Postscript to the election. As always, there are winners and losers, and not sure 500k from Convention of States affected anything.

Kind of an interesting primary last night. Some people I was cheering for won. Some people didn’t.

I think the number of people dividing up the vote in some of these races affected things. I think the quality of candidates mattered as much if not more than anything. I don’t know that the massive amounts of money pouring in from out of state did anything other than burn bridges for the next legislative session.

Speaking of the cash dumped in by Convention of States.. They targeted five candidates. Michael Rohl, Lee Schoenbeck, Tim Reed, Mary Duvall, and David Johnson.  The only one of them who lost was Mary in the narrow contest between her and former Pierre City Commissioner Jim Mehlhaff.  The rest just shellacked the poor to mediocre competition.

  • Michael Rohl was out there first and never let up, when his opponent didn’t seem to get active until the end. He won 71-29%
  • Lee Schoenbeck had an absolute fusillade of fertilizer thrown at him from every angle, whether true or not. His opponent could barely seem to spell legislature. Lee for the win, 59-41%.
  • Tim Reed had the COS just making stuff up that was woven from pure insinuation. He smashed the nobody running against him 60-40%
  • David Johnson defeated return legislative spouse Janet Jensen 57-43%. Nobody was looking for another Jensen last election, and they still aren’t.

In other words,  if you put money behind a known candidate, you might be able to fight it to darn near even. But if your candidate is not up to par, so shall be your results.

Other interesting observations from last night?  When faced with a lot of choices, people didn’t seem interested in wholesale change, but were more aiming down the middle, and there were a lot of close races.

In District 3 House, Carl Perry won, but in the competition for second place, there were less than 65 votes between Brandei Schaefbauer (2nd place) and Richard Rylance (3rd place).  Same thing in Brookings. Mellissa Heermann 1280, Roger Degroot 1245, and Doug Post 1184. 61 votes between 2nd and 3rd.   District 12 House – 13 votes between second and third. District 20 has 120 votes between 2 and 3. District 29  32 votes between 2 and 3.

In what might be the heartbreak of the evening, Julie Frye-Mueller, was almost taken out in a race separating that trainwreck from her opponent Tim Goodwin on a vote of 2848-2802, only 46 votes, within recount range.  We’ll have to wait for the canvas to see if anything drastic changes.  But, we handily kept Bryan Breitling in the Senate, and picked up Steve Kolbeck.

I don’t know that anyone can say there was a conservative surge or backlash, as much as there was a re-jumbling in the spirit of re-districting.  Arch-conservative Fred Deutsch returned, but came in alongside Kristi Noem ally Stephanie Sauder.  John Mills returned, but came in a distant second to former Cabinet official Tim Reisch.

When it comes down to it, I think it’s based mainly on the quality of the candidates, and the quality of the campaign they ran.

From reports, I think door to door campaigning is back, and candidates better make sure they’re doing it if they want to be competitive.

I’ll be picking these apart all day.. stay tuned.

Release: Navigator CO2, POET sign letter of intent to capture, transport, and store five (5) Million tons of CO2 Annually

(As Steve Haugaard teams up with Democrats against pipelines…)

NAVIGATOR CO2, POET SIGN LETTER OF INTENT TO CAPTURE, TRANSPORT, AND STORE FIVE (5) MILLION TONS OF CO2 ANNUALLY

Navigator to provide CCUS services for POET’s facilities in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota

DALLAS, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC (“Navigator”) announced today that they have signed a Letter of Intent to provide carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) services to POET, the world’s largest producer of biofuel and a global leader in sustainable bioproducts, on Navigator’s Heartland Greenway system.

The agreement outlines Navigator’s integrated CCUS services for approximately five (5) million metric tons of POET’s biogenic CO2 annually and establishes a collaborative path for the development of a central carbon offset marketplace and carbon use logistics platform. The system will phase in 18 of POET’s bioprocessing facilities across Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and is on schedule for operational in-service in 2025.

“We recognize that now is the time to take bold action to preserve our planet for future generations,” said Jeff Broin, POET Founder and CEO. “POET has been a leader in low-carbon biofuels and CO2 capture for commercial use for decades, and this project is another significant step in utilizing bioprocessing to accelerate our path to net-zero. We choose our partners carefully, and we believe Navigator has the expertise to deliver long-term value to rural America by further positioning agricultural commodities as a viable source of low-carbon liquid fuels to power our future.”

