Author: Pat Powers

On the Republican side, Congressman Dusty Johnson and US Senator Mike Rounds are the only two federal elections besides president that have been confirmed for the South Dakota ballot so far.  We await the confirmation of the petitions from Scyller Borglum who is running for US Senate, and supposedly Liz May has turned hers in as well.

On the Democrat side, Dan Ahlers for US Senate has been ….kind of quiet, as has been Whitney Raver for Congress.

And as for the other congressional democrat hopeful… what’s his face… Brian Wirth for Congress, I suspect the message displayed at his campaign website at http://brianwirth605.com/ might hold a clue:

Maybe he’s just practicing social distancing electronically?

Huge thank you to a couple of our advertisers – Coalition for Consumer Choice and Cyber Climb – who just completed their advertising run here at Dakotawarcollege.com, so we have some rare great spots available in Advertiser’s row.

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Advertising on the Dakotwarcollege.com website is based on a first come, first serve basis for available positions.  Advertising slots on the right are 300 px wide up to 350 px tall, and may be either static image, animated .gif, or other, as long as the file size is within acceptable file parameters, does not impede the loading of the website, or interfere with existing code.  All ads run through-site, and are not rotated in their positions.

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And if you’re just an avid reader, as always, please don’t forget to visit our advertisers who make it possible to bring you the best in South Dakota politics such as the South Dakota Bankers Association, the SDGOP,  the South Dakota Chapter of Americans for Prosperity,  Kristi Noem for Governor, John Thune for US Senate, Mike Rounds for Senate, and Dusty Johnson for Congress.

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COVID-19 Relief Available for South Dakota Families and Businesses
Information about federal assistance included in the CARES Act is available on Rounds’ website

PIERRE—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) has created an online hub where South Dakotans can access information about COVID-19 relief available to them through the CARES Act, which was signed into law last week.

The webpage can be found by visiting www.rounds.senate.gov/covid19. Up-to-date information about COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is also available on Rounds’ website.

“South Dakotans have many questions about the type of federal assistance they can get to make it through the COVID-19 outbreak, and how they should access it,” said Rounds. “Through our online hub, we’ve attempted to create a one-stop-shop for folks to find answers to their questions. Many of the programs authorized by the CARES Act are in the process of being implemented by the federal government. As the various departments issue guidance for their specific programs, we will update the information on our webpage. In the meantime, if South Dakotans have specific questions that aren’t answered on our webpage, they are welcome to call our office and we’ll work to find the answer. We want to be sure that families and businesses have the resources they need during this uncertain time.”

South Dakotans can contact Sen. Rounds by calling his Aberdeen, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Pierre offices. Contact information for each office is below:

Aberdeen: (605) 225-0366
Rapid City: (605) 343-5035
Sioux Falls: (605) 336-0486
Pierre: (605) 224-1450

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It’s probably a little premature, since we have a couple of days’ worth of registered mail to go – but this election appears as if it’s going to be historic when it comes to the filling of legislative seats – in a couple of ways.

The South Dakota Republican Party appears to have filled all State Senate seats. All 35 have candidates, with around 1/4-1/3 having primary elections.  Of the 35 seats, so far Democrats have filed petitions for about 14.  If this number holds, Republicans would only need to beat 4-5 of their candidates for a 2/3 supermajority.

In the House, I anticipate the GOP will concede 5 of the 70 seats. District 1 had some false starts, so Tamara St. John will likely be the only House candidate for the GOP. I’m hearing word that one of the District 18 seats was also a challenge.  Aside from that I’m told District 26A, one of the District 27 house seats, and District 28A – all Democrat majority areas – are also likely to be unfilled.

Whereas in the House, Democrats laid back and died a little bit less.  But unless there’s a tremendous rush of mailed petitions, they’re still going to be taking a beating.

I’ll be putting up a list later today, but the candidate recruitment by the SDGOP was a phenomenal effort.. while the SDDP paid the price for their collapse and abandonment by their ex-chair Paula Hawks and ex-ED Stacey Burnette in late October of 2019

When they should have been recruiting, Democrats were stuck reconstituting. And it shows.

Noem Signs 11 Bills

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem signs 11 bills today.

