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I caught wind of this last week, and had it further confirmed today.

The 2024 Teenage Republican Summer Camp which (except for COVID) has been convening in the Black Hills every summer for decades to help train our state’s future leaders isn’t meeting this year.  Going back well over 30 years I’ve gone to it as a party employee, or speaking. Or even more importantly I’ve had six of my seven kids attend at one point, with my #4 daughter being a counselor many years.

Literally, this has been a Republican institution and one of the Republican Party’s greatest success stories over decades for getting the next generation of young people involved and participating the political process.

It was supposed to start today. Now you can’t help but wonder if it’s forever gone.

With it not being held for lack of interest, effort, or organization, or whatever, it’s kind of shocking.  They had a registration page, and Republican Women had been promoting it, but the effort seemed to end there. The SDGOP didn’t really talk about it. Nothing from most county groups, including the Minnehaha & Pennington GOP.

This is yet another symptom of the malaise that has infected the South Dakota Republican Party. Too many people are concerned with using the Republican Party organization to make pronouncements, and not enough are concerned with making sure there’s a functioning GOP organization in 5 years.

At this rate, it may dissolve into dysfunction sooner than that.

As we inch closer to the fall elections, both Democrats and Republicans are raising money through their Federal accounts. This month, Democrats had a nice bump with money coming in in the lead-up and post State convention period, with a big influx of in-state donations that don’t seem to be coming the way of Republicans in their latest report:

July 2024 Sddp Fec by Pat Powers on Scribd

Dems raised a total of $56,329.82 against $41,020.86 of expenditures, leaving them $80,491.04. in cash on hand to fund their activities.

Big takeaways – regular donors. Look at the report. They have lots of in-state donations rolling through. Their people are writing checks and being involved.

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South Dakota Republicans tell a tale of fundraising that we saw last month from Democrats, where national funds passed through and they got to catch a little of it as it went in and out:

July 2024 SDGOP Fec by Pat Powers on Scribd

The SDGOP Federal account brought in $577,189.50. But don’t get excited, that’s all presidential money that rolled through, as $559,293.36 in expenses instantly went back out the door. $550,352.27 was for “Transfers to Affiliated/Other Party Committees.”   

BUT, that little accounting trick left the GOP with nearly $18,000 more in cash on hand than it ended last month in, with $57,370.02. 2 donations went into the party for the state convention fundraising ($5k for John Thune, and $500 for Heidi Engelhart), but otherwise everything was from out of state via the Trump campaign, as Dems did with Biden last month. 

That small cash injection was important for the SDGOP, as intra-party chaos has literally shut down many donations. So this allows them to keep paying staff and expenses for another 2-3 months.

Again, I hate to be the canary in the coal mine, but I have to point out that the SDGOP has a SERIOUS donor problem. Looking at the FEC report – they don’t have any. Rolling presidential donors through brings in a little one-time cash, but there are no regular donors sustaining the GOP, and it’s going to catch up at some point.

Add staff expenses, as well as all of the other costs of running a party, and there’s trouble in River City. Trouble that starts with T, which rhymes with D, which stands for donations!

The hard right wave of populism that has been roiling the SDGOP might be bringing in new people who take over county GOP groups, but they have no interest in a healthy Republican Party. If they somehow manage to take over next February, they may find themselves trying to dig up someone to sign a promissory note to keep the party afloat.

Stay tuned.

Whether it’s Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or someone else, it doesn’t matter who’s at the top of the ticket. The Democrat Party is synonymous with higher prices, open borders, and global instability. The American people want a change. Republicans will deliver it this November.

— John Thune (@johnthune) July 21, 2024

President Biden has made the right decision. I don’t think the fundamentals of the race will change, though. I suspect anyone who replaces President Biden at the top of the ticket will also have had a hand in his policies driving inflation, the border crisis, and overregulation.

— Dusty Johnson (@DustyJohnson) July 21, 2024

From Twitter:

This is the right decision for our nation. Whoever replaces Biden will support the same radical agenda of open borders, unchecked illegal immigration, and woke values that do not appreciate what America stands for.

The Democrats’ nominee must answer for runaway inflation, the… https://t.co/XHdh16sqYz

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) July 21, 2024

From Twitter:

The landscape of the 2024 elections just completely rewote itself in one fell swoop as President Biden has announced he is dropping out. From Fox News:

President Biden announced Thursday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from his Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill, top donors and Hollywood stars after a disastrous debate performance last month.

The unprecedented announcement came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers had begun to publicly call for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former President Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.

Read the entire story here.

Your thoughts?

Looks like the Minnehaha GOP is getting along as well as ever, as GOP Activist and Minnehaha County Precinct Committeewoman Shamra Johnson is letting the Minnehaha GOP Vice-Chair Jennifer Foss have it with both barrels because she allowed Democrats to sponsor their Lincoln Day Dinner:

What brought this on?  Allegedly, an owner of one of the businesses had a ‘not cool’ comment on social media with regards to the recent assassination attempt against former President Trump.

Minnehaha County Republicans, get your popcorn ready..

Protecting Americans
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
July 19, 2024

BIG News

The assassination attempt on President Trump was unacceptable. The events of Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania are a tragic picture of our current political climate and we all must agree to turn the temperature down. While the violent rhetoric in politics may have contributed to the assassination attempt, the Secret Service failed to uphold its duty that day.

I’ve been on briefings with House Republicans, U.S. Secret Service, and FBI officials as we try to understand how this plot unfolded and how this security gap occurred. The House Committees on Oversight, Homeland Security, and the Judiciary have all scheduled hearings next week to hear from Secret Service Director Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, and FBI Director Wray on the security protocols during the rally. I urge these officials to show up at these hearings, to testify, and answer questions. This shooting should never have happened, and it certainly should not happen again.

I extend my condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore who lost his life on Saturday, and I am grateful for the work of first responders and Secret Service officers who ran into the gunfire to protect Trump and others in the crowd.

BIG Idea

Aerostar makes radar and stratospheric balloon systems (think about that Chinese spy balloon we saw across America, but Aerostar won’t spy on you). Their manufacturing facility in Sioux Falls will help build platforms used by NASA, Google, and the U.S. Department of Defense. I joined the ribbon cutting for this new facility that will achieve dynamic missions from communications, data relay, surveillance, intelligence, and more.

BIG Update

President Biden is pushing more progressive policies to reform the Supreme Court. It’s unfortunate the Court continues to be a tool for political maneuvering. We must protect the integrity of the Court.

I introduced legislation to prevent liberal proposals to expand the Court by keeping the Supreme Court at nine Justices. Packing the Supreme Court would turn the Court into a political football that changes with every presidential administration. This would be detrimental to our government. My legislation has nearly 150 cosponsors, and I hope the House considers my legislation soon to protect the Court.

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