Guest Column: SDGOP Chairman John Wiik sends letter to County Organizations on the election and the aftermath

South Dakota Republican Party Chairman John Wiik has sent out a few thoughts on the election and the aftermath, which I share here for Republicans who might not get the e-mail forwarded to them if they’re in one of the counties with a dysfunctional Republican organization.

A few thoughts on the election and the aftermath…

From Chairman John Wiik 

As chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, I first would like to thank everyone for your hard work defeating Amendment H.  This has been a priority for the central committee to defeat from the moment it was introduced.  Thank you for your work. 

 

Amendment G was also defeated, and largely because of your work, you should be proud that we maintained the pro life state we have worked so hard to become. 

 

We see our majority increasing in the South Dakota legislature, and finally, all 3 branches of the US government are in the capable hands of Republicans.  Governor Noem is likely the next Secretary of Homeland Security.  Senator Thune was just elected Senate Majority Leader, and Congressman Johnson was reelected by tremendous margins. 

 

Governor Noem’s departure will move Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden to the Governor’s Office, and the search for a Lieutenant Governor begins.  Our bench is deep and we will find the best fit for the Rhoden administration and for South Dakota.

 

Regarding Senator Thune and the Majority Leader election, please allow me to chime in with a little history.  Senator Thune was elected to Congress in 1996.  Before that, all three of our national Congressional delegation members were Democrats.  In the years since, he led this party to take down the Daschle Democrat organization in South Dakota piece by piece.  By 2004, he ran against Daschle himself, vanquishing the sitting Majority Leader and shutting down Daschle’s Democrat state mechanism once and for all. We are standing on the shoulders of three decades of hard work by and for Senator Thune, Governor Noem, Senator Rounds, Congressman Johnson and countless others.

 

While Democrats tried to pick up the pieces with the election of Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, a relatively unknown State Representative from Hamlin County swooped in, worked harder than anyone else could have, and defeated her, effectively ending Democrat relevance, with no Democrat elected to a statewide office since 2008.

 

As someone who has shed blood, sweat and tears and invested time, treasure, and talent to get those two elected, this is the reddest red-letter day in South Dakota history!  Both Governor Noem and Senator Thune have pledged to work with President Trump to enact his mandated agenda for the American people.  Let’s use this day to celebrate the accomplishments of the last 30 years of hard work and trust that President Trump’s administration is in incredibly capable hands and the SDGOP had a huge part in Making America Great Again.  

 

Thanks again for all that you do for the SDGOP! 

Chairman John Wiik