Author: @SoDakCampaigns

This was an interesting item that just popped up on Facebook. Citizens for Liberty, the group notorious for it’s cherry picked scorecards, hosting Democrat Jamie Smith in his campaign for Governor, regular attacks on Governor Noem.. and getting kicked out of Pizza Ranch.  I’m just going to stop, because I could be listing their sins all day.. 

Anyway, The Pennington County GOP has long been infiltrated by the group with an agenda that regularly attacks Republican officeholders, and now it seems that they’re not even pretending to be a separate organization anymore as they’ve announced a joint candidate vetting event with Tonchi Weaver’s group, under the auspices of being a “Legislative Candidates Forum”:

I’m not sure why any serious candidate would show up. Anyone who attends would likely have their mind already made up, and if you don’t, the worst they would say is that you weren’t there.

If you do show up, it’s going to likely be a free for all attack, which they’ll replay on social media.  A candidate’s time is better spent going door to door, meeting actual voters.

Welcome to the new reality with the Republican party for candidates. There’s just going to be spots in the state where candidates are going to have to go it alone, because the party isn’t there to support them. As much as try to force them into blindly following a dogma.

Today is a big day for candidate petitions – it’s the official deadline, AND the last day of session – so there should be a huge batch of petitions being filed, with stragglers to follow in the mail for the rest of the week.

Any surprises we’re going to see?  I think we’re going to find a few more primaries popping up here and there, so it will be worth watching.

State’s Attorney contests have been livelier this election with a couple of high profile races. And there are a few County Commission contests.  Treasurer contests have a few live ones –  primary in Jerauld, a return primary battle in Meade, and much more!  Of course, I’m watching the legislative races like a hawk, as that’s where my bread and butter is.

Keep your eye on the Secretary of State’s 2024 Primary Election Candidate List, as that’s going to be the hot website for the next few days.

I didn’t think it was possible, but South Dakota Democrats managed to come up with a candidate older than Republican Manny Steele.

Turning 89 years old in July, South Dakota Democrats are running Dean Schrempp for District 28 Senate, according to the Secretary of State.  Born in 1935, that makes him a contemporary of Elvis, Peter Boyle, Dudley Moore, and David Prowse, the man who originally portrayed Darth Vader. The main difference between Schrempp and all those people is that Schrempp is still alive.

Certainly, more power to him for his longevity. But, after three stints in the House of Representatives, I’m sure we can find someone else.

Unless you like your candidates nearly 7 years older than Joe Biden, I’m a firm believer that politics are about the future. Not the past.

And in this case, the distant, distant past.

Dusty Johnson Announces Re-Election Campaign

Mitchell, S.D. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) today announced his intent to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This country needs a workhorse, not another show horse,” said Johnson. “I’ve moved border security legislation forward, voted against trillions of dollars in wasteful spending, gotten nearly two dozen bills signed into law, and protected our constitutional liberties. Washington still has some big problems. We all know that. But I’m running for re-election because I know we have to continue to make progress.”

During his time in Congress, Johnson has:

• Voted over 70 times for strong border security policies, like the Secure the Border Act,
  which would re-implement Remain-in-Mexico provisions and restart construction of the
  border wall.
• Received an A+ rating from the NRA and has a 100% score from the National Right to
  Life.
• Championed 19 bills that have been signed into law.
• Voted against more than $13 trillion in wasteful spending since 2021.
• Been named the most effective House Republican on agriculture issues and was named
  the 14th most effective lawmaker overall out of 222 House Republicans.
• Received the Congressional Management Foundation’s Democracy Award for
  Transparency and Accountability (2021) and Outstanding Constituent Service (2023).

Johnson submitted nearly 3400 signatures from registered Republicans to qualify for the June primary ballot.

Prior to his election to the U.S. House in 2018, Johnson worked as vice president of Vantage Point Solutions, a South Dakota-based broadband engineering firm. He previously served as chief of staff to Governor Dennis Daugaard. Johnson and his wife Jacquelyn reside in Mitchell with their three sons.

