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So, after a tough election day last week across much of the country where Republicans were expected to do much better, despite some advising him to the contrary, and some even blaming him for the GOP not doing as well as he should have, President Trump announced his re-election yesterday. And not everyone is excited.

Has the GOP run it’s course with Trump, or can he excite Republican voters to put him back in the White House? At the same time, some look to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as an attractive alternative, including members of the Texas GOP:

Republican voters in Texas support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election over former President Donald Trump by more than 10 percentage points, according to a new poll commissioned by the Republican Party of Texas.

The survey asked voters who are likely to participate in the 2024 Texas Republican primary election who they would vote for out of six Republican candidates including DeSantis and Trump. DeSantis was the top choice, with 43% of respondents saying they would vote for him if the primary election were held today. Trump came in second place with 32%. DeSantis’ support among the surveyed voters surged to 66% when they were asked about a situation in which Trump would decline to run in 2024.

Read that here.

Could DeSantis bring some of the party back who took a pass on election night (in both 2022 and 2020)?

Or are we better off giving Trump another go?

The floor is yours.

Thune Statement on Reelection as Republican Whip

“… I look forward to working with our entire conference as we unite in our fight to advance Republican principles and deliver commonsense solutions for families, farmers, and businesses across the country, especially those throughout South Dakota.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after he was unanimously reelected by the Senate Republican Conference to serve a third term as whip for the 118th Congress:

“I am humbled and honored that my colleagues in the Senate Republican Conference have once again elected me to serve as whip,” said Thune. “I congratulate the newest members of our leadership team, Senators Capito and Daines, and I look forward to working with our entire conference as we unite in our fight to advance Republican principles and deliver commonsense solutions for families, farmers, and businesses across the country, especially those throughout South Dakota. Let’s get to work.”

In addition to serving as the Republican whip, a position he’s held since 2019, Thune has previously served as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference (SRC), SRC vice chairman, and chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Thune currently serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Committee on Finance; and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

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In the general election  last week, one of the races had a particularly specific focus as Public Utilities Candidate Jeff Barth – almost to the exclusion of all else – ran his campaign on the basis of one issue. Barth ran on opposition to the pipelines currently being proposed and surveyed for transporting captured carbon to North Dakota where it would be stored in the ground. As noted in one story which talked about the Barth campaign adopting this as an issue..

In a press conference Thursday, Barth voiced his opposition to the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline. The project would transport liquified carbon dioxide through South Dakota for injection into underground geological formations in North Dakota.

Some farmers along the pipeline’s proposed route are concerned about its environmental impact. They’re also concerned that eminent domain will be used to obtain right-of-way for the pipeline without landowners’ consent.

“These pipelines will scar our land forever, and threaten our very lives,” Barth said. “No eminent domain for private gain.”

and..

Barth described his Republican opponent as a “nice guy,” but criticized him for not doing enough to prevent eminent domain from being used to build the pipeline.

Read that story here.

Barth literally ran every aspect of his campaign as a counterpoint to the pipeline. But did opposing the pipeline affect his campaign whatsoever?

Looking at a map of the counties that the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline will be operating in..

.. how did Barth do?

According to unofficial figures from the Secretary of State, from the counties that Summit self-identified as part of their operating areas:

County	Chris  Nelson	Jeffrey  Barth	Barth %
Beadle	4,163	1,461	26%
Brown (Vote Center)	8,946	4,280	32%
Clark	1,210	297	20%
Codington	7,729	2,583	25%
Edmunds	1,316	290	18%
Faulk	780	131	14%
Hamlin	2,141	446	17%
Hand	1,159	282	20%
Hyde (Vote Center)	436	119	21%
Kingsbury	1,848	554	23%
Lake	3,369	1,325	28%
Lincoln	17,898	8,462	32%
McCook	1,898	523	22%
McPherson	882	186	17%
Miner	738	203	22%
Minnehaha	41,364	28,572	41%
Sully (Vote Center)	619	154	20%
Turner	2,958	756	20%
TOTAL	99,454	50,624	34%

There was not a single county along the pipeline route that Barth won. His best showing came in Minnehaha County where he had been a County Commissioner for several years, but where he still only achieved 41%.

