Thune Crisscrosses South Dakota During State Work Period
“We’re setting our country up for a stronger and more prosperous future. And I can’t wait to see the benefits for my state of South Dakota and for our entire country.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Click here to watch the video.
Gov. Rhoden Releases Draft Legislation for New Prison
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden released the draft legislation for a new prison, which will be acted on in the upcoming special session of the South Dakota Legislature. This legislation reflects the plan that was unanimously approved by the prison task force. You can find the draft legislation here. An outline of the legislation can be found here.
“We are one step closer to delivering a new prison to replace the 140-year-old State Penitentiary,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “We have a good site, a good plan, the money to pay for it, and now the legislation to authorize it. I look forward to working with legislators to get this bill passed.”
This legislation was drafted with consultation from legislative leadership, members of the prison task force, and the Legislative Research Council.
Last week, Governor Rhoden announced a FAQ page to answer questions about the plan for the new prison. More information about the full plan will be released within a week.
###
South Dakota Searchlight has a good article by Josh Haiar which if you haven’t read it is an ominous foreshadowing of how some of the people running for governor view bringing new industries and the jobs that come with them into South Dakota, as they promise a future lacking vision and aspiration:
“You’re using tax dollars to bring in companies that compete with current South Dakota businesses,” (Jon) Hansen said. “You’re using their tax dollars to fund their competition.”
He has pledged to put an end to what he describes as “corporate welfare.”
and..
(Toby) Doeden told South Dakota Searchlight he hopes to change the focus of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. He said the state should shift its focus away from job creation, pointing to South Dakota’s 1.9% unemployment rate.
and..
“We will grow the economy with new small businesses, new energy production, expanded dairy, and bringing high-tech jobs home to South Dakota. We will keep tax rates low by growing the tax base,” the statement said. “This is growth with a purpose — not growth for its own sake, but growth that creates opportunity for the next generation.”
..(Dusty) Johnson said during a recent public forum that he is “befuddled” by blanket opposition to economic development, including data centers and other large projects. He said South Dakota leaders need to be “visionary” and bring new industries to the state “or we are saying that our children will have diminished opportunities.” That, Johnson said, is “absolutely unacceptable.”
“It’s un-American and it’s not at all capitalist,” he said.
Candidate Jon Hansen’s NIMBY campaign is being built on the back of the BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) movement and Candidate Toby Doeden’s self-funded campaign directly coming out against investment in job creation is so anti-leadership, it immediately puts him in the reject pile for being conceived as a viable leader for South Dakota.
They both lack ambition, and they lack basic leadership. They lack vision. They both disqualify themselves from consideration for the job of governor because of their short-sightedness and lunkhead pandering.
I always counsel people thinking of running that candidates should be inspirational and aspirational. Those are huge leadership qualities. Why do I point this out? Elections are not about the past – elections are about the future.
If you want your future to be kids moving away because they have no opportunity, leading to schools shutting down, and towns dying, then keep on the Hansen/Doeden path. Just because someone born on a farm in 1950 South Dakota couldn’t dream about working in an AI data Center in rural South Dakota doesn’t mean their kids won’t.
Governors have to think big and always about tomorrow. Bill Janklow brought Citibank to South Dakota (And starting under him, his COS Dave Knudson was the architect of SD’s Trust success), George Mickelson was the father and architect of today’s economic development prosperity, and why South Dakota is a good place to do business. When Janklow came back, he wired the schools for data. Mike Rounds took a deep hole in the ground and turned it into a word class research lab, created research centers at state universities to attract federal and private funding, and worked with the federal team to save Ellsworth.
While it’s in vogue to throw rocks at Governor Kristi Noem, she was far more visionary than people would care to remember. Early on, Kristi launched an effort to bring high-speed, sustainable broadband to every home and business in South Dakota. Her Cybersecurity initiative with DSU to bring a new applied research lab in Sioux Falls was a huge investment in training graduates for jobs. I can cite a few more that people ignore, but those were HUGE.
With most all of these initiatives to benefit the state for the future, there was opposition – in some cases, strong opposition. But there was a vision for the state, and there was leadership to make their vision happen.
