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From today’s mail, the Dusty Johnson campaign continues to play pin the tax increase on the donkey, with Jon Hansen joining the debate as Dusty for Governor points out Hansen authored the bill that captured the statewide sales tax hike.

Obviously this irks the Rhoden campaign, as they took to social media earlier today to claim they didn’t raise taxes..

It was a lie when Dusty Johnson claimed I raised sales taxes. And it’s still a lie when he tells it about Jon Hansen.

I worked with Speaker Hansen to deliver the largest property tax cut in SD history. We put aside our political differences and got the job done.

South Dakotans… https://t.co/XrMRYG3rqs

— Larry Rhoden (@LarryRhodenSD) May 7, 2026

(insert eyeroll here). The Governor’s team is really splitting hairs on this one, as yes, he proposed the measure (with Hansen) and signed the bill, which has new sales taxes as a component to let counties use them to offset property taxes, as well as allowing cities to get into the sales tax hike game themselves.

No matter how you slice it, sales taxes are going to be going up.  In fact, under the Governor’s post, someone linked a post I was going to refer to as an independent opinion on the whole thing:

Two of the laws use revenue from a higher state sales tax rate and an optional county sales tax to reduce property taxes for homeowners. The third creates a sales tax that cities can use temporarily to pay for special projects such as building an arena.

One of Gov. Larry Rhoden’s three opponents for the Republican nomination for governor is U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, who has said the new laws will raise the maximum sales tax rate to 10%.

During a recent press conference, Rhoden said that figure is “fabricated.”

and..

when I go to Pierre in the future, the taxes on my hotel room could be 10.5%, consisting of:

• The 4.5% state sales tax.
• A 2% city sales tax.
• The 1.5% tourism tax.
• A 1% city bed, board and booze tax.
• A 1% city special projects tax.
• And a 0.5% county sales tax.

and..

All of which is to say that when you’re looking for truth in politics, ignore the rhetoric and check the receipts.

Read the entire story here.

Whether anyone involved in the passage of the sales tax increase plan cares to admit it, sales taxes are going up, some will offset property taxes, and the rest will go into government coffers at some level.

That’s not a decrease in sales taxes.  At all.

The big issues that Dusty Johnson has been hitting on in his race for Governor have been the sales tax increases passed this last legislative session, with proceeds being shifted over to reduce property taxes for homeowners.

Governor Rhoden had been the sole target of Johnson advertising on the issue. But with an ad released to twitter tonight, Gubernatorial wannabe Jon Hansen is now being named and included in the Johnson campaign’s advertising as being responsible for upcoming sales tax increases:

As of yet, the Hansen campaign’s efforts to raise money at Pizza Ranch have not been successful enough to put Hansen on the air.

With FCC public files not appearing to show Hansen as having made anything in terms of ad buys to date on either TV or radio, it’s unclear where the campaign is going to go in the last thirty days. Except nowhere fast.

From the internets, the SDGOP chair raises an item of concern about RINO’s.

Good gosh.. what could be the source of all these RINO’s coming into the party…?

It might behoove the (former 32-year Democrat) SDGOP Chair to quit worrying about all the supposed RINO’s in the party, and maybe think about actually doing his job to raise money and support Republican officeholders.

Flags at Half-Staff at State Capitol in Honor of Karen Muenster

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol from sunrise until sunset on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in honor of former state legislator Karen Muenster. She served in the South Dakota Senate from 1985-1992.

A memorial service will be held at 6 pm CT on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Vermillion, SD.

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Elections have consequences – Support a new path forward
by Samuel McCarty, Candidate for Minnehaha County Auditor

It is often said that elections have consequences, and Minnehaha County has faced challenges following the 2022 election of Leah Anderson. June 2 presents an opportunity to choose a new direction.

Our leaders should be focused on the future; anticipating and addressing challenges proactively. Since taking office, Auditor Anderson has focused extensively on past events. The effort to scrutinize the 2020 presidential election consumed much of her early tenure, and the ballot counting process in 2024 took longer than any other county in the state.

As we look ahead to the 2026 election cycle, we’ve already experienced delays in absentee voting deadlines and heard concerns from long-time residents about voting difficulties related to mail-forwarding services.

While Auditor Anderson has addressed these issues in her own way, the role of Chief Elections Officer deserves strong, clear leadership that ensures smooth and timely processes. This election is an opportunity to bring accountability and renewed efficiency to Minnehaha County.

My candidacy for County Auditor is based on a forward-looking vision, focused on improving the efficiency of the office and rebuilding trust through transparent and reliable processes. My background in civil engineering and land surveying has taught me how to develop streamlined approaches and lead teams in making data-driven decisions. I am committed to making Minnehaha County a leader in delivering timely, accurate election results.

Beyond elections, the auditor’s office plays a vital role in managing the county’s budget, especially as we anticipate changes with property taxes and discussions about a potential county sales tax. We need leadership that can confidently manage these responsibilities without being distracted by past controversies.

As someone who plans projects with careful attention to what lies ahead, I want to bring that same focus to the auditor’s office. It’s time to move forward with clear, competent leadership that empowers a dedicated team to serve Minnehaha County with excellence.