In several of the counties, he was defeated by margins of 2, 3, 4 and 5 to 1 against his Republican opponent Chris Nelson, who pledged to hear all matters in front of the Public Utilities Commission without preconceived notion or prejudice.

In fact, none of the 4 counties where Barth led (Buffalo, Dewey, Todd, and Oglala Lakota counties) were Summit pipeline counties, but rather Democrat strongholds.  Overall, on a statewide basis, Barth lost on a margin of 31% to Chris Nelson’s 69% – more than a 2-1 basis.

Could it be said that pipeline opposition is a winning issue for a candidate in the Public Utilities Commission race?

No. Not at all.

Dusty must have sensed my wife waiting in the ticketmaster queue yesterday…

It’s easier to cross our southern border illegally than it is to get Taylor Swift tickets. https://t.co/WM0SsuQljU

— Rep. Dusty Johnson (@RepDustyJohnson) November 16, 2022

From the Wall Street Journal, Governor Kristi Noem is openly questioning the leadership of the Republican National Committee as speculation continues that she might be interested in the job herself:

“Who loses this much and gets to keep their job?” Ms. Noem asked during an interview on the sidelines of the Republican Governors Association three-day meeting that started Monday. “We’ve got to evaluate the leadership of the Republican Party.”

and..

Asked whether she has spoken to Mr. Trump about the RNC job, she said, “He and I have not had that conversation. We should as a party have some self-evaluation on how we move forward.”

Read the entire story here.

 

Oh god. This does not sound good. The Rapid City Journal had a synopsis of the Bud May court appearance, and some of the statements offered by the prosecution are at least on the surface pretty shocking.

When asked if an alleged sexual interaction was consensual, a failed South Dakota House of Representatives Republican candidate said “I’m 6-foot-8, it’s all consensual,” according to the Pennington County State’s Attorneys Office on Tuesday morning.

and..

Referencing law enforcement reports, Magistrate Judge Scott Bogue said the woman was hiding behind a bar counter with dirt, blood and an abrasion on her face when law enforcement arrived. She said May raped her in multiple ways.

The woman told law enforcement the blood on her was May’s, who had been in an altercation before the alleged incident.

Read the entire story here in the Rapid City Journal.

May had lost his race last week as a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives.

John Thune is one of, if not the biggest dog on the porch in South Dakota politics. The question is whether he will have the opportunity to win the top spot in the US Senate during this next six years in office:

The Senator from South Dakota will now return to Washington for a historic fourth term, the second to do so since Karl Mundt in the 1960s. It’s a shift from this time a year ago when rumors were swirling about Thune considering whether he might not run again.

and..

Mike Card, a public policy emeritus professor at the University of South Dakota, said Thune’s been able to stay connected to the state. For McGovern and Daschle, Card said, both were accused of “losing touch” and were unseated in part because of those sentiments.

Schaff said Thune’s win was a “testament to his political skills and Thune has not done anything to run afoul with the State of South Dakota.”

Schaff noted Thune has not made serious enemies in the state and has almost “universal admiration” from the Republican party.

Read the entire story in the Argus Leader.

John is a good guy, and we need more of those in politics. I certainly hope he has the opportunity to rise to Majority Leader.

At the same time the South Dakota Senate committee assignments were released, the seating chart was also sent out:

The South Dakota State Senate has posted committee assignments for the next legislative session, as selected by Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck. In case you were wondering..

