Is there anyone near Sioux Falls who isn’t helping to host the Jackley for Congress fundraiser tomorrow at THE ALLIANCE? That’s a long list of hosts/contributors for the event for the anticipated Republican nominee for Congress. If you’re in Sioux Falls tomorrow, it looks like that’s the political event to be at!
From my mailbox, State Senator Sue Peterson has a fundraiser coming up in Sioux Falls in April. Check it out:
Well, this sleepy race seems to have gotten more exciting.
With Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff announcing he was focusing on re-election, rather than making a run at the open seat on the Public Utilities Commission, former State Representative Don Haggar had been viewed as having an open run to the convention contest in late June.
Well… maybe not.
In recent days, the word has gotten much louder that District 19 State Representative Jessica Bahmuller (House Whip, and current House Commerce and Energy committee Vice-Chair) has expressed strong interest in the race, and may enter the contest before the Republican convention. You might put her down as 90% in. Jessica, of course, is the daughter of long-time legislator and current State Senator Arch Beal who is convalescing from a stroke earlier this year. Jessica is a strong campaigner, and would be considered to be evenly matched in a convention contest. In addition, she would easily prevail in a fall election against most any Democrat.
Noted as eyeing the race herself is former Democrat turned Republican State Representative Peri Pourier, who has been mentioned recently as expressing interest. She might have a tougher time with GOP delegates, having changed parties in 2025.
Also said to be looking at running for an assortment of constitutional offices is the often banned District 25 Republican State Senator Tom Pischke. Pischke has been said to be looking at a couple of races, but is not being specific, and PUC is one of them that came up in conversations. If Pischke was a convention nominee, he would pose the most risk for Republicans to lose the seat due to continually being in the news for doing dumb things.
That’s the latest update. You know where to find me if you hear of other candidates.
Stay tuned.
Todd Wilkinson Announces Campaign for South Dakota House
De Smet, SD — Todd Wilkinson announced today that he will seek election to the South Dakota House of Representatives from District 8.
Wilkinson had previously been preparing to run for the State Senate. Following recent developments in the race, he said he believes the House is now the best place for him to serve the district.
“When I first began considering a run, my goal was simply to step forward and serve the people of our district,” Wilkinson said. “With the changes that have taken place in the Senate race, I believe the best way for me to do that is by running for the House.”
Earlier this month, Senator Casey Crabtree announced he would suspend his campaign for Congress and return his focus to the State Senate.
“I respect Casey and the service he has provided to our district and our state,” Wilkinson said. “Rather than creating a contested Senate primary, I believe it makes more sense to move forward in the House race and focus on representing our communities.”
Both District 8 House seats are open this year, as neither Rep. Tim Reisch nor Rep. Tim Walburg is seeking re-election after their service in the Legislature. Wilkinson said he appreciates their service and their work representing District 8 in Pierre.
“I believe our district benefits from leaders who focus on practical solutions and work constructively to get things done,” Wilkinson said. “That’s the approach I’ll bring to Pierre.”
A native of De Smet, Wilkinson said he looks forward to visiting with voters across the district in the weeks ahead.
“I’m grateful for the encouragement and support I’ve already received,” Wilkinson said. “I’m excited to continue this campaign and talk with voters about how we can keep South Dakota strong for the next generation.”
The Republican Primary Election will be held on June 2, 2026. Early voting begins April 17, 2026.
For more information; visit ToddWilkinsonSD.com.
About Todd Wilkinson
Todd Wilkinson is a fourth-generation South Dakotan, cattleman, attorney, and community leader from De Smet. He has operated the Wilkinson Law Firm for nearly 40 years and served two decades as Kingsbury County State’s Attorney. Todd also operates Wilkinson Livestock with his son Nick and served as President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in 2023.
Proven. Practical. South Dakota.
For more information, visit ToddWilkinsonSD.com
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Looks like this weekend is the weekend to stay home and clean the garage, as we have two events from the also-rans trying to gin up interest in their races for Governor.