Both parties will leverage their respective expertise – relying on the unique breadth and scale of Navigator’s infrastructure development, construction, and operations and POET’s market-leading position in CO2 distribution, marketing, and logistics management. The joint efforts will create the largest combined distribution network for high-quality, biogenic CO2.

“This agreement is a testament to two industries coming together and using their resources to pave innovative pathways toward carbon neutrality and a more sustainable future. The breadth, scale, and technical acumen of each party’s platform is unmatched,” said Matt Vining, Chief Executive Officer of Navigator. “POET is an industry pioneer that has built a company on the pillars of safety, integrity, innovation, and being a good neighbor in the communities they call home, all of which align entirely with the culture and track record of Navigator. We look forward to this partnership with POET as we continue to fulfill our mission to provide sustainable carbon solutions to our communities, consumers, and customers.”

With the addition of POET to the platform, Navigator’s Heartland Greenway system will provide CCUS services for more than 30 industrial processors across the agriculture and food production value chains, representing over ten (10) million tons of annual CO2 emissions, including the two (2) largest bioethanol producers in the United States, in addition to highly efficient single-site production facilities. Navigator’s unique platform will now mobilize efforts to deliver up to 15 million tons annually of CCUS services through new pipeline laterals and parallel development of multiple storage sites.

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What are your predictions for tonight’s election?

As I’m sitting here still wishing I could shake this cold. Primary election day is finally upon us!  After 7pm tonight, it’s actually over!

No more postcards, text messages, facebook ads, etcetera.  At least until the Republican Convention.

So – what are your predictions tonight?  Who are the winners and losers?  In case you needed help on keeping track, there’s a list below.

