Minnehaha GOP meeting ends in no confidence in chair, and chaos

Pat Powers

Sounds like the Minnehaha County Central Committee meeting went from bad to chaos today, according to reports.

After 2/3 of the Minnehaha County GOP at the meeting voted to add a motion of no confidence to the agenda, a vote was held where a majority expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the chair.

No surprise, but I’m hearing they expressed they have no confidence in R. Shawn in a vote that went 28-23, but Tornow declared they could not remove him, and he would be chair until an election was held.

As they moved towards a similar no-confidence vote on the Secretary, a substitute motion for adjournment was called by a Tornow ally which the chair quickly recognized, supposedly without a vote, despite not being through the meeting agenda, because he saw the way this was going.

Tornow’s tenure has been marked by a lack of competence, and that fact has not been missed by a majority of the central committee. He might try to cut off his detractors by adjournment, but R. Shawn might just have been put on notice that his days are numbered.

42 thoughts on “Minnehaha GOP meeting ends in no confidence in chair, and chaos”

  3. Who would’ve thought that a disgraced former lawyer would’ve thrown a hissyfit when things started going south?

  4. Sure, there’s a lack of competency, fund-raising and political sense, but one thing that gets lost in all this drama is some of these people are just not very nice. If you’ve ever met Mike Austad, you’ll know he’s one of the meanest and nastiest people around, as I know him personally and have never heard him have a nice word to say about anyone. Same of the chairman, I’ve really never seen him smile. Don’t get me started on the people with SD Canvassing, they’ll stab you in the back before you can turn sideways. We should not be surprised that these people repulse other people and make the party look bad, who wants to hang around people who are this unhappy. I hope we can all learn from this and get some real leaders for the county or it will be the end of our organization.

  5. This is interesting conversation, and sounds an awful lot like the same thing that happened from our State GOP Chairman, John Wiik, when there was a motion and a second on the floor at the Summer State CC meeting, and the Chairman refused to allow the motion.
    What’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander?
    There is certainly some division in the SD GOP, and rightfully so. When anyone serving government office in any capacity chooses to ignore certain portions of the population, there are going to be differences of opinions.
    Silencing or ignoring any part of the population is going to have repercussions.
    Civil debate, proper motions and voting is what makes America great, and it must not be lost to authoritarian government.
    Shady things behind the scenes to try to control the people will be met with resistance in SD, we are not a bunch of sheep.

    Jim Eschenbaum
    Hand County Republican Chair

    1. Thank you for being the adult in this conversation. I agree with your comment wholeheartedly. Frankly, at this point, a vast majority of informed Americans are done tolerating elusive, unresponsive, and ineffective elected representation at all levels of the Republican Party and government – local, state, and federal, Either represent and serve constituents who elected you to the position or GET OUT OF THE WAY so someone else can.

      The Minnehaha county commissioner’s are another tragic example of a useless disaster in this county, The redheaded man-chid, Joey, blatantly disrespects each and every county resident who shows up to speak on various topics of concern. Week after week, they refuse to listen to constituents pleading for them to take action and support them by implementing various simple, effective solutions to very solvable problems they’ve been made aware of FOR A YEAR or more.
      There are many of us paying close attention and disseminating which of the commissioner’s vote against our fellow citizens showing up and speaking for thousands of us. Each will be removed as they come up for reelection – some before. Thankfully, they continue to expose themselves by showing us exactly where and who to investigate. corruption on display, and on the RECORD.

      1. still waiting for the adult. not hearing it.
        people govern with the consent of the governed.
        suffering minority status in a party splinter group pushed you all to overrun key weak points and leap into power posts that are normally earned and conferred based on talent, skill and long service, not much of which your bunch has demonstrated.
        command of a whole state party isn’t a golden apple you pluck which gives you full control of a robot army. it’s a responsibility and it’s a promise and it’s a trust for which you are the temporary caretaker.
        this whole leveraged takeover episode has a cost that i’m not sure you understand must be paid, in terms of managing a whole party by its consent. or getting back out of the way and let the adults put it together again.

        1. ALSO every time a group that absolutely cannot be bigger than 28 percent of the total population of the country deigns to speak for “vast majorities,” i get the giggles.

    2. so Jim, what was the motion and second that Wiik refused to entertain at the summer meeting.
      Interesting that you left that to our imaginations.

      That suggests it was a really bad idea, like the bad ideas that are brought to Pierre and never get out of committee…
      So what was it? You should tell us.

  6. The MAGA election deniers run around yelling that the rest of America is corrupt. Then they elect, as their county chair, a guy who got a published reprimand from the Supreme Court, for BEING A CITY ATTORNEY WHO GOT CAUGHT LYING TO A CITY COMMISSIOINER….HIS CLIENT.

    Tornow. Rumor is that Lincoln County States Attorney Wollmann could tell you, under subpoena, why Tornow suddenly surrendered his bar license a few months ago, all on the Quick Q-T.

    But whatever did or did not happen in Linclon county, it is very rare indeed, for a lawyer to just up and surrender his bar license, for no reason at all. Unless perhaps he knows its “toast” anyway. No chance in court or Disciplinary board. Sooner or later, we will know.

    1. Trump raped a woman. He stole funds masquerading as a charity. He stole money from students looking for an education. Bankrupted multiple companies and stiffed the small business owners he owed. He has cheated on every one of his wives and even a paid a prostitute to be quiet. What do you expect from people who support this? It’s all fine if you are owning the libs.

      1. Do you think it will really matter? With the final days before the election Trump could reveal himself as the Anti-Christ and a number of them would still enthusiastically vote for him.

