Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Brandon Man Indicted for Possession of a Controlled Substance

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Wayne Jerry Ellingson, 41, Brandon, has been indicted by a Minnehaha County Grand Jury. Ellingson was indicted on one count of possession of a controlled substance, fentanyl, class 5 felony, punishable by up to 5 years in the state penitentiary and/or $10,000 fine.

Ellingson is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Brandon Police Department and the Division of Criminal Investigation and being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

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Editor:  I read this, and was kind of going “meh,” until I googled this gentleman’s name….  And then I understood why the AG is in the middle of prosecuting it. 

While Paula Hawks was busy hanging out with “Abortion Barbie” Wendy Davis this week, her staff was filing a FEC report that has her burning through her cash faster than it comes in – an apocalyptic sign for a campaign that hasn’t even started in earnest.

Hawks Pre Primary FEC

Taking in $35,484 in a period in which Noem took in nearly three times the amount at 106,000, the Democrat challenger to Congresswoman Kristi Noem doesn’t have the luxury that Noem does – 1.6 million in the bank. And while Noem still managed to bank about $9,000, Hawks is spending more than comes in ($37,812) and eating into her campaign kitty, reducing her cash on hand to $113,705.

To put it in election terms… That’s about one statewide mailing.

What did Hawks spend her campaign cash on?

Some went for rent. She spent about $600 at Ad arts for signs. And then salaries. In fact, $23,578 appears to have gone for salaries during this period, not leaving much for actual campaigning.

And she had her hair done, with $117.06 going to “Vanessens Hair Design.” You know, that probably wasn’t the best buy. If she’d gone with the flow-bee, she would have managed to save a few bucks.

Even with the “Super Mini-Vac” version at 114.90, she could have saved at least a few dollars. And had it on hand any time she needed it.

It’s a thought for a campaign on a tight budget.

You probably don’t remember the scummy “South Dakota Taxpayer’s PAC” from 2 years back, so I’ll provide the reminder:

If you look at 2013’s House Bill 1199, it doesn’t really reference Obamacare. In fact, it’s a bill to “prohibit the sharing of patient records in a health information exchange by the state without written authorization from the patient.”

And then there’s the other thing. Anderson wasn’t one of the 10 votes in committee to send the measure to the 41st day.

In fact, on the day the vote was taken – on January 21, 2013 – David Anderson wasn’t present in the legislature.  In fact, he wouldn’t be appointed to the legislature for another 4 months.

Read that here.

Yes, in the last election, this questionable organization ran by a Ken McGregor of Box Elder did hit jobs on various candidates, and they’re back again. Funded Singularly by South Dakota Gun Owners in the past, they have yet to file a pre-primary report for this campaign season.

But, while they haven’t filed a report yet, they’ve started the same nonsense this election cycle that they were guilty of 2 years ago – Flat out lies.

For example, the bill cites Senate Bill 150 in 2015, as one of several bills she cast a vote on the card author cites as partial evidence that she voted 7 times for “Higher taxes on your car and your fuel.”

The problem? This bill which would have required electric car owners to pay a minor fee for their share of using the roads (since they don’t really pay gas taxes like the rest of us)…

… It never made it to the floor of the Senate.  Haverly never voted on it. She never even came close to voting on it. But, they’re citing it as the SD Taxpayer’s PAC flies again in the 2016 primary races.

How do you attack someone on the basis of things they never did? On votes they never made?  Don’t ask me, but I’m sure Ken McGregor can tell you.

Ken McGregor of 15148 225th St in Box Elder (605-593-4541) still remains the committee chair and treasurer for this PAC. Ironically, it appears to still be a PAC of lies.

And we’ll see if it remains solely funded by the SD Gun Owners again.

I was just informed that State Representative Scott Munsterman’s wife, Mary Jeanne, who has bravely battled cancer for many years, passed away this morning.  Visitation is planned for 5pm-7pm on Thursday, June 2nd. Her funeral will be Friday, June 3rd at 10:00am. Both will be at at GracePoint Wesleyan Church in Brookings, SD.

