Category: Uncategorized

In comparison to Sioux Falls where I got everything I wanted in terms of candidates, for the second city/school election in a row, Brookings was a slaughterhouse for Republican candidates.

Ronda May, a long-time School employee was turned away from the School Board. Incumbent city Councilwoman Leah Brink was denied a second term, and former SDSU Student Body President Andrew Rasmussen lost in a heartbreaking squeaker by nine votes (he will be potentially be seeking a recount).

What seems to be the cause of these Republican losses? Check out the absentee voting numbers for the second year in a row:

Absentee balloting accounts for 1/3 of the municipal vote here in my community, providing 1088 of the 3159 votes cast in the election – over 34% of votes cast are through early voting. And it’s here in absentee balloting where some of the Democrat candidates seem to be posting massive, massive advantages before anyone steps in a voting booth on election day.

In Andrew’s case, in a small race like this, when you start off the evening nearly 170 votes down before election day, that’s an incredible deficit to try to come back from.  And he ran one of the best campaigns for city office in town.

Last election, numbers were maybe even worse.

Coming two years in a row, I’d be curious to see the makeup of exactly who is voting absentee, and whether it’s indicative of an organized absentee voter drive. Because it’s not trending in the right direction for Republicans at the local level when we’ve enjoyed at least parity here, and that should be a cause for concern and attention.

Great day in Sioux Falls for good government.

NO runoff will be needed, and voters were pretty definitive on who they wanted.

Congrats to the winners, as well as to all who participated in democracy today.

The Argus is noting this evening that Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg believes the Senate will ‘vindicate’ him when the impeachment proceedings are heard in that body in the coming months:

“The House of Representatives voted, and I respect the process, but I look forward to the Senate trial, where I believe I will be vindicated,” the statement released by Ravnsborg read.

and..

With articles of impeachment adopted, the Senate will hold a trial no sooner than May 2, based on timeline protocols spelled out in the state Constitution. However, Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, has indicated a trial might not commence until early June.

Read it here.

In honor of three more missed votes from District 33’s State Representative, it looks like it’s time for a new feature: Where’s Taffy?

As I’ve already documented, According to House Journals in 2022, out of about 377 recorded roll count votes in the State House of Representatives, there were 53 votes where Taffy was marked as “Excused.” Calculating it out, Taffy Howard missed 14% of the floor votes she was sent to Pierre to represent her District on.

Today, when the South Dakota House of Representatives met to determine whether the impeachment of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg should move forward to the State Senate, once again, State Representative Taffy Howard was nowhere to be seen on a controversial vote.

So, where was she?   According to one observant reader, it appears she was on Facebook.

According to my correspondent’s facebook, the little green dot had popped up on her profile, showing Taffy was active on the Social Media platform at 11:36 today (below).

So, while her fellow legislators were in Pierre performing one of their more unpleasant duties and making what could be a controversial vote and she was being counted as “excused,” she had time to be active on Facebook instead of being in Pierre and doing the job she was elected to do.

Stay Tuned..

Thune Statement on the Summertime Sale of E15 Fuel

“The president is right to take this step, and I will continue to press for biofuels to play a significant role in a truly all-of-the-above energy strategy that can restore American energy independence.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today issued the following statement regarding the Biden administration’s decision to allow the summertime sale of E15 fuel:

“As I have repeatedly stated to the Biden administration, biofuels are a common-sense, readily available energy solution that should be utilized to their full potential,” said Thune. “Today’s decision is welcome news that will leverage American agriculture to provide a lower-cost fuel option for American drivers, bolster an essential market for our farmers, and reduce transportation emissions. The president is right to take this step, and I will continue to press for biofuels to play a significant role in a truly all-of-the-above energy strategy that can restore American energy independence.”

In March, Thune and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) led a bipartisan group of their colleagues in urging President Biden to resume the year-round sale of E15 fuel in order to lower gasoline prices and reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign sources of energy. Thune has also called on President Biden to meet with farm-state senators to further discuss how biofuels, like ethanol and biodiesel, can meet American energy needs.

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Today, the House of Representatives did the right thing for the people of South Dakota and for Joe Boever’s family.

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) April 12, 2022

The vote of the House to send impeachment to the Senate for trial is in..

Voting Yes: Anderson, Aylward, Bartels, Beal, Blare, Bordeaux, Chaffee, Chase, Cwach, Davis, Derby, Deutsch, Drury, Duba, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Healy, Hoffman, Keintz, Koth, Ladner, Lesmeister, Mortenson, Olson, Pourier, Reed, Rehfeldt, Schneider, Jamie Smith, St. John, Thomason, Tiemann, Weisgram, Willadsen, Wink, and York.

Voting Against Impeachment: Barthel, Dennert, Finck, Greenfield, Gross, Hansen, Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Haugaard, Jamison, Kevin Jensen, Phil Jensen, Chris Johnson, Karr, Marty, May, Mills, Milstead, Miskimins, Mulally, Otten, Overweg, Perry, Kent Peterson, Sue Peterson, Tom Pischke, Randolph, Reimer, Soye, Stevens, Vasgaars, Weis, and Gosch.

Excused were Scott Odenbach (Recused), Marli Wiese, and Congressional Candidate Taffy Howard keeps her streak of absenteeism up and misses 100% of the votes today, similar to how she skipped 14% of the votes on the House floor during the regular session.

The vote required a majority of the membership to send to the Senate, and receiving 36, they literally had 1 vote to spare.

Fred Deutsch had offered a measure to amend the articles of impeachment to remove the portions regarding malfeasance, which was heard, and quickly voted down. Voting in favor of the measure were Representatives Dennert, Deutsch, Hanson, Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Haugaard, Karr, Ladner, Marty, May, Miskimins, Otten, Overweg, Perry, Soye, Stevens, Vasgaard, Weis, and Speaker Gosch.

Excused were Scott Odenbech (again, recused), and Marli Wiese.  Continuing to not do her job is Congressional Candidate Taffy Howard who is 2 for 2 in skipping votes in this matter.

There were 16 votes against placing impeachment on the calendar today – Dennert, Finck, Greenfield, Gross, Candidate for Governor Steve Haugaard, Kevin Jensen, Phil Jensen, Karr, Marty, May, Mills, Overweg, Randolph, Soye, Vasgaard, and Weis.

Excused were Scott Odenbech, who recused himself due to conflict, and Marli Wiese.

Also missing today – Congressional candidate Taffy Howard, continuing her unbelievable trend of missing votes.  After missing 14% of floor votes during session, so far during this special session she’s got an even worse batting average.

Kind of ironic that while the clerk was reading the title of the measure with regards to the impeachment of the Attorney General, Speaker Spencer Gosch pulled out his cell phone and started scrolling through it.