      2. the important consideration is trump’s impending legal problems over premeditated election interference, commission of election interference, conspiracy to alter an election outcome illegally, intentionally disseminating misinformation designed to fuel hate groups’ anger, creating a dangerous assemblage of angry armed people, inciting an attack on a government location, and specifically naming targets to be found inside and attacked; that kind of thing.

          1. every point mentioned is supported by volumes of proof. keep responding – the question of how much more repulsive your remarks can be is far from settled.

              1. yes but. they aren’t uneducated. they are intentionally propping trump’s stolen-election lie in place for ill-gotten political gain. i don’t debate lies, i do call out dishonesty done in the service of traitors.

        1. I always laugh when someone brings up the allegation that Trump raped a woman in a Bergdorf-Goodman dressing room.
          Only someone who has never tried on clothes in a high-end department store dressing room would believe that story.

          In fact, the surveillance, the pesky saleswomen, the lack of privacy, made shopping in those stores (my mother would drag me in there) was so unnerving to me, as an adult I couldn’t bring myself to return to such places, not even for wedding dresses.

          1. Anne, you are shameful. There is enough proof that a jury of peers found him liable in our courts. I guess you don’t support law and order and are completely supportive of his continued lawless behavior.

            1. actually the jury rejected her claim that he raped her, they thought it was sexual abuse and defamation. He defamed her by pointing out “she’s not my type.” Well, looking at his three wives, that seems truthful.
              Maybe she should have accused him of raping her in the back seat of a Corvette. Maybe the jury would have believed THAT. I’m sure you would believe it.

  7. As someone who stopped going to the Minnehaha County Republican Party events because the local party has been taken over by the lunatic fringe, I cannot wait until Turnow and the people like him are removed from leadership and the party is restored to true conservative principles rather than populist agitation. The same is true for the Siouxland Republican Women in Sioux Falls.

  8. I believe R. Shawn Tornow is in error when he claims he cannot be removed from office.

    SD GOP Bylaws: Section III – County Central Committee

    ⦁     Officers: The elected officers of a County Central Committee are the county chairman and county vice chairman, who shall be of the opposite sex, a county secretary, a county treasurer, a state committeeman and a state committeewoman, who shall hold their offices for a term of two years or until their successors have been elected.

                7.Meetings: Rules of Order: The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the County Central Committee in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the County Central Committee may adopt; however, unless any member objects, the committee may act informally at the discretion of the county chairman.

    Roberts Rules of Order:  62-16• If the bylaws provide that officers shall serve “for __ years or until their successors are elected,” the officer in question can be removed from office by adoption of a motion to do so.

    1. I have not studied Robert’s Rules chapter & verse, but I trust Jim Stalzer. He’s experienced. He knows his stuff & I’m betting he’s right. Moreover, it would be *ridiculous* if there weren’t a legitimate, lawful mechanism to remove bad officers, whatever authority it may fall under.

    2. Jim is absolutely, 100% correct. I think the people who (wisely!) want to remove Tornow should call a special meeting. During that meeting, they should bring forward a motion to remove Tornow as well as the resolution to bind the county into not exerting undue influence in primaries. All you need is five-days notice, excluding weekends and holidays! To do that….

      Per Section III, Subpoint 7(A) of the SDGOP Bylaws: “One-fifth of the members of the County Central Committee or two officers may call a meeting in writing.” You can get 20% of the central committee members — that wouldn’t be too hard — but you could also just get 2 officers. I hear Jennifer Fuoss, Tom Pischke, and Cindy Meyer are fed up with Tornow — that’s 3!

      BTW: As for Tornow’s claim that the county GOP cannot pass a resolution prohibiting themselves from interfering in primaries, that’s complete hogwash. Staying out of primaries has been the tradition for years, so there’s a precedent for it. What’s more, a number of counties have county-level bylaws and/or resolutions that do exactly that — including Lincoln County!! It’s completely fine for counties to adopt bylaws and resolutions as long as they don’t conflict with the state bylaws. Staying out of primaries absolutely does not conflict with the state bylaws. Wiik even wrote an article in the latest Majority Report noting that the SDGOP will stay out of primaries and encouraging all the county GOPs to do the same! I don’t know if Tornow is maliciously misleading people or if he’s just too incompetent to know that a resolution absolutely would be legit, but at both of the last two central committee meetings, Tornow prevented that resolution from coming to a vote by unilaterally declaring that the county “is not allowed” to pass such a resolution. It adds insult to injury that the meeting was improperly adjourned — they were mid-agenda and did not vote to adjourn.

  9. Jim Stalzer is careful and particular. Not a close call as to who’s study of the rules I’d trust between Sen Jim Stalzer and Tornow

    1. Mr. Zitterich, Mr. Sibby, Mr. Dale, Mrs. Volesky and our close and personal friend Lar could do some serious bloggings together.

  13. It’s a shame that the Grand Old Party has fallen into chaos and dictatorial control in so many counties, both East and West River. The leadership in these counties is determined to be vindictive and to ram a conspiracy theory based agenda down the throat of loyal members, often lifetime members who have contributed to the Party’s success. Reasonable people are quitting the Party in frustration. They are also taking their money with them.

    1. the problem, as I see it, is that too many people with personal agendas took over county parties and don’t understand that the mission of a county political party is to raise money and get candidates elected..And that’s it.
      A flood of election deniers, anti-vax, anti pipeline, anti-woke people thought they could use their county parties to promote their causes, and have accused everybody who wishes they would just sit down and shut up of not being conservative enough.
      They should be encouraged to form PACs and let the people who understand the purpose of a county party go back to doing that.
      If you don’t want to raise money and help get candidates elected, go find some other soapbox to stand on.

      1. YES! And getting candidates elected does NOT mean giving their friends an unfair advantage in the primary.

        1. individuals are free to support candidates during a primary, county parties are not.
          Some people have trouble with that concept.

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