###

You know, just when you think they’ve turned the corner, the Secretary of State stumbles again.

In the latest, a news story is out how they had incorrect numbers on their website noting how many signatures were required for Independent candidates:

For more than two months, state officials unintentionally led some potential legislative candidates to believe they needed hundreds more petition signatures than state law requires.

and..

For example, the list said independent legislative candidates in Sioux Falls-area Districts 12 and 13 needed 1,029 signatures. On March 8, after Davis reported the errors, the numbers were changed to 114 and 88, respectively. Numbers for many other districts were also updated at that time.

and..

Davis said the ultimate responsibility lies with the current head of the Secretary of State’s Office, Monae Johnson, who did ultimately call him to discuss the error. But, Davis alleged, “my understanding is that some of the numbers for independent signature requirements on their website are still wrong.”

Read the entire story here.

Ugh. Just not good.

As of this morning, popular South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson has his petitions in and validated, according to the Secretary of State’s website this morning as the time for petition submission is approaching 24 hours from tomorrow’s 5pm deadline.

At this point, any opponents had better be heading to Pierre, because we’re at the end. If you’re not counting at this point, you’re in big trouble. Big question is whether Dusty will be able to cruise to November (or beyond) without an opponent? Because the also-rans in the Congressional race are particularly mediocre to bad this year.

Here are my predictions for how the Congressional contest is going to shape up, and who the potential Dusty opponents might land. Or might not land. More likely not.

• Toby Doeden (R) When the going got tough, the Toby got going. Before the campaign could even start, he bailed out.  Not on the ballot.
• Justin McNeal (R, after he changed it from Indy a couple months ago) – I think there’s a 50/50 chance “the Republican Brian Bengs” could turn in sufficient signatures, but I’m leaning against it.  If McNeal puts up weak numbers at turn-in, they will be challenged.  As I noted, he was an independent up until a couple of months ago. On the chance he gets signatures in, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
• Patrick Schubert (R) – I believe he appeared at a few county events.. and then was never to be heard from again. It’s like a legend that he was in the race, but I don’t see that legend growing. By next election, we’ll be asking “…who was that guy?”
• Chris Sanders (R) – I’m not sure he even takes his race seriously at this point. Definitely not on the ballot.
• Sheryl Johnson (D) – The Democrat party machine got behind her after her announcement to get her on the ballot, but she got in the race just 20 days ago. Like McNeal, I think there’s a 50/50 chance she could fall short too, as in prior elections, when Democrats anointed candidates and told followers to sign, their efforts fell short. And in those instances, they got going earlier.
• Zach Kovach (D) – Oh yeah.. we forgot about this guy, because he lives in Colorado.  He started in June of 2013, but not even his own party took his candidacy seriously enough to assist.  He’s not getting on the ballot.
• Random Libertarian (L) – Since all they have to do is have a meeting, and declare “tag, you’re it,” that’s the only likely opposition.  I believe they’re having their convention at the end of June at the Longbranch in Pierre, which is when they’ll unveil who their candidates will be.  With alcohol being served at the ‘Branch, they may have more than a few candidates this year.  Stay tuned, as this may be it.

Any thoughts on how this race will shape up this week and beyond? You know where the comment section is!

There is just so much wrong with this facebook post from the cringeworthy Chris Sanders campaign, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Not the least of which is the fact he’s telling people to print and circulate a petition without a valid Declaration of Candidacy.

I mean, you can “feel free to print these out and gather signatures for Chris Sanders campaign for US Congress in South Dakota 2024” as he asks.

But they’re not going to accomplish anything.

There’s that whole part with state laws, and that notarization thing on petitions..

Is he going to fill out those parts afterwards? I mean, what could go wrong?

There’s a good story from Indian Country Today on the legislative careers of Republican State Rep. Tyler Tordsen & his mom, Republican State Rep. Tamara St. John.

