Company; South Dakota members of the Edward Jones Grassroots Task Force; South Dakota members of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; the American Council of Engineering Companies of South Dakota; Jenny Briest with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation; and South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen.

South Dakota towns represented: Aberdeen, Belle Fourche, Beresford, Brandon, Britton, Brookings, Custer, Dakota Dunes, De Smet, Deadwood, Dell Rapids, Flandreau, Freeman, Gann Valley, Hartford, Hot Springs, Huron, Lake Preston, Lead, Lennox, Menno, Mina, Mitchell, North Sioux City, Philip, Pierre, Rapid City, Redfield, Salem, Selby, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Sturgis, Tabor, Tea, Vermillion, Wallace, Watertown, Wessington Springs, Wagner, White Lake and Willow Lake.

Other meetings: General David Allvin, Chief of Staff for the Air Force; and Dr. Ben Ebert, President and CEO of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

I spoke with members of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association ahead of their Legislative Action Day. I attended our Senate Bible Study, where our reading of the week was Matthew 5:13-16.

Hearings: I attended seven open hearings this past week. We had one hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), where we heard from Secretary of the Air Force, and fellow South Dakotan, Dr. Troy Meink. In addition, we had one hearing in SASC’s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and one hearing in SASC’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, which I chair.

As our appropriations process picks up, so are our Appropriations Committee hearings! I attended three appropriations subcommittee hearings this past week. We had two hearings in the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Related Agencies. We heard from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in one hearing and Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer in the other. In addition, we heard from Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum in a hearing of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

Finally, we had one hearing in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Classified briefings: I had one classified briefing as part of my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Votes taken: 22 – many of these were related to a Congressional Review Act to overturn a rule in California. This rule, which would go into effect next year, would require 35% of vehicles sold in 2026 to be electric, and reaching 100% of new sales by 2035. If a manufacturer doesn’t meet that goal, they would be forced to pay a huge fine. While this is a California rule, it would affect manufacturing in states across the country, so we voted to overturn it.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Belle Fourche, Britton, Elm Springs, Mobridge, Sisseton, Sturgis and Wakpala.

Steps taken: 54,083 steps or 26.32 miles.

Photo of the week: Pretty special to meet World War II veterans William Butler and George Olson, both of Sioux Falls, at the National World War II Memorial in Washington this past week.

Had I mentioned the other candidate for Governor who has filed paperwork with the Secretary of State to run in 2026?  A Terry Philip Gleason of Chamberlain has apparently filed a Statement of Organization for running to become South Dakota Governor:

Terry Gleason Campaign Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

According to social media, his plan is to run for the office as an independent. (I do note that some people out there on the far right that just can’t wait to help him tell his story):

Except I’m thinking there’s going to be a little bump or two in the road that he’s going to face on the road to the South Dakota Governor’s mansion.

From a quick review of public records, it appears that Terry Phillip Gleason with the same address in Chamberlain is on a registry. And I don’t mean that he’s registered at Macy’s hoping to get Lenox china.  The South Dakota Sex Offender registry notes Gleason’s registration for a 6/26/2000 conviction of rape in the third degree (15 yo victim) for which he appears to have been sentenced out of Beadle County to time in the State Pen.

Normally, someone on the sex offender registry is barred from circulating petitions for office in South Dakota. BUT, there is a carveout in state law that notes “The provisions of § 12-1-32 do not apply, if the registered sex offender is circulating any nominating petitions on his or her own behalf for election to any federal, state, or local office for which the registered sex offender is otherwise qualified.”  So, he will be able to circulate his own petitions. 

It’s a free country and all if he has an interest in running for office. But, I don’t know that anyone else running for Governor has restrictions against being in schools and public parks through community safety zone restrictions (per SDCL 22-24B-23) as Mr. Gleason’s registry entry notes.  So, we’ll see if he ends up on the campaign trail this next year.

Independent petitions to run for Governor are due in the Secretary of State’s office on April 28th, 2026.

A reader just sent me this photo from Wylie Park in Aberdeen. It looks like Toby Doeden’s Scowl Express has arrived:

I hate to tell Toby, but he just spent several thousand dollars wrapping a hundred thousand dollar RV to scowl at people across South Dakota.

Which DOESN’T ADVERTISE THE OFFICE HE’S RUNNING FOR!?! WHAT BONEHEAD DOESN’T PUT THE OFFICE ON A CAMPAIGN VEHICLE!?!

Amateur hour has commenced.

With the Doeden announcement happening today, I was noticing that both the Argus Leader and KELOland news posting on the Doeden for Governor campaign filing with both noting his attempt to  bring Mark Robinson to SD after the whole “I’m a black Nazi” thing.

But, I think they also need to be reminded about actions by Doeden that were far more egregious:

In the article by the Dakota Scout, don’t forget this passage regarding Toby:

The 49-year-old, in a post last spring, also denied the validity of statistics that one in four Jewish Americans had been victims of hate in the year prior, figures widely shared by anti-discrimination organizations at the time.

“THIS IS FAKE. BEAT IT,” reads a now-deleted post on an account registered to Doeden.

Doeden, who in announcing he was exploring a run against South Dakota’s three-term Congressman referred to Johnson and his colleagues on Capitol Hill as “clowns,” told The Dakota Scout he makes “no apologies for my stances.”

“I’m unapologetically pro-Second Amendment, and I think Joe Biden is one of the worst presidents in history. Most South Dakotans would agree,” he said, adding that his tweet about Jewish Americans being subjected to acts of hate was taken out of context.

Read that here.

Considering what happened with the Israeli Embassy staff members last week at the Capital Jewish Museum, Doeden’s claim about context seems… lacking.

My heart breaks for Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were murdered last night at the Capital Jewish Museum. Antisemitic violence has no place in the United States.

We’re praying for their families and all of our friends at the Israeli Embassy, where the two victims… pic.twitter.com/IojnTD7JHN

— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 22, 2025

You have to wonder if he has any regret over being part of the antisemitic media that caused the shooting in DC?

On the cusp of his announcement that he’s running to be the Governor of South Dakota, Doeden’s tweet hasn’t aged well. Not at all.

I just caught this; The Hansen/Lems Campaign, after having announced on April 24th all under the banner of a Political Action Committee, the People First PAC, quietly slipped the paperwork in on May 13th to move over to running their operation through a traditional political campaign committee, Jon Hansen for Governor:

JonHansen4GovSDCFDisclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

There doesn’t seem to be any announcement that accompanied this operational change, they just slid it under the door without a peep.

The new disclaimer comes to light at the end of a new extended campaign video that was released on facebook yesterday, as well as a quiet change made to their website:

Ironically, in the video Hansen declares in part that “South Dakota Families deserve a government that puts people first, not special interests or corporate lobbyists,” ignoring the fact that he has disclosed that he derives significant parts of his income from being co-chair of a special interest organization.

This sudden declaration might be the reason behind the PAC scrubbing that they didn’t seem so concerned about when they first launched. (But, this is a political campaign, so that will probably not be mentioned.)

Stay tuned.

This is new.  Unlike the last time he “explored” running for office, Toby Doeden’s campaign actually filed organizing papers for a campaign.

Filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office on May 22nd, the “Toby Doeden for South Dakota” committee has submitted paperwork noting Doeden’s campaign for Governor is official:

DoEden Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

Jessica Post of Aberdeen, who social media notes as the HR manager at the Aberdeen Chrysler Dealership, is noted as serving as the campaign’s treasurer.