• HB 1295 An Act to revise certain provisions regarding contagious disease control and enforcement and to declare an emergency.
• HB 1296 An Act to revise the authority of the Governor in times of a disaster, act of terrorism, or emergency and to declare an emergency.
• HB 1298 An Act to provide for the postponement of certain elections and to declare an emergency.
• SB 20 An Act to create a monitor to review and respond to complaints related to the care provided to youth in the custody or care of certain care facilities, treatment centers, and programs.
• SB 75 An Act to provide for a habitat stamp on hunting and fishing licenses.
• SB 187 An Act to revise certain provisions regarding reemployment assistance benefits in response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 and to declare an emergency.
• SB 188 An Act to account for educational opportunities provided to students during a state of emergency and to declare an emergency.
• SB 189 An Act to provide exemptions from certain requirements for the 2019-2020 school year and to declare an emergency.
• SB 190 An Act to revise certain driver licensing requirements to allow for an extension during a statewide emergency or disaster and to declare an emergency.
• SB 192 An Act to create the small business economic disaster relief subfund, to provide for the transfer of certain funds into the subfund, to authorize the Economic Development Finance Authority to make a grant to the subfund, to provide for the continuous appropriation of the subfund, and to declare an emergency.
• SB 193 An Act to revise Senate Bill 38, An Act to revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2020, as previously enacted by the Ninety-fifth Session of the South Dakota Legislature.

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Former Democrat US Senate candidate Jay Williams is BACK! And he’s running for District 18 State Senate.

If you forgot who Jay was..he was a candidate for US Senate in 2016. Not a good one, but he was a candidate.

Williams didn’t exactly deny that he was the “If no one else would do it” candidate, but he preferred to call himself the “if you can’t find a better known” candidate.   I’m not sure that’s any better.

From there, we quickly moved into the Jay Williams tax plan where Williams went on about how South Dakota has “no income tax” and said “We’re undertaxed in South Dakota,,, an Income tax would be a good way to go.”

Williams also brought up his views on the Dem’s presidential candidates, and reiterated previously stated thoughts about Bernie Sanders, noting “I DO think he’s a moderate. He’s not a European Liberal, He’s ab American Liberal…. He’s a progressive guy is what we say.”

Read it all here.

In these dark times, it’s good to see that Democrats still have a sense of humor.

Casey Crabtree Announces Campaign for District 8 Senate

Madison, SD – Casey Crabtree has officially announced his intent to seek election to the South Dakota Senate. He will pursue the District 8 seat being vacated by Senator Jordan Youngberg, who will not be running for reelection.

“Over the years, my family and I have been fortunate to witness firsthand how the communities in District 8 come together and step up to take on any challenges,” said Crabtree. “From flooding to community fundraisers and now the Coronavirus, I can’t think of a group of people I’d be prouder to represent in Pierre.”

Crabtree is currently the Director of Economic Development and Government Affairs at Heartland Consumers Power District in Madison where he works every day to facilitate job creation, grow existing small businesses and improve the quality of life in Lake, Moody, and Miner Counties and across South Dakota. In addition, Crabtree has a background working with value-added agriculture, improving our state’s infrastructure and has an understanding of the legislative process and how to get things done in Pierre. Crabtree believes in limited government, low taxes, less regulation and brings a deep understanding of the issues facing South Dakota along with a passion for economic and community development.

“After much prayer and many discussions with family and close friends, I’ve made the decision to announce my candidacy and have been overwhelmed already by all the community support,” said Crabtree. “The people in District 8 expect their elected officials to work hard and represent their values every day and that is exactly what I intend to do.”

Crabtree and his wife Ashley both live and work in Madison with their two sons, Casyn and Callan. Ashley owns Madison Vision Clinic where she manages the clinic and practices optometry. Both Casey and Ashley are graduates of Northern State University where Casey was a member of the NSU football team. In addition to his work at Heartland, Casey volunteers his time with the DSU Trojan Athletic Club, various wildlife organizations, the Lake County Republican Party and coaching his sons in youth baseball and football. Casey is also a graduate of Leadership South Dakota.

Learn more about Casey, follow the campaign or find a headshot here – https://www.facebook.com/CrabtreeforSD

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State Representative Scyller Borglum indicates on facebook this afternoon that she’s going to be turning in petitions this afternoon to run in the Republican race for US Senate:

From Facebook: