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In case you have been living under a rock since yesterday, State Representative Steve Haugaard has come under fire for comments he was making in a floor debate yesterday where he refers to a child of a client – a woman that had addiction issues – as a “wrung out whore.”

Predictably, this has met with a firestorm of negative reaction, including from Governor Noem who is suggesting he be censured for his comments.

In case you wanted to hear for yourselves, with a little context..

 

From Facebook:

State Senator Erin Tobin commented this evening on one of the posts here at Dakotawarcollege.com below, offering her opinion on State Representative Steve Haugaard‘s comments during session today which are drawing the ire of the governor and his colleagues:

 

*UPDATE*  

Senator Tobin added to her comments from last night on Facebook today:

You can read that and more here. (And good for her for saying so.)

Tonight, Republican State Representative Tamara St. John, representing District 1, expressed her deep concern with comments by State Representative Steve Haugaard.

Haugaard, representing District 10, was speaking on a bill against medical marijuana where he referred to a woman supposedly addicted using the term “wrung out whore” to describe her:

@Argus_Joe the fact that the Representative told me she is a Native American young woman made it even more personal to me. I reject his apology and rejected his wish to speak to me about it.

— Representative Tamara St John (@tamarajstjohn) March 4, 2022

I spent almost two terms thinking well of him for such concern and care for a young native woman. I doubt I can express how upset I was trying to finish the work I was sent here to do. Disappointed doesn’t describe it.

— Representative Tamara St John (@tamarajstjohn) March 4, 2022

(The second tweet was posted for a while, and appears it was later deleted.)

It’s notable, as St. John is a conservative legislator, and this is a particularly sharp rebuke for the former Speaker.

Governor Noem Condemns Rep. Haugaard’s Anti-Women Comments, Calls On Speaker Gosch To Reprimand And Censure

Pierre, SD – Today, Governor Kristi Noem released the following statement condemning Representative Steve Haugaard for his inappropriate comments on the South Dakota House floor. Haugaard’s comments today were just the latest in a long pattern of demanding comments and behavior towards women.

Statement from Governor Noem:

“I am disappointed and appalled by the inappropriate and offensive language used today on the house floor by Representative Haugaard.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time he has used his position of power to demean others, especially women.

I am calling on the Speaker and the House to take a stand against this irresponsible and abusive behavior by formally reprimanding and censuring Mr. Haugaard.

I am hopeful the Speaker will set aside his personal friendship with Mr. Haugaard and use his office to send a clear signal to Mr. Haugaard and others that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

BACKGROUND

Today’s comments from Rep. Haugaard are just the latest in a long pattern of demeaning and inappropriate comments and actions towards women:

During his brief and tumultuous tenure as Speaker, Haugaard enacted an anti-women dress code that may have been deemed outdated in 1889 when South Dakota first became a state, that mandated women in the state house to wear “hose,” skirts “below the knees,” and that no portion of their legs or their collarbones could show.

He was widely rebuked and then sued for singling out and banning a female lobbyist from the House floor, decided to settle, then asked Governor Noem to foot the bill and when she declined to have the taxpayers of South Dakota foot the bill for his mistakes, he ran to anyone else he could find to cover the legal fees that he would have been personally liable to pay.

From the Argus Leader, Governor Kristi Noem he is requesting the state house of representatives censure former speaker of the House Steve Haugaard for some misogynistic language he used on the house floor today:

Noem Thursday evening formally called for the House to censure the former South Dakota House Speaker for the remark.

“I am disappointed and appalled by the inappropriate and offensive language used today on the House floor by Rep. Haugaard,” Noem said in a statement issued by her re-election campaign. I’m calling on the Speaker and the House to take a stand against this irresponsible and abusive behavior by formally reprimanding and censuring Mr. Haugaard.”

Read the entire story here.

After State Democrats rolled their Congressional candidate under the bus for his misogynistic and seriously off base Twitter account earlier today, Representative Haugaard should have had a clue that this was not the thing to do.

Especially since the impression is already there, whether correct or not, that he might tend towards being a bit patriarchal when it comes to women.

From earlier today:

Email from short term Congressional candidate Ryan Ryder
I am withdrawing my candidacy for US House of Representatives.
While tweets I have made in the past were a poor attempt at sarcastic humor, I recognize that they appear to cross a line.

— Jerry Oster (@570WNAXNEWS) March 3, 2022

From an hour ago:

A line was crossed on the house floor today. In a floor speech, Rep. Haugaard called a woman w/a drug addiction a “run out whore”. There is absolutely no room for misogyny and aggression against women in our state legislature—and I’m deeply disappointed he was not gaveled down.

— Representative Erin Healy (@RepErinHealy) March 3, 2022

While apologizing, he said the story was a personal one told to him by someone he knows, and that’s how she described herself to him. Still, he said he should’ve known to pick different words to relay that story

— Joe Sneve (@Argus_Joe) March 3, 2022

Jesus wept. Are some people just not paying attention?

I was just noting that now former Democrat Congressional Candidate Ryan Ryder, with his string of tweets, didn’t even manage to hang on as long as former Democrat Congressional Candidate Ellee Spawn!

Statement from the South Dakota Democratic Party on Ryan Ryder

Sioux Falls, SD – At the request of the South Dakota Democratic Party, Ryan Ryder is withdrawing his candidacy for U.S. House of Representatives.

“The South Dakota Democratic Party has determined it is not appropriate for Mr. Ryder to continue in this race and requested that he end his candidacy, which he has agreed to,” said Executive Director Berk Ehrmantraut. 

“These statements from Mr. Ryder do not live up to the values of the South Dakota Democratic Party, and we do not support this type of language,” said SDDP Chair Randy Seiler.

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