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As soon as I posted the bat-sh*t crazy letter from the Rapid City School Board candidate, a correspondent dropped me a text and said “I got a letter that looks almost identical to this (style wise). I’m assuming they’re both Jordan Mason guys?” Well, yeah. I would venture a guess that they are.

And this letter from District 2 House Candidate John Sjaarda is equally full of grammatical errors and cringe-worthy passages as the prior letter as it declares he “knows that the liberal “woke” curriculum is injecting racial hatred, lewd and obscene ides of sexuality, gender identity and even an out-and-out right hatred of America.”

Did anyone even bother to Google “out-and-out right” before they sent this out in a mailer? Because that’s not a word, or even a slang phrase. It would be “out-and-out.” Or “outright.”  Not both rammed together in a faux Yogi Berra-like quote. Seriously.

There are a lot of other parts that are equally mired in awfulness.  But you can read and judge for yourself.

Awful Sjaarda Letter by Pat Powers on Scribd

I feel bad for the candidates that are snookered into thinking this is a worthwhile expenditure of their money. Because it’s not.

Candidates, seriously. Don’t send 5 cringe-worthy pages of blathering nonsense and sloganeering to voters. It doesn’t help your case.

Be honest and be authentic.  It works so much better than this tripe.

And people wonder why Administrators, Teachers, etc., are abandoning ship at the Rapid City School District at a record pace? Rapid City School Board candidate Janyce Hockenbary seems to be a couple of syllables away from demanding that people burn the witches.

Letter from one of the wingnut RC school board candidates backed by the Pennington County Republicans group. Pretty sure she typed this on an actual typewriter.

For context- her opponent, Jamie Clapham, is a parent volunteer in the school district and PTA president. pic.twitter.com/xOXI5ayLoq

— Galen Hoogestraat (@HoogyGalen) May 17, 2022

If that letter doesn’t motivate Rapid City residents to vote against the wave of batsh*t crazy that the Rapid City school board seems gripped by, I’m not sure what will.

**UPDATE**

The bus wheels are rolling. Just got a report that at the candidate forum tonight with Elevate Rapid City, Janyce Hockenbary may be claiming that she did not write the letter! Despite it saying paid for by Janyce Hockenbary.

And there’s that other part…

Had a correspondent reach out today, and noted something that we had all missed, as the SOS had to create a separate list for the people whose candidacies became official after the primary cutoff date, because of creating the primary ballot, etc.

First off, they have the complete list of Libertarian candidates running, in case you were wondering. Not that any of them are going to win. Or run anything resembling a competent campaign.

But then we have the independents, and a couple of fairly familiar names.

On the Democrat side, you have Susan Wismer, who might be the Democrats’ version of Lora Hubbel running for Senate in District 1. And then we have the actual Lora Hubbel, formerly of the Governor’s race, who is running for State Senate in District 13. Just like the last time she said she was going to run for Governor, and as now, opted for less lofty ambitions.

Well, at least now Jack Kolbeck has a foil to use to raise money for the District 13 Senate campaign.

Five Former DCI Directors Endorse Jackley for Attorney General

May 17, 2022: Today, the five former Directors of the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) announced their endorsement of Marty Jackley for Attorney General. The Directors served a span of 26 years and include:

· Brian Zeeb (2018-2019)
· Bryan Gortmaker (2008-2018)
· Jim Vlahakis (2006 – 2008)
· Kevin Thom (2002-2006)
· Doug Lake (1996-2002)

The DCI is a key part of the office of the Attorney General. “The men and women of the DCI work tirelessly with our Sheriffs, Police Officers, Tribal and Federal partners to keep our homes and streets safe. I am very honored to have their support, along with the support of nearly every Sheriff and State’s Attorney in our state.” said Marty Jackley.

Former Director and now Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom stated, “We need an Attorney General that will work with law enforcement to better protect our communities. Marty has a proven record of leading our Attorney General’s office and working with the DCI, Sheriffs, and local law enforcement to fight crime.”

“Marty is the leader that South Dakota needs in the Attorney General’s Office. Having worked with Marty for 9 years as the Director of the DCI, I had a front row seat to witness Marty’s talents as the top prosecutor and civil litigator for South Dakota. Marty knows how to battle for victims of crime and for the rights of South Dakota citizens in the court room. The depth of relationships and the respect that Marty has among South Dakota’s law enforcement is unmatched. Smart, hardworking and focused, South Dakota wins with Marty as Attorney General.” stated Former Director Bryan Gortmaker, 29 years with SD Division of Criminal Investigation.

