Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Governor Noem Orders Flags at Half Staff in Honor of Former Governor Harvey Wollman

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that flags will be at half-staff from sunrise until sundown statewide, effective immediately, in honor of former Governor Harvey Wollman. Flags will remain at half-staff until the day of Governor Wollman’s interment, which will be announced at a later time.

“Harvey Wollman stood up and answered the call of duty, stepping into the role of Governor at a difficult time for our state,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “During his brief tenure as governor, he advanced water development in our state and helped bring about the eventual repeal of the state’s personal property tax. In South Dakota, we honor our leaders. We honor their accomplishments. We honor our history.”

Wollman ran for Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with Governor Richard Kneip in 1974. When Governor Kneip resigned to become the United States Ambassador to Singapore in 1978, Wollman stepped up to the role of Governor of South Dakota. Before serving in the executive branch, Wollman served in the State Senate from 1969-1975, including as Democrat leader from 1971-1974.

Details on funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.

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The last living Democrat to serve as Governor of South Dakota, Harvey Wollman, has passed away.  According to the Trail of Governor bio on Wollman:

Governor Harvey Wollman was the twenty-sixth governor of South Dakota, serving from 1978 to 1979. Wollman was born on March 14, 1935 in Frankfort, South Dakota and grew up on his family’s farm in Spink County. Wollman graduated from Doland High School in 1953. He married Anne Geigel in 1958, and they had three children: Kristine, Michael and Daniel.

and..

In 1974, Governor Richard Kneip invited Wollman to join him on the Democratic ticket as the candidate for lieutenant governor. The Kneip-Wollman team was elected, and Wollman took office in 1975.

Governor Kneip resigned in 1978 to become the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. Wollman became the first lieutenant governor to succeed to the governorship, taking office on July 24, 1978. He was sworn in as governor by his brother, Chief Justice Roger Wollman.

Although Governor Wollman only served in office for five months, he was not a caretaker. As governor, he focused on water project development, proposed a plan to accelerate the elimination of the personal property tax, and highlighted the threat that railroad abandonment posed to the agricultural industry.

Read that here.

Services are pending at this time.

I do see that Secretary of State Candidate Monae Johnson has posted a video/tv ad in support of her candidacy on Twitter in recent days:

The Election is 3 weeks away! I would appreciate your support on November 8th! pic.twitter.com/wrvdjQhVcK

— Monae Johnson for SD Secretary of State (@Monae4SDSOS) October 18, 2022

Republican Chris Nelson is on the air with his TV ad for the 2022 election season. Check it out:

Jamie Smith: “We Need More Things to Tax”

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, at an event with the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary, Jamie Smith told the audience that “We need more things to tax.”  He then doubled down, saying “I’m advocating for taxes on new things.” You can find a video of Jamie Smith’s remarks here.

“When someone tells you who they are, believe them,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “I have cut taxes for South Dakotans, and my number one priority is eliminating the sales tax on food. Jamie Smith proved today that he can’t be trusted with South Dakota’s finances.”

Jamie Smith has a record of raising taxes. He opposed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which then-Congresswoman Noem helped pass for the people of South Dakota. That bill put $2,400 back in the pockets of the average South Dakota family.

Jamie Smith also wanted to make it easier for counties to raise taxes on South Dakotans, and he cosponsored a bill to raise the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.85%.

Governor Kristi Noem is proud that South Dakota has a low, simple tax code. South Dakota has no personal income tax, no corporate income tax, and no statewide personal property tax. Governor Noem has proposed eliminating the sales tax on food, which will lower the tax burden on South Dakotans by another $100 million.

To learn more about Jamie Smith’s history of supporting high taxes, visit JamieandJoe.com.

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And Jamie Smith explains what his administration would look like…

.@RepJamieSmith said today that he wants to find “more things to tax.” Then he doubled down.

South Dakotans can’t afford Jamie and his tax increases. pic.twitter.com/ENpFCttLt5

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) October 17, 2022

In case you were wondering how the Brian Bengs campaign was going to go out.. it’s not with a bang. Or even a “beng.”  It’s just going to quietly go away, as he hardly has enough left to go on the air, much less to do any mailings, etcetera.

He might be able to prevent going too far into debt if he closes his doors now, and saves those last couple of weeks of salary:

Brian Bengs 2022 3q FEC by Pat Powers

In his 2022 3rd quarter FEC Report, Democrat US Senate candidate Bengs reported raising $193,997.19 against spending of $167,871.33, leaving him cash on hand of $54,335.13…. with a pre-existing debt of $20,000 to himself.

Uh oh.. This campaign is sinking fast, and $34k is hardly going to pay staff and overhead for the last month, much less get ads on TV, Social Media, direct mail, radio, newspapers.. etcetera and so on.

I think we can call this race over and done with, because Bengs hardly has money to move this campaign forward.

And another election winds down.

It seems to have been a very good fundraising quarter for Republican candidates in South Dakota. Alongside Senator Thune, Congressman Dusty Johnson also posted strong numbers:

Dusty Johnson 2022 3q FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

Congressman Johnson was able to boast $327,188.90 raised against $122,396.59 in expenses, leaving him $2,264,896.91 cash on hand to use to build towards his next race. (Because he certainly doesn’t have one now.)Congressman Dusty Johnson posts very good 3q FEC Report: $327k raised, $122k spent, $2.26M cash on hand

Is there a Democrat in the race for US Senate at this point? Because it seems that while Brian Bengs is busy playing on social media, US Senator John Thune is doing actual campaign things, and completely crushing it.

First and foremost in campaigning is raising money so you can run a race. And Senator Thune had a very, very good fundraising quarter:

US Sen John Thune Oct 2022 FEC Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

From the period of time from July 1 through September 30, Senator Thune raised an eye-popping $1.19 MILLION in the most recent fundraising quarter.  (Is that a new record for SD? Because it sounds as if it could be). Against this, Senator Thune spent $659,317.78 in campaign expenditures and refunds, leaving him $17,419,927.87 cash on hand.

Bengs does not have his FEC Report filed yet, but we’re waiting with great interest to see if he managed to raise 10% of what Senator Thune has.

Can you say a race is over when it never really began?   Because at this point, I don’t think there’s anything left to do except Brian Bengs’ concession speech.

If you recall a couple weeks ago, Democrat PUC Candidate Jeff Barth took great umbrage because he couldn’t see Chris Nelson’s sign disclaimer from the road.  Given all that sturm und drang over the size of a disclaimer that was always there, do you think Democrats are going to expend the same amount of energy over one of their own who actually forgot to include the disclaimer on the piece?

If you can find it, you’ve got better eyes than I.

Now if Democrats would only apply the same rules they demand of others for themselves.