Lots of things coming up this week, including Toby “Dumpster-Fire” Doeden’s announcement that he’s going to pretend to run for Governor this coming Wednesday in Aberdeen. Or at least, it’s what another rounds of text messages blasted across the state is trying to tell us.  Mine was mail-merged into a message that led off “Patrick, I was looking at the RSVP list for Wednesday night and didn’t catch your name.”  Well, no kidding.  Hard pass on Toby Doeden’s South Dakota scowling tour.

I did hear an interesting item from the guys in the back room telling me that while his sound guys are local to Aberdeen, Doeden is bringing in a lighting and a camera crew from Rapid City, and he has a very extensive list of demands. Including a backstage confidence monitor, 3 teleprompters layering the room, and full room uplighting. And supposedly he’s bringing a bus.

Someone must think they’re Van Halen on tour with all the demands. And more on this trend of candidates needing teleprompters for their announcements.. The 2% Jon Hansen show needed two of them. Which means, of course, 4% Toby needs three of them?  I remember when they used to do an announcement tour around the state, hitting the major towns in time to make the media that day. Now, they bringing in teleprompters because their speeches are scripted by others, and so inauthentic they struggle to learn them. In fact, their media flaks may not be done writing them until it’s showtime!

Inauthentic teleprompter candidates in South Dakota. We must be hitting the big-time.

Stay tuned.

A Safer Border – a Safer South Dakota
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
May 23, 2025

Former Governor Noem would often say, “What you see with your eyes, you carry in your heart.” I knew just how much of a challenge it is to secure America’s Southern Border – and how utterly the previous administration in Washington failed in that regard. But it’s hard to fully appreciate the challenge without seeing it for yourself.

I visited our South Dakota National Guard soldiers stationed at the Southern Border in Eagle Pass, TX. The biggest eye opener was just how vast the challenge is. It’s incredible that the Trump Administration and Secretary Noem have secured the border so quickly – and I’m proud that the men and women of our own SDNG are working alongside them.

I received multiple briefings and had the opportunity to survey the border from a variety of perspectives. First, I met with our 109^th Engineer Battalion and got a briefing of their mission, which they’ve been on since this past fall. They were originally stationed in southern California, but they moved to the Texas border after President Trump took office. Their mission has been a night and day difference since that transition. Now, they’re able to actually protect the territorial integrity of the United States.

Our guardsmen (and some from Wisconsin) showed me the Picnic Observation Outpost near the Rio Grande. From this vantage point, they are able to see any migrants crossing a long stretch of river, and their surveillance is supplemented by impressive technology.

We then headed down to the river where the Texas Department of Public Safety hosted us for an airboat tour of the Rio Grande. This tour took off from Shelby Park, which became a flashpoint in 2023 when as many as 4,000 illegal aliens crossed the border daily at this location alone.

Texas DPS then gave us a helicopter tour, which included the border wall that was constructed near town. A previous South Dakota National Guard deployment was working alongside Texas to construct border wall in this area just last year, and it looks like they did great work!

Finally, we received a briefing from Border Patrol at the Del Rio Sector. They outlined their actions to stop drugs, human trafficking, and other illicit activities from crossing the border. I noticed how high their spirits are – and they confirmed that their morale has risen now that they’re back on mission under President Trump and Secretary Noem. They’re finally back on offense to defend our people from the criminal cartels. And they were grateful for the support of our National Guard soldiers.

In the last few years, every state became a border state because of how wide open the Southern Border became. That situation has clearly turned around – I saw the evidence with my own eyes. I’m glad that Secretary Noem is doing the hard work to achieve that alongside President Trump.

I spent six years in the South Dakota National Guard and discharged as a buck sergeant, so it is an incredible (and sometimes surreal) honor to serve as Commander in Chief of the South Dakota National Guard. I’m honored that our own soldiers are playing a role to keep South Dakotans – and all Americans – safe, strong, and free.

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Remember the Fallen
By Sen. John Thune

 I recently had the privilege of welcoming a group of South Dakota veterans to Washington during an Honor Flight visit. These are always special for me. They’re an opportunity to simply say “thank you” to those who served. No matter how many times I do it, Honor Flights always inspire me and make me grateful to be an American and an heir to what these men and women fought for.

After the visit, KELOLAND News ran a story on this Honor Flight, and a quote from one Vietnam veteran struck me. He said, “I’m no hero. The heroes are the ones that didn’t get to come back and have families, didn’t get to become grandparents. They’re the heroes.” This is a common sentiment among veterans. I heard it often from my dad, a World War II veteran who almost always talked about the men with whom he served rather than his own service. But no matter how often I hear this, it stops me in my tracks because it reminds me that we ask those who serve our country to be willing to sacrifice everything.

Many Americans have, in fact, sacrificed everything serving our country, and we honor them on Memorial Day. These brave Americans gave their lives, their futures, and all that that future could hold to defend our country, protect our liberty, and secure peace for us. So, as we celebrate Memorial Day, we remember their heroism and sacrifice and take inspiration from their commitment to the ideals upon which our country was founded.

This year marks 80 years since the end of World War II. Millions of Americans served in the military during the war. More than 400,000 Americans died during it, including about 1,700 South Dakotans.

Among these are men like Captain Arlo Olson from Toronto, South Dakota. Captain Olson was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in advancing through Italy, where he was killed in 1943 leading the advance. Philip native Lieutenant Earl Ferguson’s B-24 bomber was shot down while it was targeting an oil field in Romania. And Private Glenn Dow from Sioux Falls was killed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

These men, and countless others, gave their lives in defense of our freedom and to secure peace for us. They entrusted to us the future that they would not see themselves, and they call on us now to defend the peace that they won.

On Memorial Day, we remember that our freedom has come at a cost. And we recognize that it is on us to live up to the ideals for which generations of Americans have been willing to give their lives. These are America’s heroes, and we are a grateful nation.

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The One Big, Beautiful Bill
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
May 23, 2025

 BIG Update

I voted to pass the House’s One Big, Beautiful Bill, which is a strong, conservative package that prevents the largest tax hike in American history while saving $1.6 trillion, the largest spending reduction in a generation.

The bill secures our borders by finishing thousands of miles of walls and barriers and hires thousands more Border Patrol and ICE personnel. It also funds the enforcement of the successful “Remain in Mexico” policy.

By extending the current tax rates, the average South Dakota taxpayer will avoid a 25% tax hike, which would cost a family of four $1,431 more per year. Allowing these tax cuts to expire would also cost South Dakota thousands of jobs. The National Association of Manufacturing estimates 17,000 South Dakotans would lose their jobs and our state’s economic output would decrease by $3.1 billion.

The bill also implements commonsense policies to right-size federal programs. I’ve heard a lot of misinformation about Medicaid and SNAP benefits, and I want to set the record straight: this bill does not change benefits for seniors, pregnant women, those with disabilities, or those with children at home. The bill ensures illegal immigrants do not receive Medicaid and SNAP benefits, ensuring we take care of the neediest Americans first.

Additionally, the bill ends taxes on tips and overtime, decreases taxes on Social Security, defunds Planned Parenthood, and prohibits taxpayer funding for transgender surgeries.

BIG Idea

Buying a home in Indian Country is a challenge due to complicated bureaucracy in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA delays have hindered many tribal citizens’ dreams of homeownership. I’ve partnered with Senator John Thune on the Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act to streamline the approval process for mortgages on tribal trust land.

This week, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian Affairs held a hearing this week on our bill. I had the opportunity to introduce Eric Shepherd, Executive Director of the Sisseton Wahpeton Housing Authority.

Click here or the image above for Johnson’s opening statement

BIG News

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the sacrifices our service members have made for our country. I got to greet another Honor Flight at the World War II memorial this week. More than 80 veterans, including two WWII veterans, were on this trip. I had the opportunity to thank them for their service.

Johnson greets Honor Flight veterans at the World War II Memorial

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