Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Hey – I know her!  And if you circulate in Republican political circles, you should too.   Hayley Halverson, the third generation of the Halverson family involved in politics just received a nice recognition as one of Sioux Falls Business’ 30 under 30:

In her own words: “When I moved to Sioux Falls as a practical next step after college, my goal was to make my life better. Once I got involved in the Sioux Falls community, I realized what a special place this is, and my perspective shifted. Now, my goal is to make Sioux Falls and South Dakota as a whole, a better place in whatever capacity I am able. I’m blessed to be able to do work that brings me closer to that goal everyday.”

From the nominator: “Hayley Halverson is a dedicated public servant for South Dakota. Hayley’s commitment to voter education and her professional approach have made a significant impact on the Sioux Falls community. Beyond her political work, Hayley is a founding member of Startup Sioux Falls and an active member of Central Church, where she volunteers with youth every Wednesday and participates in Bible study. She prioritizes community education by volunteering with Junior Achievement in the Sioux Falls School District. Staying informed and engaged in the Sioux Falls community is also a priority for Hayley. She is an active member of the Young Professionals Network, and her involvement inspired my own participation. Overall, Hayley prioritizes her community, her relationships with friends and family, and her faith. Given Hayley’s experience, priorities and current connections, I foresee her becoming a public leader in Sioux Falls, potentially as a politician, and even serving in Pierre as a state representative, senator or governor. 

Read the entire story here.

Hayley’s grandfather was Senator Harold Halverson, who served 26 years in the South Dakota Legislature, with a number of them as President Pro Tempore of the Senate.  Her dad, Representative Jim Halverson is in his first year of service in the South Dakota House of Representatives, after Jim and Hayley and their team pushed hard in his campaign for District 21 House this last year to get Jim elected.  It was amazing how many people pitched in for them to make it a reality.  Hayley was active in College Republicans, and roomed with my daughter for a while, which is testament to her patience for messy people (I kid, I kid). Before she was with Team Dusty, after graduating from SDSU she was also in the insurance industry.

Just an all around good person. We need more people like her in politics.  Congratulations Hayley!

It’s Time to End the Death Tax
By Sen. John Thune 

Death should not be a taxable event. Anything you leave to your heirs has already been taxed once, and there should be a limit to how many times the government can tax you. Unfortunately, the estate tax, often called the death tax, is a concern for many American farmers, ranchers, and small business owners whose operations could be devastated by this tax. Eliminating the death tax once and for all has long been a priority of mine, and I recently introduced a bill to permanently repeal this fundamentally flawed tax.

I was proud to help secure a doubling of the death tax exemption in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has protected a lot of farms, ranches, and small businesses. But the larger exemption limit will expire at the end of this year, and it’s my hope that we will not merely extend the exemption, but that we will put an end to the death tax once and for all.

Death tax proponents talk as if it only affects the extremely wealthy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The death tax can sweep up those who have very little money in the bank. Take for example a family farm or ranch, which are often cash-poor businesses. They might have substantial-looking assets on paper, but the vast majority of that is land and farming equipment, and a small fraction of it is money in the bank.

So what happens when a farmer or rancher dies and his estate is subject to the tax? There’s a very good chance that his liquid assets – in other words, the cash that he has available in the bank – won’t come close to covering the tax bill from the federal government. The only alternative for his heirs in that case may be to start selling off land or farm equipment to pay the tax. They may be able to keep the farm – just a smaller version of it – or they may have to sell it off entirely. It’s the same plight that many ranches and small businesses face as well.

But it’s not just those who actually get hit by the death tax who suffer. Many family farms, ranches, and small businesses spend a lot of time and money on estate planning to avoid being hit by this tax. That’s time and money that could have gone into building their business, hiring new workers, and investing in their operation. Others set aside capital to prepare for the death tax, which is money that, again, could go into the building up of their operation.

It’s time we end the death tax once and for all. And I hope that 2025 will be the year that we permanently bid farewell to this flawed and unfair tax.

