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More scuttlebutt in District 19. Lots has happened over the last week, and there are rumors of things yet to come…

@SoDakCampaigns

While the nattering nabobs of negativism in District 19 are busy calling their opponents RINOs (at the same time they’re crying to the far left liberal democrats), I’m hearing things. Maybe not everything, but, I’m hearing quite a bit.

There’s a lot going on in the Southern parts of the South Dakota’s James River Valley.

To recap the last week or so, I’m hearing about a bunch of mail being dropped in the District in a couple of races…

FBF FBB

and

PostcardPeterson

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… Which was quickly followed up by more advertising….

schoenfish

caleb

And that was surprisingly followed up by an unsolicited postcard from a neighboring legislative district, which you saw earlier, where a sitting legislator took one of the other candidates to task for his negative campaigning & the bad things his political allies said about other people…

negative_stace_1 negative_stace_2

Of course, that solicited a bizarre response where Stace Nelson couldn’t stop fixating on panties, and going hard negative when he claimed he wasn’t being negative….

(…Because everyone wants to hear a baritone voice talk about panties over and over during Sunday Dinner.)

And while Stace was recording his angry panty robocall, and an unknown house candidate was perseverating over an advertising piece,

other candidates were out hitting the bricks with a volunteer crew…

doorwalking crew

And the next day while the angry candidate spent their day being angry guy, blasting away at people that made him angry on social media…

…I’m hearing that while he was tweeting away, his opponent was busy matching him ad for ad on Radio, if not exceeding his radio buy.

And yet, most surprising of all, I’m hearing through the grapevine that…..that’s still not all.   I’m hearing that there’s yet more to come, and things are swirling around in the background this evening.

If you haven’t  noticed, there’s a distinct difference in style between groups of these candidates. There’s a hard-edged angry negative force that yells at people who call them out on it. And there’s the polar opposite who have just run their own race, talked to voters, and moved forward in a positive manner.

But really, all the talk on blogs is just chatter. What we think doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. It will be all up the to voters of District 19 tomorrow, from 7am to 7 pm, to decide the type of people they want representing them in Pierre.

Do they want people who can work together and accomplish things? Or do they want ineffective angry people who are there for themselves, and care little for their district, because they’re going to Pierre with an agenda.

We’ll find out tomorrow.

I’m curious as all get-out to find out what’s still coming in the race. No one is fessing up yet! And I won’t find out for a while, as I have to go write a bail bond.

Trial to proceed on Stace Nelson robocall lawsuit

Pat Powers

Yesterday, he was blasting out a negative Robocall. But today., Stace Nelson’s attorney R. Shawn Tornow was in a courtroom trying to stop a lawsuit against Nelson and his indicted co-conspirator Dan Willard for a Robocall that took place three years ago.

Unfortunately for Nelson, the case is proceeding forward.

I’m told attorneys representing Rushmore PAC and Stace Nelson (& crew) appeared in court today to discuss the case which has drawn out for months because of appeals, and a later refusal of Dan Willard to get court sanctions paid. That was what has held up the long simmering case, which is now proceeding forward, despite Nelson & Willard’s best efforts.

The judge ruled today that the motion from Nelson & crew to dismiss was denied, and the case may proceed forward as Rushmore PAC is seeking damages for affected robocall recipients who received the calls on their cell phones (if memory serves).

Kevin Jensen Newspaper ad from this past week.

Pat Powers

Kevin Jensen noticed the postcard from his opponent Bill Shorma, and asked I’d be willing to post an advertisement that he had placed in the paper. And I said “Sure! Why not?”

It’s a bit wordy, but it is nice to see he’s not interested in participating in the negativity that people are sending into his District. Jensen faces William Shorma and David Anderson for two of the District 16 House Seats tomorrow.

Keep those advertisements coming!

JensenForHouse

Why did Leonardo DiCaprio tweet about Dakota Access? What is the Obama administration feeding the environmental lobby?

@SoDakCampaigns

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Pipeline and other energy infrastructure projects across the country have been shelved or significantly delayed because of new regulations, local environmental opposition and a drop in energy prices, according to a piece in recent Wall Street Journal.

If the liberal environmental activists had their way, the same scenario would be playing out right here in South Dakota. Thankfully, South Dakotans tend to have a bit more sense.  But that hasn’t stopped others from trying to jump in on the action.

Last month, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio weighed in on the project.

The tweet at first appears to be something of a coincidence given his environmentalist tilt, and his recent movie that allegedly takes place in South Dakota, but was actually filmed elsewhere. But in the world of the left’s opposition to our country’s energy infrastructure, tweets like that don’t just drop out of thin air.