Former Director and now Yankton County Sheriff Jim Vlahakis said, “Marty has been at our side tackling crime head on as Attorney General, US Attorney and a State’s Attorney which is why so many of us in law enforcement are standing behind him now. With his proven record we know what kind of Attorney General he will be for all of South Dakota.”

xxx

Brookings County GOP Monthly Luncheon today was a good event, if but just to put eyes on a couple of the lesser known candidates. Some of them really aren’t putting a lot of material out, so you’re left guessing.  But it was a good introduction:

As part of introductions, GOP Chair Jim Gilkerson points out how every candidate seems to be referring to themselves as a conservative:

D7 House Candidate Mellissa Heerman talks about her background and experience as to why she’s running:

D7 House Candidate Matt Doyle cited his experience up in Pierre, and his existing relationship with State Representative Kevin Jensen as a reason why people should elect him. He wasn’t available today for questions, but said he’d answer them at some forum this weekend.

Former School Superintendent and D7 House candidate Roger DeGroot spoke about education and how employers are strongly voicing the need for workforce development.

D8 House candidate Tim Reisch spoke about his background as first being elected Sheriff at age 24, and how his experience in law enforcement and the Military brought him to Pierre to serve in cabinet level roles under four Governors.

District 8 House Candidate John Mills spoke about his high ratings as a conservative among his credentials in seeking a return to Pierre.

I’m still not sure who this person is. I think it’s Casey Crabtree’s opponent for D8 Senate. All I know is she has a plan to eliminate property taxes, while increasing infrastructure development.  I think the plan must involve having a huge phone attached to your hip.

And speaking of Senator Crabtree, District 8 Republican State Senator Casey Crabtree spoke about economic development, the DSU Cyber program, as well as some of the other issues important to the area.

And that’s what I’ve got off the top of my head.

Stay tuned for more.

I’ve got a couple more of these videos, and I’ll post them as they get processed.

Here, Roger DeGroot, District 7 House Candidate, speaks to Brookings GOP Luncheon today about the issues he’s concerned about.

I shot some video during today’s GOP Luncheon featuring the D7 and D8 legislative candidates, and thought I’d bring you some clips of the candidates as I could get them. (I was holding the very heavy camera with no tripod, so please keep that in mind. Tried to keep the bouncing to a minimum.)

Here’s the first video, Matt Doyle who is running for District 7 House in the GOP primary election, who gives a little background and declares postcards against Tom Pischke and Doug Post are “Fake News”:

Cenkota Republican Woman are hosting an event on May 24th for the local legislative candidates for District 24. Here are the details as provided:

South Dakota State University’s most recent political poll was released today, and it’s not looking so good for Steve Haugaard, Bruce Whalen, or Taffy Howard. They might be able to take a little consolation in that as bad as it looks for them, it might be worse for the Attorney General.

The SDSU poll has Governor Noem utterly crushing Steve Haugaard, on a preference of 61 – 17%. Literally, he could take every undecided, and she’d still beat him on nearly a 2-1 basis.

Read that here.

This race is over.  Just like it is in the Thune contest.

If the Republican primary for United States Senate was held today, 46% of likely primary voters indicated that they would vote for John Thune. Challengers Bruce Whalen and Mark Mowry received support of 9% and 4%, respectively.

Read that here.

Done. Stick a fork in the Whalen and Mowry potatoes.  They shouldn’t spend their gas money at this point.

And again in Congressional contest..

Finally, we asked likely Republican primary voters about their preferences in the U.S. House primary was held today. Of these voters, 53% indicated they would vote for Dusty Johnson, just under 17% said they would vote for Taffy Howard, and 30% were not sure.

Read that here.

Is that worse than Liz May did? When the numbers are said and done, I have a suspicion it could be. Taffy’s vote total is suspiciously close to the percentage of floor votes she didn’t show up for in Pierre.

And then there’s the voter preference on impeachment..

This is so definitive that it shows like there might be some huge liabilities for candidates who came out against it in the House. 70-9%? Whoof.

Seriously, go read the entire article here, because it’s an eye opener, and gives a good indication of how things are going to go 3 weeks from now. 

Thune, Johnson and Kristi are on a glide path to re-election, and their challengers are entirely clueless.  It’s over.

Apparently Liz May is sending out postcards this week explaining to Republican voters in selected Districts who is and is not a fake Republican.

This would be the same Liz May who was outed two years ago as having been a Hillary Clinton for President donor in 2008:

In case that’s tough to read, here’s a close-up:

If Hillary Clinton supporter Liz May is setting standards for who is and who is not a “true Republican,” then we’re all in trouble.

** Update **

Just had a reader send this over to me.

South Dakota Citizens for Liberty, a Rapid City conservative advocacy group, named the lawmakers Monday as part of a legislative scorecard report. An official said the party switches raise questions about lawmakers’ commitment to conservative ideology.

and..

Sen. Al Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, went to the county courthouse Monday to re-assess his voting record but wasn’t able to get answers as it was closed for Native American Day.

“I’m wondering if it’s accurate,” Novstrup said. “There’s a possibility I switched over if there was a primary that wanted to vote it, but it would’ve only been for about a month. And so what?”

Read that here.

So, Liz May’s PAC is attacking Rachel Dix for not being a Republican her whole life, when Tonchi Weaver’s group was attacking Al Novstrup for the same thing a few years ago?

These guys need to figure out their purity tests.