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Serving South Dakota
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
February 21, 2025

 BIG Update

I had a great week visiting seniors young and old – high school seniors and senior citizens – across South Dakota this week. I can tell they’re all paying attention to the news because they had great questions about the border, TikTok, and Trump’s first few weeks in office, especially about tariffs and government efficiency.

I always love getting out in the state to talk to real people like you. It keeps me focused on the most important part of my job – serving South Dakota.

  Johnson with students at Canistota High School and seniors at Tieszen Memorial Home

BIG Idea

River Cities Public Transit helps people get around across South Dakota, for things like a doctor’s appointment or a visit to the local Veterans’ Affairs (VA) facility. I stopped by River Cities Transit to learn more about their operations. They shared that they are facing a workforce shortage, especially with the challenge of recruiting drivers with a CDL. Even though we have a shortage of 80,0000 truck drivers, the Biden Administration implemented rules that made it harder to obtain a CDL. Veterans and senior citizens rely on businesses like River City Transit, and their CDL drivers, to make it to their appointments.

I’m a leader on legislation in the House that would make it easier for CDL applicants to get their license, and to expand coverage for rural veteran transportation. These men and women made sacrifices to keep America free and they deserve the highest quality of care we can provide. Ensuring veterans in rural America continue to have access to transportation is a critical first step.

Johnson visiting River Cities Public Transit

BIG News

America has an abundance of energy resources, but we’ve seen a stark contrast between how the Biden and Trump Administrations have stewarded them. Under the Biden Administration, many U.S. energy sources remained untapped as America relied on countries in the Middle East and Russia to meet our energy needs. Relying on these countries poses a risk to the security of our nation, economy, and supply chain. President Trump understands the need to increase energy security and during his first term, America became a net exporter of energy for the first time in nearly 70 years.

To unleash American energy again, President Trump recently established the National Energy Dominance Council, chaired by Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum. This council will cut red tape and spur innovation across the energy sector to lower prices for consumers and make America energy secure again.

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Crossing Over
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
February 21, 2025

  Milestones are an important part of any process. They’re a good opportunity to reflect on where we’ve come from, assess where we are, and look ahead to what comes next. Every legislative session, there comes a day called “Crossover” that is a major milestone in the legislative process.

Under our South Dakota system, every bill gets a hearing, and every bill that passes committee gets a vote on the floor of the legislature. Crossover Day is the day that bills must have passed the floor of their chamber of origin, or else they’ll be considered “dead.” So it’s often a long, busy day – and it’s a good opportunity to take stock of how the session has gone so far.

Crossover Day this year is on February 25. As I write this, it remains to be seen just how busy a day it’ll be for our House Representatives and Senators. But I’ll tell you this – it’s been a busy few weeks for me since taking office as Governor.

Just four weeks ago, we had our own “crossover,” so to speak, here in South Dakota. Former-Governor Kristi Noem took office as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and she’s doing important work to keep our nation safe. And I took office as the 34th Governor of South Dakota. I got my team established, nominated Tony Venhuizen as my Lieutenant Governor, promoted Mackenzie Decker as my new Chief of Staff, and even hired a new Press Secretary to help deliver open and responsive communication with the press.

To have all that happen in the middle of a legislative session was unprecedented in the history of South Dakota, and it has certainly kept us busy. Serving as Lieutenant Governor for six years, I had a good sense of what the workload of the Governor was. I knew what I was getting into when I shortened my title. But there’s a difference between knowing something and experiencing it for yourself. We’ve certainly had a busy past few weeks of session.

We’ve already been able to deliver some accomplishments to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free. The first bill I signed as Governor was to ban Sanctuary Cities in our state, which was a strong statement of support for the work that President Trump and Secretary Noem are doing to fix our nation’s immigration system.

I worked with representatives from both the House and the Senate to hammer out an agreement to address the rising burden of property taxes for South Dakota homeowners, and that bill has started to work through the legislative process.

We announced a major force expansion of the South Dakota Highway Patrol in Sioux Falls. This new squad will support local law enforcement to fight crime and keep our communities safe.

We’re continuing to advocate for the construction of a new men’s prison near Sioux Falls – this facility will be crucial to rehabilitate offenders and ensure the public safety of South Dakotans.

And we are already working towards returning fireworks to Mount Rushmore for America’s 250^th birthday! I recently spoke with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and he committed to me that we will work together to make this happen.

So as we reach Crossover Day in the legislature, I am confident that our state is heading in the right direction. Our state’s “crossover” is in good shape, as well. I appreciate all the prayers and kind words that my family and I have received, and I will continue focusing everyday on keeping South Dakota strong, safe, and free.

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Regarding the SDGOP’s new Treasurer, State Rep. Tina Mulally, I had forgotten the specifics on the grumbling over Tina’s prior stint as a political organization treasurer for the South Dakota Federation of Republican Woman. That is, until I had a conversation with a politico today who reminded me.

I bring you a couple of examples from the SDFRW’s political campaign finance filings during Tina’s time as their Treasurer that she signed her name to and turned into the Secretary of State:

First, the Pre-General report from 2018..

And the Pre-General report from 2020:

So, according to Tina the Treasurer, this group received NO contributions requiring itemization over the course of 2 -3 years, despite the 2016 pre-general report before her having around $2900 in itemized contributions, and the 2022 pre-general after her showing over $9,000 in itemized contributions.

I mean.. it could happen, I guess.  Some might find it highly unlikely, but it could happen.

Either way, I’m thinking that that in the coming 2 years, people are going to pay a lot closer attention to what Tina the Treasurer files for campaign finance at the state and federal level than she’s used to having in the past.

About 4-5 years back when I would regularly do work for the SDGOP on some of their mail big projects and we had a number of them running at one time – think slate mailers, GOTV Mailers, absentee mailers, etc., there was one point where the outstanding bills owed to me were in excess of $150,000.  Darn near all of that was postage and printing that I owed to someone else.  As a small business, I can tell you that the sheer amount of that outstanding bill made my shorts pucker a bit, because I know I didn’t have $150,000 in my account.

But, of course they made good on it as invoices were processed.  Maybe not the day before I sent the invoice as I might have liked, but they made good on it and paid their bills.  It’s a challenge that’s nearly every small business faces, but I knew the risk was low because the Party was well managed financially and had always been a good partner to do business with so it was easy to have that kind of faith in them.

But, that’s not always the case with political parties. There are periods when they fall on hard times.  If you’ve forgotten, South Dakota Democrats found themselves in a tough spot back in 2019:

South Dakota Democrats filed their latest federal campaign finance report yesterday, revealing that the party is carrying nearly $47,000 in unpaid debts and obligations against only $16,624.38 in cash on hand.

In response to the Democrat Party’s shaky finances, Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman encouraged Democrats as part of their debt management plans to take care of local South Dakota vendors first before their Washington, DC consultants.

Lederman said “a review of Democrat’s latest financial report makes it look like they went on a spending spree without having the money to pay the bills. They owe money to a number of people, including Maryland consultants, a Washington, DC Computer firm, a Washington DC Law Firm, and a number of local businesses.”

Read that here. (original press release on a site that no longer exists).

To set the ship right, new SDDP Chair Randy Seiler himself went out and signed a personal loan to help them get back on their feet.

Before you start saying “yeah! that’s how those Democrats roll,” about the mote in their eye a few years back, I’d also refer you to the stick in the eye of Republicans. That was the SDGOP not that terribly long before that as in 2013, recently elected chairman Craig Lawrence had to go out and do the same thing to keep the SDGOP afloat:

Both he and his wife each personally signed for $10,000 loans – $20k total – that they were personally on the hook for to keep the South Dakota Republican Party afloat.  Why do I bring this up? The State Republican Party and those who make up the new SDGOP Establishment may very well be facing a similar situation in coming months. The question is whether or not they realize it?

