Neal Tapio to pull the trigger for Congress tonight? (Updated)

Pat Powers

I’ve been hearing all day, and especially from people attending the Codington County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner this evening that State Senator Neal Tapio, who is about 3 months or so into his term of office, may announce his intention to run for Congress this evening.

While Neal himself has publicly pooh-poohed it a bit, I’ve had people relate to me that at the same time, “He’s telling people tonight is the night.”

If you recall, after winning the GOP primary for State Senate last June, Tapio did not face a fall opponent, and served as the chairman of the Donald Trump for President campaign in South Dakota.

Hie entrance would add an interesting dimension into the Congressional race, to say the least, but it would be a tough row to hoe.  Maybe we should take his dismissals of running seriously?

Or maybe not.

And there’s also this story from yesterday…

Update – My people on location are telling me that in fact, Tapio did not announce tonight. But given the WNAX story and the Domain name… I’d watch for it to happen in the near future. Or else it may be too late.

22 thoughts on “Neal Tapio to pull the trigger for Congress tonight? (Updated)”

  2. Neal is a lot more conservative that Shantel. Check out her voting record.
    Can you say e-s-t-a-b-l-i-s-h-m-e-n-t?

    1. So what’s your basis for believing that Tapio is “a lot more conservative that (sic) Shantel?”

      Is it that he will join up with the Freedom Caucus? Not likely because his idol is Trump, and POTUS wouldn’t like that. Will he be a Ryan supporter? Or will he be just another cuk when he gets there?

      BTW, the embodiment of e-s-t-a-b-l-s-h-m-e-n-t in the House race is Dusty Johnson.

  3. A rookie Senator, untested at the polls, that sponsored 0 bills and 1 SCR (that got carved up and failed) wants to represent South Dakota in DC?

    1. Probably neither. No one knows who he is. He often voted less conservative than I thought he would.

      Obviously Johnson being backed by Daugaard makes him the more establishment candidate but that’s not all bad Daugaard has 70% approval.

      I think it’s too early to tell because we don’t really know who the front runner for the office is over a year away. No one wants to get in a fight with the person polling in 2nd place.

  5. So was he actually telling people that “tonight is the night”? Because if he did tell anyone that and failed to pull the trigger he looks ridiculous. The guy just wreaks of someone who wants desperately to be a big deal

    1. Neal Tapio has demonstrated he knows how to fan the flames of fear and hatred like few others. No wonder he was a big Trump player.

  6. Being the chairman of the sd trump campaign is like being chairman of the sun coming up in the morning.
    Most republicans are conservative until they get elected. I think it’s wise to get a lot more votes under his belt before we can make that determination.
    As much as Dusty and Shantel are overly ambitious, we at least know where they stand. I certainly don’t want a freedom caucus member; what a disaster for SD!

    3. Has Johnson taken hard votes on broad issues? He didn’t serve in the legislature. If Tapio is getting dinged for not voting on issues long enough then Johnson shouldn’t get credit for being around politics for 15 years and not voting on legislation. Tapio probably has a clearer record in one session and 400 bills than Johnson. I assume Tapio has voted on abortion and other important issues to republicans. We know where he stands because he has voted on those issues publicly.

      That said I doubt he runs.

      1. Dusty may not have votes but if you don’t know where he stands and what he has advocated for by now, you haven’t been paying attention. Dusty is a known commodity unlike the unknown Neal Tapio.

  7. Unless Tapio has deep pockets or some friends who do, he has to get in very soon or not at all. By the end of summer the universe of undecideds will be too small.

  9. Tapio wants to eliminate Medicaid. So does that mean that Shantel and Dusty will be running left of him on that issue?

    1. Opposing Medicaid expansion is one thing, but the complete elimination of Medicaid is not a serious idea. If he runs, I doubt that will be part of his platform.

      1. But what about the Trumpcare idea of block granting Medicaid back to the states with a federal stagnant commitment to its funding in the near future?
        Does Tapio support this? Does Dusty? Or even Shantel for that matter?

        In a state where a Republican governor wants to bring ObamaCare to South Dakota and a vast percent of our elderly population, who live in nursing homes, are on Medicaid these questions need to be answered. Especially, when the state is becoming increasing challenged by state sales tax figures….

      2. I think the problem for him on Medicaid is he came off weak. He used analogies of lazy bums and the audience turned on him. Instead of having the knowledge to stick to his opinion he quickly started to back peddle and the situation got out of hand and he surrendered his position.

        Trump never gave up ground. The thing is there is only one Trump.

        1. “The thing is there is only on Trump.”

          I definitely agree with that, although I am not a Trump lover. Back in the day, we saw other politicians in South Dakota try to emulate Janklow too, but to no avail as well, because there was only one Janklow as there is only one Trump….

          In the age of smartphones, the political game has changed, but some have yet to catch up with this new reality and it ends up often to their own political detriment…..

          1. Solum might run for senate. That would be interesting rematch or maybe Solum scares him out.

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