Here’s another one that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card for 2024. Former Minnehaha County States Attorney Aaron McGowan is running to be a State’s Attorney again… and the former Democrat is trying his luck as a Republican this time, and instead of running where he lives, he’s trying his luck in Lake County:

Aaron McGowan has filed candidacy for Lake County State’s Attorney, challenging a Republican incumbent in the upcoming June primary election.

The former Democrat served as Minnehaha County State’s Attorney from 2009 to 2019, when he stepped down following a months-long scandal involving workplace misconduct allegations and a 911 police call to his Sioux Falls home that was shielded from the public.

and..

Those news reports prompted Gov. Kristi Noem to call for an investigation into McGowan by the DCI. The agency would go on to issue a report outlining multiple unexplained absences, accusations of drunkenness, inappropriate messages being sent to employees and an instance where McGowan offered a female employee a day off in exchange for her buying alcohol.

Read the entire story here.

In case you were looking for more background, there was far more extensive coverage before he resigned from office and was given a $35,000 parachute by the Minnehaha County Commission to go away:

But multiple Minnehaha County employees have told the Argus Leader on background that McGowan was under investigation for workplace misconduct. The investigation was sparked by a separate investigation by Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, which was released in October. Besides finding unexplained absences and accusations of drunkenness, the Ravnsborg investigation included an incident involving a female employee in McGowan’s office.

and..

“The female employee was interviewed and stated that McGowan did give her the day off, she bought the bottle of alcohol, he came over for a few hours and made her feel uncomfortable at times, but then he left on a bicycle,” the attorney general report said.

Read the entire story here.

After his debacle serving as Minnehaha County State’s Attorney, the story has gotten even crazier.

While the former Democrat McGowan changed parties from Democrat to Republican in the last week or two to run in the primary in Lake County against Lake County State’s Attorney Wendy Kloeppner, he hasn’t changed residences, as he’s registered to run as a candidate for Lake County State’s Attorney, from an apartment in Minnehaha County, according to the Secretary of State.

And looking at live voter data with the Secretary of State, that address in Sioux Falls certainly isn’t anywhere in Lake County. It shows his residence as Minnehaha County:

At least at this time, McGowan can’t vote for himself in the election, because he’s not a Lake County resident.

In some of our rural counties, there are State’s Attorneys who run from more populated areas to serve those counties that are starved for legal representation. Hence the recruitment efforts for attorneys to serve in rural areas. There’s even a law on the books:

7-16-31. Residency requirements for state’s attorney in counties with low population.

In any county with a population of less than five thousand persons, no state’s attorney is disqualified from holding office for failure to be a resident of that county if the state’s attorney is a resident of a county which is contiguous to the county in which the state’s attorney holds such office.

But someone coming from Sioux Falls to represent Madison? That’s a new one, especially since it has a population of 10,972 according to the US Census in 2022.

Is it it legal?  Technically, I believe he can run from another county, and reside in Lake County at the time he would be sworn into office. But, it’s highly, highly unusual to happen in one of our state’s mid-size areas.  Again, not one on anyone’s bingo card.

So, to summarize, after leaving office a few years back after an investigation called for by the Governor, Aaron McGowan wants to be a taxpayer-paid public employee again. So he’s running as a candidate in a party he has not been a member of until a couple of weeks ago, in a county he doesn’t live in.

Did I get that right?

I think the answer to all of this for Lake County Republicans is easy. Send a donation to:

Wendy Kloeppner for State’s Attorney
1015 NW 4th ST
Madison, SD 57042

Unless there’s an unusual number of Lake County Republicans into that whole carpetbagging Democrat thing.

I’m kind of doubting that.

Former State Representative Tim Goodwin turned in petitions today and joined an ever growing District 30 House race.

Currently, 6 people are seeking the two House seats, including..

• Trish Ladner (R – Incumbent)
• Tim Goodwin (R)
• Matthew Monfore (R)
• Patrick Baumann (R)
• Stephen Saint (R)
• Matthew J. Smith (R)

Monfore has announced, but he is yet to turn in petitions.

From what I’m hearing, we have a plethora of primaries this election season.

Stay Tuned!