Over the course of the last 2 years, the chaos in the Republican Party, and the non-participation of their county organizations has put the SDGOP in a bad spot. If you recall my post from a few weeks ago:

Despite the South Dakota Republican Party’s model of county quota donations as a system set up by the SDGOP Central Committee to help support the group, not a single county donation is registered in their year end report this year. Not one. Nor in the pre-general report.  You have to go back to the pre-primary report, and only before the Primary the Meade County GOP sent in 2k. But nobody else. Why?  And to add insult to injury, you had people like the Minnehaha GOP sending nearly $20k to “various PACs and organizations.”

This lack of donors willing to support the Republican Party organization should be scaring the dickens out of the South Dakota Republican Party. The Republican Party outnumbers the Democrats in South Dakota more than 2-1, yet the SDGOP is on the verge of financial and electoral collapse if they can’t get their act together and put their eye back on the ball.

Read that here.

I’d add to that, some notes from the SDGOP’s treasurer report submitted yesterday to the Central Committee:

As of 2-13-25, we have two accounts. The state account is subject to state rules, contains money that belongs to CR’s and YR’s for their ease of reporting, and has $35,323.44 in it. The next report is due in January 2026 under current law. The federal account is subject to federal rules, is all our money, and has $51,762.87 in it.

Basically, The SDGOP Has $87k on hand – not all of it theirs, because CR’s and YR’s own some of it – and nobody is donating to them.   I did hear Meade and another county did a rare thing and paid their quotas, totaling around 4k, so let’s just say they have $85-87k to work with.  In the big scheme of things, that’s not very much.

What expenses are they facing in the short term? Here’s just an estimate off the top of my head:

• Insurance; Liability and for the State Fair Building
• Redoing the website, which many noted as a priority
• Salaries & Payroll Taxes; closing out Reggie R, and potentially hiring new staff
• Rent, Admin expenses & Office overhead
• FEC Report Consulting & Occasional Legal fees (no more free lunch from May, Adam, as they aren’t involved anymore)
• Campaign finance software
• Repair of State Fair Building? Was put off last year.
• Travel costs for GOP Chair, others.
• And I know I’m missing a lot. It will be more if they revive TAR camp, etc.

The SDGOP was running a burn rate of around $10k a month just in dormancy after the election. Clearly the new GOP Establishment is going to want to show they are in control.  But are they going to have money to do anything?

Little known fact, the SDGOP does not have their own “Republican Party credit card,” so they are either paying invoices where businesses have extended them credit, or someone – the SDGOP Chairman, the Executive Director, etc., ends up personally footing the bill and expensing it for reimbursement, whether it for the gas and a ticket to drive across the state to go to a Lincoln Day Dinner, or an event is being held and the sound system guy wants cash up front, as is the rule when it comes to most political accounts.

This will be interesting to watch, as the next two years are all on them. This is the house they spent the last 2 years trying to take over, and now they have it. And on top of it, they’re being handed off $85,000 to start.

Much like the dog that has finally caught the car, and is now faced with answering the question “what do I do with it?” The new GOP Establishment may find themselves quickly running up against the difference between their want list, their needs, a.k.a keeping the lights on, and their bank account as they approach the coming months.

We’ll see if they have to figure out “who is willing to sign the bank loan?”

Supporting the Need for a New Prison in South Dakota
By Casey Murschel, Sioux Falls

The South Dakota Legislature is considering House Bill 1025, a crucial step in transferring funds to help build a much-needed new prison. This project is essential for our state’s future, addressing key issues such as rehabilitation, public safety, and fiscal responsibility.

Rehabilitation and Education

A new prison will provide significantly better opportunities for rehabilitation and education. Currently, the men’s prison is operating at 182% of capacity, making it incredibly difficult to run effective education, rehabilitation, and treatment programs. Overcrowding also poses significant safety risks for both staff and inmates.

