The SDGOP is holding their summer Central Committee meeting in Pierre tomorrow, and many are thinking that it’s going to be a controversial and contentious gathering before one person steps in the door. Why is that?
**** Where is the current FEC Report? Last month, the leadership of the state’s largest political party had their monthly Federal Elections Commission completed well in advance of the June 20 deadline on June 5. Yet it showed NO donations for the month, save for the $700 that Treasurer Tina Mulally donated at the last minute.
One month later, with a gathering of all the state’s county GOP Leadership on 7/19, the party does not seem to be in a hurry to file that report in advance of the 7/20 deadline.
**** What Party Financials have been released are a little stale. The SDGOP has sent out a Profit and Loss statement along with their meeting notice. But, it reflects the state of party affairs ending in May. Look for yourself:
The financials contain nothing for the month June, and nothing for July. It’s not a look at where they are today, it’s a look at where they were nearly 2 months ago. Only covering the period of time ending in May, the profit & loss statement shows they went backwards $3163.05 in the state account, and backwards $2468.46 in the federal account.
Those were not sustainable numbers in May, and if that trend continues, the South Dakota Republican Party is not in a good position for moving forward.
**** The weaponization of the party to attack officeholders has commenced. The SDGOP has started weaponizing their social media, and nowhere is that more evident than their recent facebook post reprinting nonsense from the group ran by vice-chair’s Janet Jensen’s husband (Phil Jensen) with the SDGOP treasurer (Tina Mulally), as it attacked US Senator Mike Rounds:
Oh, and this gets better. Immediately after the party parroted this attack against Senator Rounds – and I mean within a couple hours – they asked the Senator’s campaign for a BIG donation of money to support the party. Let’s just say from anecdotes that have been related to me that it didn’t go well.
I’m even told the chairman – former 32 year Democrat and Obama supporter – Jim Eschenbaum himself doubled down on the sentiment of the facebook post claiming it somehow exerted pressure on the Senator. I don’t think that this bodes well for any future financial asks the GOP may have.
**** The meeting agenda is filled with kooky proposals. There is a packet of bylaw proposals that looks like it will take several hours to get through. One proposal demands that any lobbyists are to be banned from participation in the state executive board, because some people don’t like that others might talk to the legislature as part of their job. Another is to allow any member to present any matter at a meeting whether or not included in the agenda. Basically a “free for all” rule. Rules are being brought so the Minnehaha GOP Chair can directly shut down the silliness in his county. And the group now in charge who was demanding audits… is now proposing a bylaw that they don’t have to to them very often at all…
And there are 18 pages of this stuff in very small type that Central Committee members will get to argue over, ad nauseam, so the meeting can stretch as far as possible into the evening.
**** And don’t forget the fundraising plan (from people who don’t know how to fundraise). This document which is part of the financial information looks to be setting the SDGOP up for disaster in the coming months:
Not sure if they’re claiming that’s what their golf tournament brought in before or after the split with the local VFW. But as for the rest of it..
- County contributions – they’re doing well with $12.7k, as that’s 10k more than the GOP had brought in recently. But, 30k is overly optimistic. Figure 15k if they’re at 12k now.
- Pheasant Hunt for September… If memory serves, who was always good about participating so there’s a big name to help get people to attend? Senator Mike Rounds. Who will probably not be helping the party do anything until there is new GOP Leadership? (See above where they attacked him). Draw a line through this one.
- RNC Grow? Maybe $15.
- Raise 30k with a statewide GOP Mass Mailer? In 2024, the SDGOP did one, and LOST money, much less raised any. This will be a complete bust.
- 52 week Gun Raffle? Have they reviewed the laws on raffles yet? They have not submitted a request yet. $25k might be wishful thinking, especially since they’re going to have to try to keep people’s enthusiasm up to keep selling tickets for a long time…
Attacking the officeholders they’re here to support, Pie in the sky fundraising plans which will likely flop, bylaws that start with kicking people out of the party and threaten to drag on for hours, and finances which look to be in a death spiral..
Boy, that sounds like a meeting that everyone is going to want to attend, eh?
A yes the true conservatives are sick of the socialist idiots aka the “freedom” caucASS.
The only decision the spineless chairman has made is that if the body as a whole, votes to create a byways committee, than the body as a whole will vote on each of the members, than the chairman will appoint a chair for that committee and he has pre selected…. Drumroll…. Deb Elliot! Yay….
But, but, she’s an idiot. Guess it makes sense.
Eschenbaum is incompetent. Classic Obama supporter.
I’m done with the Woke Republicans running the state party.
You’re doing a heck of a job, Eschy!
When will people realize that the RINOs are this entire group?
They’ve lurched into a full-blown idiocracy—the real thing, not the movie.
How to counties start new groups? Something to bring back the real republicans and those that donate? Serious question. We can’t get these morons out, so how do we start something to replace them?
There are a few sensible groups out there (South Dakota Strong, Republican Roundtable, and Grudz’s Conservatives with Common Sense) but they don’t replace county GOPs. To do that, you’d need to start a new party. Elon just started a third party — it’ll be interesting to see if that translates into a third party in South Dakota.
I clicked on the link for the proposals, which include things like training for precinct committee men & women, which Maggie Sutton tried to do and was promptly run out of Minnehaha County, and requirements that these precinct committee men & women actually attend county meetings and if they miss five in a row, they will lose their positions. Five is more than two years’ worth of meetings in many counties. So it is not clear how that will work. In any case, in general, precinct committee men and women don’t want to do any work or be told what to do, so if the new bylaws are enacted they will make their dissatisfaction evident at the next state convention. So it might be just as well the state party doesn’t have enough money to hold a convention.