State Senate Candidate Roger Solum was nice enough to drop an ad at SDWC to encourage people to visit his new website for his State Senate primary campaign.

Please click on the link on the left hand side of the page, and take a look around.

And as always, I’d encourage you to visit our long list of advertisers, and check out their websites, such as United States Senator John Thune, Americans for Prosperity SD Chapter, Congresswoman Kristi Noem, the fine barristers at Redstone Law Firm, as well as my own Dakota Campaign Store, one of the State’s largest suppliers of campaign materials.

And if you might be interested, we do have other advertising spots available. Drop a note to the webmaster for more information!

(And Bonus, we have a new advertiser coming in June already!)

The Argus Leader is covering Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s comprehensive measure to overhaul the IHS system – something that’s been long overdue:

Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., said she plans to bring a bill that will address contracting, recruitment, billing and accountability at the federal agency following reports that indicated two reservation hospitals in South Dakota provided fatally flawed health care.

“We’ve known for decades that IHS was not meeting the needs of Native American residents in the region,” Noem said in an interview with Argus Leader Media, “but we haven’t seen reforms put into place that we know will really create positive change. That’s why this bill is so thorough, so we can have real solutions, not just a fix.”

and…

Noem’s broad legislation would cut red tape to allow the agency to more easily enter into long-term contracts for care services and faster hiring, to provide additional recruitment incentives like removing taxes on student loan repayment for medical staff and expanding the loan repayment program to include management staff.

It would also require the agency to develop a formula to ensure that areas with the most critical need get more funding for care accessed at non-IHS hospitals, negotiate Medicare-like rates for services from private providers and pay back private providers for any backlogged health care bills.

and…

“I’m just not going to leave this in their hands to decide what’s right,” Noem said, “because they haven’t been able to do that.”

Read all of this important article here.

US Senator John Thune is taking action over accusations regarding the Facebook organization manipulating news to eliminate conservative topics over liberal ones.

A top Senate Republican is pressing Facebook to explain how it curates news for its Trending Topics feature in response to a report that the company’s employees may have suppressed stories related to conservatives.

The leader of the chamber’s Commerce Committee, Sen. John Thune, said in a statement the social network “must answer these serious allegations,” first reported by Gizmodo, “and hold those responsible to account if there has been political bias in the dissemination of trending news.”

“Any attempt by a neutral and inclusive social media platform to censor or manipulate political discussion is an abuse of trust and inconsistent with the values of an open Internet,” Thune said.

Read the entire article here.

From the Argus Leader:

Brown, who had already endorsed Trump, was asked by the Boston Herald about whether he wanted to be Trump’s running mate. Brown volunteered Thune.

“I feel very strongly that John would be fantastic,” Brown said. “John’s from a smaller state but I don’t think states matter anymore. What John provides is he will carry the entire central part of this country, the left coast and the right coast, and he is that bridge to the establishment where he is so deeply respected on the left and the right, inside and out.”

and…

For what it’s worth, Thune didn’t endorse a candidate in the race for the GOP nomination.

And last year, GOP lawmakers in the Legislature did this to allow Thune to run for his U.S. Senate seat this year and be on a presidential ticket as well.

Read it here.

“Respected by the left and the right” sums up our senior US Senator, although the liberal extremists in the state Democrat party may disagree. We’d be well served to have him as our nation’s VP, although we’d hate to lose him here in SD.

An attendee at last weeks’ South Dakota Newspaper Association’s convention snapped this for me, and passed it on. Apparently members (around 130) were informally polled and asked who they thought the GOP nominee for Governor was going to be in 2018:

47% picked Marty Jackley, 23% picked Mark Micklelson, 9% picked Kristi Noem, and 5% picked Matt Michels. 17% went for “other,” assuming someone else is going to emerge.