Mr. DiCaprio has worked for many years with EarthJustice, an environmental advocacy group with a long history of suing federal agencies to stop critical infrastructure projects.  In particular, EarthJustice is known for publicly opposing this specific project. Their most recent endeavor was working in tandem with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to promote a sister petition to the cleverly named “Rezpect Our Waters” petition advocating against the pipeline to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The 1,100 mile Dakota Access Pipeline Project carrying U.S. crude oil from the Bakken has received approval by four state regulatory agencies including South Dakota’s own Public Utilities Commission and this week could receive clearance to begin construction in Iowa.  Yet national environmental interests have mobilized in a last ditch effort to slow or stop a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for a mere 3% of the overall pipeline route.

So, where does Leonardo come in? A recent email shared with SDWC shows that a federal entity under the Obama Administration called the “Advisory Council of Historic Preservation (ACHP)” sent an email to a list of U.S. Army Corps staff, State officials, and tribal leaders on the proposed pipeline project.

Oh. And they included a hippie liberal group for good measure:

Earthjustice

*Click to Enlarge*

Buried among the necessary regulators and tribes in South Dakota and other states was the email address of a staff attorney at Earthjustice, “JHasselman,” or Jan Hasselman from what I can tell.  Hasselman calls Seattle home and has made a living opposing energy infrastructure projects from coast to coast, such as the Constitution Pipeline in the northeast and coal export terminals in Washington State.

While this particular e-mail went out after the tweet, the question has to be asked about what information was regularly being provided to them as the project went along? Because it’s doubtful this was a one-time occurrence.

It doesn’t take a leap of logic to consider that e-mails, which appeared to have been intended for public officials (except for Earthjustice) are quickly disseminated and are passed from them to the highest profile celebrity in their quiver of Hollywood elite in an attempt to try to manipulate public sentiment.  Groups like Earthjustice, Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council all have friends in high places, with billionaire foundations funding many of their programs and efforts to block these sorts of projects.

And who suffers? Not Leonardo, who can afford to fly jets to receive self-congratulatory environmental awards.  But the farmers and ranchers and run of the mill taxpayers who depend on cheap energy to go about the tasks of their daily lives.

At the end of the day, when will these groups stop hurting states’ sovereign right to approve and allow important energy infrastructure projects like Dakota Access?

The South Dakota PUC along with other states have already deemed the project safe and beneficial. Yet we’re stuck with groups likes Earthjustice and celebrities like Mr. DiCaprio to co-opt our right to make decisions here at home and prevent thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.

It’s time these groups stop interfering with the legal regulatory process and let us work our way towards energy independence.

Girls Staters feature Congresswoman Kristi Noem in USD’s Volante

Pat Powers

During Girls State this past week (where my #4 Daughter was in residence) the Girls Staters interviewed and featured Congresswoman Kristi Noem, where it went on-line in the Volante:

kristi noem headshot May 21 2014She couldn’t figure out why the government wanted to tax all of their farmland after the tragedy. That’s when she decided to peruse government.

Noem decided to run for the legislature in 2006.

In 2010 she ran for Congress and was chosen to represent South Dakota in Washington, D.C. When she went to Washington, D.C., she was surprised by how many South Dakotans were in the nation’s Capital.

and…

Delegates such as Brook Fraasch, Los Angeles, thought because Noem came from a similar background of many of the girls, that made her influential.

Elaine Hines, also from Los Angeles, said Noem represents South Dakota well by staying connected, and she keeps the values of the South Dakota residents.

At the end of her presentation, Noem gave advice: “Don’t be afraid of failing. This week you might be running for different offices and positions, and you might not get the first one or the second one or even the third one. Try again.”

Read it here.

 

And another Thune Video – he drops, and gives us 22. Or more.

Pat Powers

From Politico, John Thune shows us that he doesn’t just run for office, he does push-ups for it:

DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY-TWO: Do you want to see senators doing pushups? Better yet, pushups for a good cause? Of course you do. Lawmakers around Capitol Hill have been challenging each other to participate in the 22 pushup challenge to bring attention to veteran suicide prevention. Here’s the latest from South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who not only rocks the challenge but does so in a cobalt blue bro tank: https://goo.gl/QF501h

Per @SenatorTimScott, took the #22pushups challenge. How bout it @marcorubio, @JerryMoran, @SenSchumer?

A video posted by Senator John Thune (@senjohnthune) on

Read it all here.