The best takeaway from the article was a statement from Nathan Sanderson of SD Retailers talking about South Dakota’s success in the dairy industry; “If the state didn’t get involved, that growth wouldn’t have happened. This isn’t about picking winners and losers — it’s about building partnerships to improve quality of life.”
Thinking big and thinking about tomorrow isn’t just an aside when running for Governor. It’s central to the job description. And we don’t need people who don’t get that.
Hot off the press, the Christine Erickson for Mayor committee has released their fundraiser invite for the big event with her brother, legendary NFL kicker Adam Vinatieri happening on September 15 in Sioux Falls.
Check it out, and make plans to attend this event for the person who is likely to be the next Mayor for South Dakota’s largest city in the election happening on June 2, 2026.
From facebook:
AFP-SD Deputy Director Jennifer Beving is on facebook apparently demanding local control of schools in all decision making. Does that mean they going to hand a legislator a bill to introduce to walk that walk?
Just asking.
Nonprofit Leader James Oppenheimer Launches Campaign for Sioux Falls City Council At Large
Sioux Falls, SD – September 3, 2025 – Community leader James Oppenheimer today announced his candidacy for Sioux Falls City Council At Large in the June 2, 2026 election.
“I am excited to share that I am running for Sioux Falls City Council At Large. With experience leading major nonprofits in our city, I am ready to bring positive, people-focused leadership to City Hall,” Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer currently serves as CEO of the Sioux Falls Family YMCA and previously led the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society and Dakota Alliance Soccer Club. Across these roles, he has managed multimillion-dollar budgets, led teams of more than 200 employees, and served thousands of children, families, and animals each year.
Oppenheimer’s campaign is focused on building a city where families can thrive, with three key priorities:
“I believe in collaboration, transparency, and building a city that is welcoming for all. As someone who became a citizen by choice, this community means everything to me, and I want to serve it well,” Oppenheimer added.
Current At-Large City Councilwoman Sarah Cole, who is not seeking re-election, will serve as chair of Oppenheimer’s campaign. “It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Sioux Falls, and I am deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in me. James is exactly the kind of steady, service-minded leader Sioux Falls needs on the City Council. I have watched him lead organizations that touch thousands of lives, and I know he will bring that same integrity, collaboration, and results-driven focus to City Hall.” said Cole.
For more information, visit www.JamesForSiouxFalls.com
Gov. Rhoden Seeks Public Input on District 16 Vacancy
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden requested public input on filling the District 16 House of Representatives vacancy, which includes the counties of Lincoln, Turner, and Union.
This seat was formerly held by Representative Richard Vasgaard, whose leadership will be deeply missed. He served in the South Dakota State House of Representatives from 2021 to 2022, and again in 2025. Governor Rhoden previously lowered flags statewide to honor Representative Vasgaard’s life.
Those wishing to be considered for the vacancy in the House of Representatives, or to offer nominations, should email ryan.brunner@state.sd.us. Nominations should include the candidate’s name, current physical address, resume, cover letter, and letters of recommendation. All nomination materials must be submitted by Sunday, September 7, 2025.
###
State Representative, Majority Whip, and complete idiot Brandi Schaefbauer apparently doesn’t have the common sense to quit digging when she already finds herself in a hole over a video podcast she did where she came off appearing to be a fringe conspiracist.
And in a featured article at the Aberdeen Insider, Schaefbauer gets the shovel and keeps on digging as she Brandei-splains how her comments were ‘taken out of context.’
“We have all been promised that something is going to happen, and we get this little … nugget and then it’s a pacifier for us. Well, no, I think the way things are going people are so upset and they have nothing else to lose and so why not let’s just start a civil war again,” she said during that segment.
Schaefbauer said she did not call for another civil war, rather that’s something others have mentioned to her.
and..
“Why isn’t he in jail?” she said of Fauci’s handling of COVID-19 on the podcast. “He should be in jail. He should be on death row for killing millions and millions of people.”
and..
She said she wasn’t literally calling for Fauci’s execution. Most people on death row die before they are executed, she said.
“Saying he should be on death row is not outright calling for his execution because we all know how the system works,” Schaefbauer told the Insider.
and..
Schaefbauer posted Hess’s column on her Facebook page, calling it “total and utter rubbish” and noted that she is considering legal action.
She told the Insider that’s still a possibility. To her, the headline itself is defamatory and claims she called for a civil war when she didn’t. That kind of information comes up when artificial intelligence gathers online biographical information, she said.
Read the entire story here at Aberdeen insider.
I would encourage everyone to go to the Aberdeen Insider to read the story. And then to send it to everyone they know in Aberdeen with a note asking them “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ELECTING THIS GOOFBALL?!? DON’T SEND HER BACK TO PIERRE!”
Make sure you use all capital letters too.
But otherwise, when a person – a public official, no less – says “I think the way things are going people are so upset and they have nothing else to lose and so why not let’s just start a civil war again” and then tries to claim she did not call for another civil war, and thinks the newspaper who pointed it out is being defamatory.. That’s probably going to be a bit of a stretch.
And when the same legislator declares – on video – that a public health official “should be in jail. He should be on death row,” and that they weren’t actually calling for his execution.. because “Most people on death row die before they are executed..”
Well, most people with a lick of sense would put down the shovel, because the hole Brandei has made for herself in is deep enough. But somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.
One of South Dakota’s worst legislators, State Representative “DJ Jazzy” Jordan, the legislator who either lives in his mom’s or his nana’s basement depending on who you ask, is out on facebook today whining about overbearing government control in our schools:
Because you know, COVID and stuff..
Yet interestingly, Rep. Jordan makes no mention of his own efforts to dictate what should happen in schools, which include sponsoring a bill which tried to mandate big ten commandment posters be put up in all classrooms, with teachers required to include instruction including the commandments handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai in their curriculum, such as when they teach welding or swim class.
I’m not sure what smacks more of “government control,” telling kids they can’t bring cell phones into classrooms because they’re distracting, or that “Thou shalt not commit adultery” when trying to join 2 pieces of metal at a 45 degree angle?
That’s kind of a head scratcher.
Republican donors… (or at least former ones) around South Dakota are receiving a fundraising letter from the SDGOP which.. well, it’s really not that good. At all. I’m not sure if it was written by monkeys banging randomly on typewriter keys, but there’s that possibility.
In case you didn’t get one of these.. Just a few things I caught.
First off, the letter isn’t coming from South Dakota. Despite numerous options, please take note of the postal permit, as they spent the party’s coin from South Dakota donors with a mail vendor out of Arizona:
That takes us to the letter itself, which they didn’t bother to mail merge. Instead, coldly addressing it to something about as heart warming as ‘dear occupant,’ except going to ‘dear fellow patriot.’ Which apparently former 32-year Democrat and Obama supporter Jim Eschenbaum now must consider himself.
From here we get into a letter which is just rife with grammatical errors and a misspelling or two. Not to mention that it is jammed in there & very poorly laid out.
Interesting how they claim to need funding for their ‘most critical programs.’ Strategic Newsletters and Public Relations? Well, we all know that they certainly haven’t done a newsletter for quite some time. And I can’t wait to see how they handle ‘candidate recruitment,’ or ‘voter education and community outreach.’
Or what about their “voter education mail program?” As in “what voter education mail program?” They haven’t had any money to do any educational mailings since the funding dried up 2 years ago.
I do knowing that my member code is “PB25111” in the lower right corner of page 2. Because I had someone else send me the copy of the letter that they received.
HEY! Their member code is also PB25111! That’s MY code! Someone should check on that. I think there may be an error, and I wouldn’t want my donation to get mixed up with theirs.
One of the weirdest things about the letter is that it says nothing about the current leaders of the state. Nothing about Senators Thune or Rounds. Nothing about Congressman Dusty Johnson. Nothing even about Governor Rhoden. Supporting candidates is WHY people donate (correction used to donate) to the Republican Party. Yet, they don’t seem to know their names, eschewing any mention of them in favor of their own self-importance.
Speaking of a false sense of self-importance, please note that former 32-year Democrat Jim Eschenbaum’s name is on every piece of paper in the fundraising packet. Even the return envelope! …because someone thinks people care about that, or in case someone missed it the other three times?
By any stretch of the imagination, this fundraising letter just plain sucks. It claims activities that just aren’t happening, as well as things that they haven’t done so far, so we shouldn’t expect them to start doing them anytime soon.
We’ll know at some point whether it was effective enough to make the money back that it cost them to send it out. I tend to doubt that’s going to happen with their Arizona letter.