Author: @SoDakCampaigns

After a long illness, former Republican House Majority Leader Bob Faehn passed away on Monday.

From the obituary:

Bob Faehn, age 63 of Watertown, SD passed away September 13, 2021.

Services will be 2:00 pm, Friday, September 17, 2021 at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Watertown.

Visitation will be from 3:30 pm – 7:30 pm, with a prayer service at 7:30 pm., on Thursday, September 16, 2021 at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.

Burial will be private.

The family asks that memorials be directed to the Watertown Area Breast Cancer Support Group, 25 Third Ave SW, Watertown, SD 57201.

Read and offer your remembrance here.

Bob served in the South Dakota House for 6 years, serving as Majority Whip and later Majority Leader from 2009-2010.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sioux Falls City Council races are starting to get more active with candidates starting to make it known that “they’re in,” such as Mayor Paul TenHaken announcing re-election yesterday.

I’ve heard rumors that other candidates are quietly getting prepped to run, including for the council seat currently held Janet Brekke. Word is that people are thinking she could stand to move on down the road.  Curt Soehl is also up, but not a big movement to challenge him.

With term limits coming into play, Councilor Christine Erickson and Rick Kiley are termed out in 2022. And for Kiley’s seat, one aspirant for the Council is making it known that he’s in the race for the open seat.

David Barranco is getting ready to move forward with his candidacy and this past Friday announced to friends privately that he’s running, and is noting his interest, in an e-mail statement provided to SDWC:

In 2022, when Councilman Kiley’s term ends, his seat will be open. I am excited to run for that position. My hope is to serve working families, keeping a pragmatic, problem-solving focus. I’m dedicated to building a bright future for Sioux Falls, with a strong economy and reliable infrastructure.

I’m passionate about expanding the local workforce and creating more affordable housing. As a husband, father, and FCA coach, I’m dedicated to keeping kids safe by supporting law enforcement and defending public health. I’ll endeavor to grow pet-friendly spaces, reduce automobile traffic, and plant thousands of trees. Most importantly, I’ll strive to be a cooperative consensus builder — one who embraces good policy but eschews divisive rhetoric.

After the last couple of years, can we have a Sioux Falls city campaign that isn’t divisive? We’ll see!

Congratulations for David for his willingness to serve, and it should be interesting to see who else announces in the coming months.

Stay tuned!

“Norm @normmacdonald was a great talent, and I loved laughing with him on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald.” pic.twitter.com/gPsdyJ5tS9

— Senator Bob Dole (@SenatorDole) September 14, 2021

Here’s the latest on COVID hospitalizations from Sanford Health:

As compared to last weeks’ numbers:

Those numbers continue to be creeping upwards..

 

Thune: Biden’s Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal Emboldens Terrorists, Abandons Americans and Allies

“The United States’ disastrous, hasty withdrawal is a stain on our nation’s history and a betrayal of the men and women who fought there.” 

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called for Congress to conduct a thorough investigation into the Biden administration’s disastrous and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. With the nation having recently marked the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Thune reiterated that the service and sacrifice of those American troops who served in Afghanistan was not in vain. Thune also discussed the Democrats’ out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C., and the urgent need to prevent saddling future generations with burdensome debt.

A while back I’d heard some rumors that state Democrats might be running Dan Ahlers for US Senate as their sacrificial lamb candidate against US Senator John Thune.

And given his performance in the last election (35.3% to Mike Rounds’ 65.7%), one would not be considered poorly for thinking “naaahhh.”

Because seriously, he got smoked. Trounced. Soundly defeated and shellacked.

But this morning, a Federal Elections Commission filing was made, correcting an error on an old filing.  And it drew my attention to his most recent FEC filing, for April through the end of June where apparently Ahlers is spending a bit to keep up his US Senate website. And he’s still actively sitting on $20k in cash.

Interesting.  And maybe an indication that there’s at least a hint of truth to the rumors.

Rounds on Fox News: President Biden Made a Very Serious Mistake That Cost American Lives

 WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, joined Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom this morning to discuss the upcoming Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing with Secretary of State Blinken on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The hearing begins this morning at 10 AM ET/ 9 AM CT/ 8 AM MT.

