The State Board of Elections met today, and as I was listening in, there was a member whose name I didn’t recognize. At all. And this new member spent much of their time voting no. I found myself wondering.. who was that?
It appears that upon the end of the term for former legislator Mike Buckingham, 2 weeks ago House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach booted Mike Buckingham off the board and offered a different person to appoint to the panel.
His choice? A Kristin Matsuda of Spearfish. Who is someone I’d never heard of. A quick trip to google led me to a couple of things. First a press release to the appointment that went out last week.
And to Odenbach’s 2024 campaign finance report:
..where the Matsuda’s were the 4th largest donor on the report at $600 for his campaign. There are a few assorted websites such as the PUC and others, where she’s complaining about the pipeline, through an e-mail link provided by the free-dumb caucus, and other things.
But I’m not finding much. In fact, a quick check of the voter file says that her original voter registration date was 6/8/22. The hard copy of the voter registration might need to be pulled, but on it’s face, the new appointee to the board of elections has only been registered in South Dakota since June of 2022? Digging a bit further, without going into detail on my search.. it appears that the new appointee may not have been registered here before then because she was registered elsewhere. At least one website says she was in California.
And within 3-4 years, Representative Odenbach appointed her to the Board of Elections.
Well, it is Scott’s pick for the Board of Elections as House Majority Leader. He can certainly do what he wants. Even though there are several hundred thousand more South Dakotans with more time spent in elections in South Dakota than that. (And in South Dakota, period.). Coming on to the board after Mike Buckingham, who has been involved in multiple elections, and served in the legislature for 6 years.
So, I’m left wondering exactly what his replacement’s qualifications are that caused Rep. Odenbach to appoint her, besides being a recent transplant to the state?
Hm.
Oh, found another reference.
Stay tuned.
Nice sleuthing. Not a good look for them.
It wasn’t intentional. Didn’t recognize the name at all, so I did a google search. And ended up going down the rabbit-hole.
Only people Pat recognizes should be involved in South Dakota politics. It must remain a closed club.
Let’s just ignore quid pro quos, too!
It’s a high profile appointment. I had no idea who that person was, which is why I looked. Usually nothing, but couldn’t help if it got weird.
Try Costa Mesa, CA, and Garden Grove Ca,
Is that was board seats are going for these days?
$600 when the likes of Deibert and Fitzgerald took 4-5 figure donations from the pipeline companies of whom they voted in favor for concerning the pipeline?