The new prison will be designed with programming and treatment options in mind, ensuring that inmates have access to substance abuse treatment, mental health support, and vocational training. The new women’s prison is being built to provide a therapeutic community where substance abuse treatment and other rehabilitative services can be effectively administered. We can replicate this model in the men’s prison, but we are currently severely limited by space constraints. A properly designed facility will enable better rehabilitation outcomes, reducing recidivism and preparing inmates for successful reintegration into society with valuable skills and employment opportunities.

A Thorough, Three-Year Process

The decision to build a new prison is not rushed—it has been in the works since 2022, with summer studies, task forces, and at least seven legislative reviews. Expert consultants have recommended constructing a new men’s prison expandable to 1,516 beds on 160 acres near Sioux Falls. While no community is eager to host a prison, this location aligns with best practices seen nationwide. Furthermore, this initiative is strongly supported by police chiefs, sheriffs’, and state’s attorney organizations, recognizing the necessity for a modern, efficient facility.

The Fiscally Responsible Choice

South Dakota has an opportunity to build this prison at a guaranteed price of $825 million, but this offer expires on March 31, 2025. Delaying the project could lead to an additional $40 million or more in costs. Constructing a modern, secure facility made of steel and concrete is expensive but not extravagant—it is a responsible investment in public safety and state infrastructure. Any change in location would only drive up costs and disrupt communities further.

Additionally, South Dakota is using the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) model, the same approach successfully used for other state building projects over the past 10 years. There is a common misunderstanding of this process. Under the CMAR model, the construction manager solicits multiple bids on various components of the project, including precast, plumbing, electrical, security, and other critical elements. They then compile the best subcontractors offering the greatest value for the project. This process ensures that the state is protected from cost overruns, as the construction manager guarantees a final price, providing financial predictability and accountability.

South Dakota has a long history of fiscal responsibility, with balanced budgets, a strong state retirement system, and low taxes. Approving House Bill 1025 ensures we replace a 100-year-old facility with a modern, 100-year solution, securing safety and efficiency for generations to come. The 100th session of the Legislature has the chance to make the right decision—let’s move forward with this essential project.

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Casey Murschel is a former Republican state legislator, Sioux Falls city council member, and in her younger years was a probation officer for the UJS Second Circuit.

Elections are over for the South Dakota Republican Party, and the new leadership for 2025-2026 is finalized.

Here’s what it looks like for the South Dakota Republican Party:

• Jim Eschenbaum, Chairman
• Janet Jensen, Vice-Chair
• Tina Mullally, Treasurer
• Starla Russell, Secretary

Well, Starla will do a nice job.

*Update*

Dakota Scout hung around long enough to pick up the people who were elected to the executive board:

Rounding out the regional advisory board for the party was: Tom Pischke in District 1, Ben Krohmer in District 2, Doug Post in District 3, Rich Hilgemann in District 4, Tom Bruner in District 5, and Ezra Hays in District 6.

Read that here.

Show of hands for those who are all excited now to donate money to the Republican Party?

My thoughts exactly.

Hot off my texts from party insiders – on ballot 2 at the Central Committee meeting, Ezra Hayes received 94 votes, and anti-pipeline activist Jim Eschenbaum received 103, making him the new chair of the SDGOP.

We’ll see how long this lasts. The job is a lot more than claiming you hate pipelines.

Next up will be a Vice-chair race between anti-pipeliner Sara Steever and Janet Jensen, infamous State Rep Phil Jensen’s wife.

(His first action as chair is to allow the Meade County chair to continue to running the elections. Way to take command, Mr. Chairman!)

Slightly good news on the GOP Chair race, Qualm was dropped on the first SDGOP Chair ballot.

Eschenbaum 94. Hayes 54. Qualm 49. Run off between Eschenbaum & Hayes. Needed 100 to win.

Round 2 is in process…