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Al Novstrup 
Joshua Klumb 
Erin Tobin 
Jim Mehlhaff 
Liz Larson 
Randy Deibert (Vice Chair)
Herman Otten (Chair)

Appropriations

Dean Wink 
Jack Kolbeck 
John Wiik 
Jim Bolin
Ryan Maher 
David Johnson 
Red Dawn Foster 
Bryan J. Breitling (Vice Chair)
Jean Hunhoff (Chair)

Commerce and Energy

Steve Kolbeck 
Lee Schoenbeck 
Casey Crabtree 
Brent Hoffman 
Jim Stalzer 
Larry P. Zikmund 
Reynold F. Nesiba 
Arch Beal (Vice Chair)
David Wheeler (Chair)

Education

Tim Reed 
Sydney Davis 
Tom Pischke 
Jessica Castleberry 
Shawn Bordeaux 
Steve Kolbeck (Vice Chair)
Kyle Schoenfish (Chair)

GOAC

Tim Reed 
Jean Hunhoff
Reynold F. Nesiba 
David Wheeler (Vice Chair)
Dean Wink (Chair)

Health and Human Services

Michael H. Rohl 
Tim Reed 
Julie Frye-Mueller 
Michael Diedrich 
Shawn Bordeaux 
Sydney Davis (Vice Chair)
Erin Tobin (Chair)

Judiciary

Michael H. Rohl 
Brent Hoffman 
David Wheeler
Jim Mehlhaff 
Michael Diedrich 
Jim Stalzer (Vice Chair)
Helene Duhamel (Chair)

Legislative Procedure

Jack Kolbeck 
David Wheeler 
Ryan Maher 
Helene Duhamel 
Reynold F. Nesiba 
Casey Crabtree (Vice Chair)
Lee Schoenbeck (Chair)

Local Government

Steve Kolbeck 
Tom Pischke 
Julie Frye-Mueller 
Randy Deibert 
Liz Larson
Jim Mehlhaff (Vice Chair)
Tim Reed (Chair)

Military and Veterans Affairs

Brent Hoffman 
Jim Stalzer 
Jack Kolbeck 
Larry P. Zikmund (Vice Chair)
David Johnson (Chair)

Retirement Laws

Larry P. Zikmund 
Randy Deibert 
Reynold F. Nesiba 
Jim Mehlhaff (Vice Chair)
Jim Bolin (Chair)

Rules Review

Jean Hunhoff 
Jim Mehlhaff 
Red Dawn Foster 

State Affairs

Michael H. Rohl 
Lee Schoenbeck 
Sydney Davis 
Erin Tobin 
David Wheeler 
Helene Duhamel 
Reynold F. Nesiba 
Michael Diedrich (Vice Chair)
Casey Crabtree (Chair)

Taxation

Al Novstrup 
Herman Otten 
Kyle Schoenfish 
Joshua Klumb 
Shawn Bordeaux 
Brent Hoffman (Vice Chair)
Jim Stalzer (Chair)

Transportation

Randy Deibert 
Kyle Schoenfish 
Arch Beal 
Larry P. Zikmund 
Liz Larson 
Jessica Castleberry (Vice Chair)
Joshua Klumb (Chair)

State-Tribal Relations

Kyle Schoenfish
Tom Pischke
Shawn Bordeaux
Red Dawn Foster
Michael H. Rohl (Senate co-chair)

I don’t think you can make this stuff up.

In Tripp County, which was noted has having been the only county in the state which was silly enough to go back to hand tabulation, apparently had an error in the hand-count. One which was caught by the machine tabulators they were told they couldn’t use, leaving County Commissioners who ordered the hand count with egg on their face.

Tripp County officials were prepared to ask for a court order to reopen a ballot box to find the answer, but the question was resolved without one. The human error explanation for the mismatch, it turned out, was right there in the records from the vote tabulator – the machine that county commissioners had ordered Desersa not to use to tally the county’s official, reportable Election Day results.

and..

“The machine caught it,” Desersa said. “To me, that shows that the machine is more accurate than humans.”

Read the story here at SD Searchlight