First Scowly McScowly face Toby Doeden has text blasted us all to let us know he’s going to be flown in his plane from Aberdeen to Brookings on Sunday (right after flying here for the Friday night Lincoln Day Dinner) and wants to hand out free food to bribe us to come as he claims he wants to hear our toughest questions.
Like, what is your actual plan to reduce property taxes, because claiming you’re somehow going to form a “Department of External Revenue” is complete bullsh*t. I suppose you could also always ask him about his TIF’s in Aberdeen, or his million dollar forgiven loan COVID windfall.
I’m guessing he’s more interested in getting more people to sign his petitions since we’re coming down to the wire.
I see in the local shopper paper (because that’s where people go to find political news) that the home of the Jacks is also going to be inflicted with 4th place Gubernatorial candidate Jon Hansen on Friday night before the Annual GOP Lincoln Day Dinner trying to raise money.
Hansen is having a separate fund-failure where he’s going to try to meet people in Brookings? Is Pizza Ranch busy that night? This is kind of curious, because he physically lives closer to Brookings than any other gubernatorial candidate. Yet, this host list might be the shortest host list I’ve ever seen. I think the one “hosted” fundraiser Toby Doeden had was hosted by more hosts that this one.
Curiously, for the hosts, I don’t think a single one of them actually lives within the city limits of Brookings. One is in Moody County. Not a lot of meet & greets in the middle of the afternoon, either. Apparently, they’re going for the childless to attend.
Needless to say, hard pass on this one as well.
Thune: American Elections Are for American Citizens
“Democrats seem not to care very much about ensuring that American citizens – and American citizens only – are voting in our national elections.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
You can say one thing about the SDGOP. You don’t have to have to raise money if you fail to accomplish anything whatsoever.
March 2026 SDGOP FEC Report by Pat Powers
The State Republican Party’s monthly report to the FEC for spending out of the state’s federal account notes that they raised a whopping $21 from donors. Not twenty-one thousand. Twenty-one bucks, period. To their credit, they only spent $15. Which I’m not so sure they should brag about that either, because it’s more indicative of hibernation than activity.
Not kidding, I spent way more than that on comic books last month. I did get one of my “grails” I’ve been wanting to return to my collection for over 40 years, and was pleased to get it. I know you as a reader spent more than $15 on adult beverages or in Grudznick’s case, more that $15 on breakfast at Tally’s. But the point is that the SDGOP shouldn’t be bragging about doing nothing. We can all agree that a political party’s job is to do something. In that, they apparently failed.
What else? It’s not like there is any donor to note. Otherwise, the SDGOP did transfer over $1424.31 from the state account, and collected $3.53 in interest.
You can read the federal report yourself. And the SDGOP can go back to sleep.
Thune: The SAVE America Act Protects Our Elections and Our Youth
“[Democrats] will be forced to defend their outrageous positions on these issues – and explain to the American people why common sense and the Democratic Party have parted ways.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Click here to watch the video.
Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: March 8 – 14, 2026
Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up. This past week was an exciting week as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate. Our office helped author nearly 25% of this legislation which modernizes rural housing programs and cuts unnecessary red tape that has been slowing housing development. This is the first major update to the Rural Housing Service in over a decade and it is now on its way to the House of Representatives for final passage. Additionally, I hosted many South Dakotans in the office for meetings, attended hearings, briefings, speaking engagements and more. More on this and the rest of my week in the Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota groups I visited with: South Dakota School Nutrition Association; South Dakotans with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; David Reiss, Executive Director of Central South Dakota Enhancement District and Lynne Keller Forbes, Executive Director of Southeast Council of Governments; South Dakota Bankers Association; South Dakota Soybean; Matthew Brakke, Agent at Great Plains General Office with New York Life Insurance Company; South Dakota TRIO Educators; South Dakotans with Afterschool Alliance; and Jose Marie-Griffiths, President of Dakota State University.
I also attended a Senate Youth Program Reception and met Chloe from Pierre!
Met with South Dakotans from: Brookings, Lake Preston, Madison, Mellette, Miller, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Sturgis, Valley Springs, Vermillion and Yankton.
Other meetings: Tom Schultz, Chief of the USDA Forest Service; General Randall Reed, Commander of the USTRANSCOM; General Grynkewich, Commander of the United States European Command; Katie Sutton, Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy; and Ambassador Ahlin of Sweden.
I also met with Kevin Warsh, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Chairman nominee. Kevin brings deep experience, strong economic judgement and a clear commitment to Fed independence. He will help keep the central bank accountable and focused on its statutory mission. I look forward to supporting his nomination. Once confirmed, I look forward to working with Kevin to protect our economy so American families can thrive.
Additionally, I attended the American Bankers Association 2026 Washington Summit and participated in a moderated discussion with Kirsten Sutton, Executive Vice President of Congressional Relations and Legislative Affairs at American Bankers Association. I also went to the SCSP AI + Education Summit, and did a panel discussion with Yll Bajaktari, CEO of SCSP, and Chris Malachowsky, who is Co-Founder of Nvidia.
I also attended our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was our speaker this week.
Hearings: This week I attended a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Briefings: I attended three classified briefings: two with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the third with the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Votes taken: 6 – This week I voted to confirm General Joshua Rudd as head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. I look forward to working with General Rudd in his new role through my work as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.
I also voted for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate 89-10. I helped author nearly 25% of this bipartisan piece of legislation, which is the first major update to the Rural Housing Service in more than a decade. Click here to read the press release, and click here to watch my floor speech on the bill.
My Staff in South Dakota visited: Mitchell and Sioux Falls.
Steps taken: 62,325 steps or 30.43 miles.
Video of the Week: On Sunday, I went on Bloomberg and Fox News to talk about Iran. Click the links to watch.
Stephanie Sauder announces re-election intentions for District 4 State Senator
BRYANT, SD — Stephanie Sauder announces she is running for re-election as State Senator to continue serving District 4 in northeastern South Dakota.
Sauder was first elected to the State Senate in 2022 after serving one term in the House of Representatives. She has served on both the House and Senate Education committees, is the current vice-chair of the Senate Transportation committee and served on the House Ag and Natural Resources committee. She was also a member of the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee and appointed to the 100th Legislative Session Commemoration and Extraordinary Cost Fund to Special Education committees.
Throughout her legislative service, she has been a strong advocate for public and technical education, agriculture, the elderly, rural and community service health care, strengthening economic opportunities and supporting local governments. She has been the senate prime sponsor on several bills that protect District 4 and South Dakota’s most vulnerable – children and the elderly.
“To me, serving in the legislature is about helping people and listening to them as they express their concerns,” said Sauder. “Doing the research and homework comes next to make thoughtful and meaningful decisions to protect and strengthen our communities and provide future opportunities across the district and state.”
During her tenure as a legislator, Sauder has built the reputation as a highly-respected, practical, common-sense leader, willing to listen and consider all sides of an issue before the votes are taken and decisions are made. Drawing on her years of experience in public education, local government, as a small business owner and generational farmer, her focus is on real District 4 and South Dakota concerns and issues.
Senator Sauder and her husband Jerry live in rural Bryant. She is active in her church, a member of the Parkview and Bryant Legion auxiliaries, and local volunteer. She also serves on the ITC board of directors.
“Serving District 4 has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and not for one day I have taken my role and responsibilities for granted nor forgotten who I represent,” said Sauder. “I am honored and grateful for the faith and trust D4 voters have given me. I believe in showing up, working hard, and doing what is right for our communities. I will continue to serve our district with dedication, integrity, and pride.”
District 4 includes Clark, Hamlin, Deuel, Grant, rural Codington and part of Roberts counties. Absentee voting begins on April 17, 2026, with the primary election scheduled for June 2, 2026.