Race Name Party District BallotOrder
United States Senator John R. Thune REP 1
United States Senator Bruce Whalen REP 2
United States Senator Mark Mowry REP 3
United States Representative Dusty Johnson REP 1
United States Representative Taffy Howard REP 2
Governor Steven Haugaard REP 1
Governor Kristi Noem REP 2
State Senator Michael H. Rohl REP District 01 1
State Senator Joe Donnell REP District 01 2
State Representative Jake Schoenbeck REP District 02 1
State Representative John Sjaarda REP District 02 2
State Representative David Kull REP District 02 3
State Representative Jeffrey Lloyd Shawd REP District 02 4
State Senator Steve Kolbeck REP District 02 1
State Senator Spencer Wrightsman REP District 02 2
State Representative Kaleb W Weis REP District 03 1
State Representative Brandei Schaefbauer REP District 03 2
State Representative Richard Rylance REP District 03 3
State Representative Carl E. Perry REP District 03 4
State Senator Al Novstrup REP District 03 1
State Senator Rachel Dix REP District 03 2
State Representative Val Rausch REP District 04 1
State Representative Adam Grimm REP District 04 2
State Representative Fred Deutsch REP District 04 3
State Representative Stephanie Sauder REP District 04 4
State Senator Lee Schoenbeck REP District 05 1
State Senator Colin Alan Paulsen REP District 05 2
State Representative Matt Doyle REP District 07 1
State Representative Mellissa Heermann REP District 07 2
State Representative Doug Post REP District 07 3
State Representative Roger DeGroot REP District 07 4
State Senator Tim Reed REP District 07 1
State Senator Julie Erickson REP District 07 2
State Representative Lecia Summerer REP District 08 1
State Representative John Mills REP District 08 2
State Representative Tim Reisch REP District 08 3
State Senator Heather DeVries REP District 08 1
State Senator Casey Crabtree REP District 08 2
State Representative Kenneth Teunissen REP District 09 1
State Representative Bethany Soye REP District 09 2
State Representative Jesse Fonkert REP District 09 3
State Senator Mark Willadsen REP District 09 1
State Senator Brent Hoffman REP District 09 2
State Representative Brian K. Mulder REP District 11 1
State Representative Chris Karr REP District 11 2
State Representative Tyler Bonynge REP District 11 3
State Representative Roger Russell REP District 11 4
State Representative Greg Jamison REP District 12 1
State Representative Amber Arlint REP District 12 2
State Representative Kerry Loudenslager REP District 12 3
State Representative Gary Schuster REP District 12 4
State Representative Cole Heisey REP District 12 5
State Representative Sue Peterson REP District 13 1
State Representative Tony Venhuizen REP District 13 2
State Representative Penny BayBridge REP District 13 3
State Representative Richard L. Thomason REP District 13 4
State Representative Taylor Rae Rehfeldt REP District 14 1
State Representative Tyler Tordsen REP District 14 2
State Representative Gina M Schiferl REP District 14 3
State Representative Kevin D. Jensen REP District 16 1
State Representative Karla J. Lems REP District 16 2
State Representative Richard Vasgaard REP District 16 3
State Senator Jim Bolin REP District 16 1
State Senator Nancy Rasmussen REP District 16 2
State Representative Caleb Finck REP District 19 1
State Representative Michael Boyle REP District 19 2
State Representative Jessica Bahmuller REP District 19 3
State Representative Roger Hofer REP District 19 4
State Representative Drew Peterson REP District 19 5
State Representative Ben Krohmer REP District 20 1
State Representative Jeff Bathke REP District 20 2
State Representative Lance Koth REP District 20 3
State Representative Scott Moore REP District 23 1
State Representative Brandon Black REP District 23 2
State Representative Gregory Brooks REP District 23 3
State Representative James D. Wangsness REP District 23 4
State Senator Bryan J. Breitling REP District 23 1
State Senator Spencer Gosch REP District 23 2
State Representative Mike Weisgram REP District 24 1
State Representative Jim Sheehan REP District 24 2
State Representative Will D. Mortenson REP District 24 3
State Representative Mary Weinheimer REP District 24 4
State Senator Mary Duvall REP District 24 1
State Senator Jim Mehlhaff REP District 24 2
State Senator Tom Pischke REP District 25 1
State Senator Lisa Rave REP District 25 2
State Senator Kevin R. Crisp REP District 25 3
State Senator Leslie “Doc” Heinemann REP District 25 4
State Representative Ron Frederick REP District 26A 1
State Representative Joyce Glynn REP District 26A 2
State Representative Neal Pinnow REP District 28B 1
State Representative Thomas J. Brunner REP District 28B 2
State Representative Kirk Chaffee REP District 29 1
State Representative Kathy Rice REP District 29 2
State Representative Gary L Cammack REP District 29 3
State Senator Dean Wink REP District 29 1
State Senator Beka Zerbst REP District 29 2
State Senator John Carley REP District 29 3
State Representative Patrick J. Baumann REP District 30 1
State Representative Dennis Krull REP District 30 2
State Representative Lisa Gennaro REP District 30 3
State Representative Gerold F Herrick REP District 30 4
State Representative Trish Ladner REP District 30 5
State Senator Julie Frye-Mueller REP District 30 1
State Senator Timothy R. Goodwin REP District 30 2
State Representative Mistie Caldwell REP District 31 1
State Representative Scott Odenbach REP District 31 2
State Representative Mary J. Fitzgerald REP District 31 3
State Senator Randy Deibert REP District 31 1
State Senator Ron Moeller REP District 31 2
State Representative Becky J. Drury REP District 32 1
State Representative Jamie M. Giedd REP District 32 2
State Representative Steve Duffy REP District 32 3
State Representative Curt Massie REP District 33 1
State Representative Phil Jensen REP District 33 2
State Representative Janette McIntyre REP District 33 3
State Representative Dean Aurand REP District 33 4
State Senator David Johnson REP District 33 1
State Senator Janet Jensen REP District 33 2
State Representative Mike Derby REP District 34 1
State Representative Jess Olson REP District 34 2
State Representative Jodie Frye REP District 34 3
State Representative Tony Randolph REP District 35 1
State Representative Elizabeth Regalado REP District 35 2
State Representative Larry G. Larson REP District 35 3
State Representative Tina L Mulally REP District 35 4

BH Pioneer Survey Predicts blowouts for Thune, Johnson, Noem

In yesterday’s print edition of the Black Hills Pioneer, the newspaper published an unscientific survey of their readers on a number of races, including the top three on the ticket. The respondents came in pretty strongly, selecting US Senator John Thune over Bruce Whalen in a vote of 83-20, Dusty Johnson over Taffy Howard 77-41, and similarly Governor Kristi Noem blows the doors off of Steve Haugaard in the race to the second floor:Whoof. This might not be the night for the Haugaard consolation party to be a dry event.