I invite you to join me in supporting a new path forward on June 2, ensuring that our county is recognized for strong, trustworthy administration that meets the needs of every resident.

You would have imagined that the SDGOP would have thought better when it came to light just who they were bringing to the Republican State Convention as a VIP.

Well, with this crew in charge, you can imagine they would have thought better, but that doesn’t mean they did. Because they dropped this graphic on social media trying this week trying to get convention-goers to buy tickets:

They want people to throw out the cash to go see a former no-name activist from a libertarian group.  Why do I say former activist from the Young Americans for Liberty group?  In case I need to remind you of my earlier post on the subject:

…if you have daughters, you might want to demand they find a different VIP.

From FOX News:

The president of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) has been placed on leave as the conservative group investigates sexual assault allegations against him and other leaders in the nonprofit.

YAL’s board released a statement saying it was investigating the matter and calling on anyone who had evidence regarding the claims to come forward to report it. 

The organization, which works to elect conservative and libertarian leaders across the country, said that President Cliff Maloney and vice president of grassroots, Justin Greiss, had been placed on leave until the investigation was complete. 

Read that here.

And that apparently was not all. Among other accusations..

Cambria Co., PA (WJAC) — After nearly ten hours of deliberations, which began Wednesday afternoon, spanned into the night and continued Thursday morning, a jury has reached a verdict in the trial of political commentator Cliff Maloney Jr., who is accused of drugging and raping a woman at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 2013.

The jury found Maloney not guilty on four of the six charges he faced, which included rape of an impaired person, rape of an unconscious victim, aggravated indecent assault of an impaired person and aggravated indecent assault of an unconscious person.

However, the jury could not reach a verdict on the two other charges of aggravated indecent assault without consent and sexual assault.

Read that here.

While the SDGOP claims that this speaker is a proven leader, and a bold disruptor... they left out a lot.  Is the State Republican party scraping down that far in the barrel that this resembles anything remotely close to a VIP?  Are they going to expect the party’s slate of candidates to get within 10 miles of this guy?

Yes, yes they are.   And they deserve every single ounce of guff they end up on the receiving end of for giving this guy a stage.  We will see who wants to actually sponsor this event.

Anyone who has their head on straight, will not just give it a wide berth, but will actively run away from this one.

Rhoden for Governor Releases “Good Things” Ad

Pierre, SD – Today, the Rhoden for Governor campaign released the “Good Things” ad. You can find the ad here.

“You know what I love about this truck? It’s built for the long haul – just like South Dakota. And I’m working to keep it that way,” said Governor Larry Rhoden in the ad while standing in front of his old pickup truck.

In the ad, Governor Rhoden highlights the following results that he has delivered:

• Cutting property taxes by the most in South Dakota history;
• Reducing crime – including by double digits in many categories;
• Investing in education, including groundbreaking advancements in career and technical education;
• Investing in rural healthcare through the Rural Health Transformation Program; and
• Keeping taxes the 2nd lowest in America.

“Some folks want you to think South Dakota’s broken. It’s not. Things aren’t perfect – but here, we fix things,” continued Governor Rhoden. “Good things last when you take care of them. And we’re just getting started.”

You can learn more about Governor Rhoden’s results at RhodenResults.com.

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South Dakota Libertarians gathered this last weekend, and have offered their candidates unto South Dakota for the 2026 campaign.  And those candidates so anointed thus are..

Well.. that’s kind of anti-climactic.

So many things not on my Political bingo card this year. And here we have another one:

Former State Representative Neal Tapio filed paperwork late this last week to run as an independent in the District 5 House Race.

Yes, the same Neal Tapio who ran for Congress, with a campaign that included accusations of racism after verbally haranguing an inter-faith prayer group at the Capitol, and claimed towards the end of the campaign on a hot mic that “all that has to happen is that there will be one more terrorist attack between now and then and I will be the, just by the Trump effect, I will be the candidate.”  

Neal has joined the campaign as an independent in the general election, which in case no one reminded him, will not just have Republicans voting, but also Democrats and Independents voting in this election, as he runs against the two GOP nominees.

I’m not thinking that running not just to the right, but to the far, far right of the Republicans in the race is going to be effective in this contest.

Supposedly after bypass surgery, Jim Eschenbaum, the 32-year former Democrat who is currently in charge of the SDGOP was going to be laid up for several weeks.  But it seems that this time-table has been cast by the wayside as he gathered his strength from convalescing to tap out this post to social media attacking the front-runner in the race for Governor:

Didn’t the chair at one time say the party should stay out of primary elections?

Of course, that was after he originally said they should be involved..

Hand County Commissioner Jim Eschenbaum tried to use the word unity, but said the divide in the party can not be fixed because “we have politicians and people who are establishment players and they want to play politics” among other random words and noises that exited his voice box.

Eschenbaum spent more time attacking Sen. Thune, Governor Noem, a majority of the legislature and others, as well as declaring that the party should be involved in primary elections because that’s our wrestling match.

Read that here.

It’s challenging to keep up with the chairman’s flip-flops.

But maybe that he’s feeling well enough to tap things out on his phone, the worst chairman in SDGOP history could pivot from attacking officeholders to devoting some time to attempting to raise money?