“This administration had every opportunity to modify the withdrawal.” @SenatorRounds discusses what Secretary Blinken will be pressed on during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the US Afghanistan withdrawal @BillHemmer @DanaPerino pic.twitter.com/1qNXs4Pn6K

— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) September 14, 2021

Click here or on photo above to watch Rounds’ full interview

Excerpts from Senator Rounds’ interview below:

PERINO: What have you not heard the administration answer so far that you would like to get to the bottom to?

ROUNDS: Right now they said they have about 124,000 individuals that they’ve helped get out. The problem is that out of the 124,000, about half of them, we don’t know who they are. There’s between 5,000-6,000 Americans they said they’ve helped out. There’s about half of the remaining 124,000 that are SIVs—Special Immigration Visas. But the remaining numbers, we don’t know who they are. We want to find out who those individuals are and how they were allowed to come out. We’ve got literally 100,000 more individuals who helped our men and women in uniform over the last twenty years. Their lives are at risk. We don’t know where they’re at. We are not getting good answers from the Department of State as to how we are going to help them get out of Afghanistan alive.

…

HEMMER: …this whole idea about the deadline—that was moved by the current administration and so the debate goes to what was their plan to get out?

ROUNDS: The previous administration, under President Trump, was set up to do a conditions-based withdrawal. There were changes being made. The Taliban has not lived up to their side of the deals that were being made. This administration had every opportunity to modify a withdrawal. When Joe Biden decided to arbitrarily set a date and set it without regard to whether or not the Taliban was honoring their side of the commitment so far and was not based on conditions on the ground, he made a very serious mistake and it’s cost American lives.

…

ROUNDS: …today with the Secretary of State, I think we need to focus on moving forward, how are we going to help get the remaining Americans out? What’s your plan? What about the other individuals who helped our young men and women in uniform—what’s your plan to get them out? And how are you going to respond to China and to Russia and to Iran and to Pakistan who now see this void in Afghanistan…what’s your plan moving forward? Why is it that after this arbitrary date, how do you except to be able to respond accordingly in that area now that you’ve withdrawn our forces and you have very little to negotiate with?

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FOUR MORE YEARS

TenHaken Announces Re-election Bid

SIOUX FALLS–Mayor Paul TenHaken announced his re-election bid for his second term as mayor of Sioux Falls today .

“Today, I’m excited to announce my desire to continue serving as mayor for the next four years,” said TenHaken. “It’s a decision my family and I don’t take lightly, but the honor of serving this community is incredibly rewarding, humbling and exciting.”

Sioux Falls has benefited from TenHaken’s leadership since being elected in a historic election. His “One Sioux Falls” approach to leading the city has resulted in key accomplishments during TenHaken’s first term as mayor including successfully managing the city through numerous crisis events, increasing funding for road and infrastructure improvements, and prioritizing law enforcement, public safety and mental health policies. TenHaken’s principled, collaborative and transparent leadership has helped advance Sioux Falls as one of the best quality of life communities in the world, especially for youth and families.

“I’m proud of the work of my administration and the direction Sioux Falls is headed,” said TenHaken. “There is so much energy and optimism in our community right now, and I’m eager to continue building on Sioux Falls’ successes in a second term. Sioux Falls has a unique opportunity to set itself up for success in the coming decades, and I hope that the voters of Sioux Falls continue to entrust me to lead our city as we advance priorities and tackle our growing needs.”

Before being elected as the 32nd Mayor of Sioux Falls in May 2018, Paul served as the Founder and CEO of Click Rain, a marketing technology agency he started in 2008. Under his leadership, the company received numerous awards for their tremendous growth and innovative employee-first culture. Most important to Paul has been raising his three children — Jade, 15; Max, 12; and Nora, 8. As a father and husband of 22 years to Jill, Paul brings a unique perspective on what issues are most important to growing young families in Sioux Falls.

The city election is scheduled for April 12, 2022.

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From my mailbox: