The post above from State Representative Logan Manhart has certainly roiled South Dakota legislative politics for it’s racially tinged undertones, as well as drawing attention to other racially charged social media coming from Manhart..

.. but what about the other Toby Doeden campaign worker in the picture? Innocent bystander?

As noted in a story that came out this morning from the Dakota Scout, the other person is identified as Matt Hurley, Toby Doeden’s campaign manager:

Also appearing in the photo posted with the “White Boy Summer” caption was Matt Hurley, campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Toby Doeden. Doeden’s campaign also did not respond to a request for comment.

Read that here.

Well.. maybe a bystander, but hardly innocent.  You might recognize him from other campaigns he’s worked on that also were affected by racially charged language:

Senior staff members in the office of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina have said they will resign Tuesday, becoming the latest people to abandon Robinson, the state’s Republican nominee for governor, in the wake of a CNN report that linked him to disturbing comments on a porn site.

and..

On Wednesday morning, Robinson told other Republicans around the state in a virtual meeting that he had hired Matt Hurley to be his new campaign manager, according to two people briefed on the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly. Hurley is also a senior political strategist at Southeastern Strategies. He has repeatedly advocated for Robinson on social platform X.

Hurley told county chairs in the meeting that he had previously worked on Robinson’s team and that he would be announcing new staff hires soon.

and..

According to the CNN report, Robinson wrote on a porn site years ago that he was a “black NAZI,” that he enjoyed watching transgender pornography and that slavery was not bad. He also recounted on the site how he went “peeping” on women in public gym showers as a teenager.

Read that story here.

Hurley is the one who came in to run the show AFTER the whole “black Nazi” thing erupted. In one post to social media, Hurley claimed “Mark Robinson is certainly the most misunderstood leader I have ever seen or met.”  Which is one way to put it.  And that’s the person who was brought in from out of state to be placed in charge of the Toby Doeden for Governor campaign.

With Doeden happily affiliating himself with Manhart..

.. don’t expect much in the way of consequences when Toby’s campaign worker Logan Manhart continues to be unapologetic.

Don’t expect Toby Doeden to acknowledge his team member Manhart’s screw up and too-often comments about whiteness at all. Because that’s what they do. Because Team Doeden has a track record of openly running towards and embracing those who offend practically everyone else in the world.

And here we are, slightly less that 1 year out from the election.

On the KELOland website, under the story about House Democrats denouncing Rep. Manhart’s Instagram post, a poll is open regarding whether Rep Manhart should or should not publicly apologize for his now deleted instagram post:

You can take the poll and weigh in here. (right hand side, midway down)

Dear Dakota War College,

I never believed those stories you wrote about on your blog until one night it happened to me!

I swear. It’s like you put my blogposts into a blender and took what spilled out and threw it on social media.

It’s so random and literally off the wall looney, that you can’t make this up.

So, State Rep. Brandei Schefbauer, (remember, you can’t spell her name without DEI), has leaped into the fray in defense of her fellow Toby Doeden-follower State Rep. Logan Manhart.

Manhart of course, is taking heat over his instagram post about it being white boy summer which is receiving statewide and national attention.

And because BranDEI is challenged to think for herself, she cites the overly verbose former newsreader Shad Olson to be her words in her defense of Rep. Manhart.

Nevermind the fact that it was just in the news that Shad was just sentenced for assaulting and choking his former girlfriend, after pleading no contest to charges, where he is now required to attend anger management counseling, consent to search and seizure, consume no alcohol for the next 365 days, and have no contact with the victim or the victim’s address.

In other words, they are all awful people, defending and feeding off of each other in this round-robin of awfulness.

Please. Just make it stop.

It’s just not stopping.

In am Instagram video that’s starting to circulate, Logan Manhart’s old tweets are being featured, including a reply to a post that seems to show that the “white thing” is less of an aberration and more of a trend that pops up from time to time:

Of course, this tweet has mysteriously disappeared from Manhart’s twitter account, but seems to have been preserved for posterity by others.

You can view the instagram video via this QR code:

Toby Doeden seems to be confused over what his campaign worker was trying to convey when Logan Manhart was posting about ‘white boy summer’ while wearing his Doeden campaign team jacket:

Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, who is running for the 2026 Republican nomination for governor, said in a text message that he saw Manhart’s post, and saw that Manhart wore a “Toby Doeden for South Dakota” jacket in the post.

“I don’t really get it. I am not at all sure what he was trying to convey,” Doeden said. “Seemed like a pretty stupid use of words if you ask me.”

Read that here.

“Seemed like a pretty stupid use of words if you ask me,” according to Toby?

Kind of like this?

From Dakota News Now it looks like Meade County, South Dakota is the place to be if you’re so inclined to lift your girlfriend by the neck and shake her, as former newscaster Shad Olson was accused of doing:

The state was asking for a 180-day suspended jail sentence, and the judge gave Olson a suspended imposition of sentence.

Olson is required to attend anger management counseling, consent to search and seizure, consume no alcohol for the next 365 days, and have no contact with the victim or the victim’s address.

Read the entire story here

In case you’re forgetting the why of why Shad found himself being thrown in jail until a political ally paid his bail:

As alleged by the girlfriend who managed to escape, 8 years of abuse until his victim managed to escape the cycle of violence.

And it was not even worth the suspended jail sentence the prosecution had asked for.

KELOland is reporting that House Democrats in South Dakota are calling on Representative Logan Manhart to apologize over his “white boy summer” post on instagram.  (not to confuse it with his latest social media post defending white men.)

Manhart said in a now deleted Instagram post on July 4 “It’s white boy summer and the boys are back in charge.”

The South Dakota House Democratic Caucus sent a letter to Speaker of the House Jon Hansen and Majority Leader Scott Odenbach calling for Manhart to make a public apology.

“We are calling for Representative Manhart to issue a meaningful public apology —not a deflection, not a ‘sorry if you were offended,’ but a clear and direct acknowledgment of how his comment was wrong, who it hurt, and how he intends to grow from this moment,” the letter, signed by five Democratic state lawmakers said.

and..

“Dismissing that post is sending a message that hate and exclusion is welcome from elected officials, and it shouldn’t be,” Healy said. “We believe that government should serve everyone and not just a powerful few.”

Read the entire story here.

Notice is out this afternoon as Ezra Hays has apparently resigned from the SDGOP’s Executive Board.

Hays had ran the campaign organized to oppose Amendment H on last years’ ballot, and most recently ran to become the Chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, but lost to (former 32-year Democrat) Jim Eschenbaum.  It’s interesting that this comes at a time when the party’s finances are in danger of collapse, as his position takes very little time at all.

Is he getting out, while the getting is good?

Stay tuned… it’s only going to get more interesting as we get into the fall.

When State Representative Logan Manhart finds himself in a hole..  he really needs to stop positioning himself as the defender of white men.

If you recall my post from this last week, Rep. Manhart adorned in full “Toby Doeden for Governor” regalia posted to instagram declaring that it’s “white boy summer.”

Predictably, he has taken a number of hits on social media over it. And that instagram post has disappeared as if it never existed.

But, the Internet is forever and as he continues to rack up hit points, Logan felt the need to respond to the controversy. And proves the adage that when you find yourself in a hole at the bottom of a pit, it’s time to quit digging:

“..the same legislators who are criticizing me have spent their unremarkable political careers chastising and criticizing white men at every turn, oftentimes for, simply, existing.”

Jesus H.. STOP taking about the plight of the white man!

Seriously, Rep. Manhart needs to quit while he’s behind. Because he did no benefit for himself by continuing to portray himself as the defender of the white.

I caught this image on the Minnehaha Democrat Party’s facebook recently. And if we were in a movie or a book, I would consider it foreshadowing.

What’s my thought process on it? Hear me out.  Everyone in the photo declaring their comeback is a current or former candidate for the Democrat Party. Except one.

• Billie Sutton – Ran for Governor, narrowly lost to Kristi Noem
• Jamie Smith – Ran for Governor, was completely crushed by Kristi Noem, and is now running for SF Mayor.
• Sheryl Johnson – Yes, she did run for office. She ran as “SD Mom” for Congress in the last election, where she received 28% against Congressman Dusty Johnson
• Julian Beaudion – announced he is running for US Senate.
• Nikki Gronli – Appointed as USDA State Director for Rural Development by President Biden.

Everyone in the photo has ran, or is running for statewide office. Except Nikki Gronli. (a.k.a., Nikki “three shell” Gronli, if I could remind you):

Upon her departure from USDA, Gronli recently took the lead for Democrats in being the face of their Democrat town halls, which seems to have a large self-promotion component, given that she’s the one leading them on the SDDP’s behalf as opposed to a member of the opposition party’s leadership or current officeholders being the face of the party on this.

So, if cynical me were to go out on a limb, I would offer an educated guess that this the dog & pony show – at least in part – is to raise Gronli’s profile among Democrats prior to announcing her candidacy for public office.  Interestingly, South Dakota Democrats are having their annual state dinner fundraiser this weekend in Sioux Falls, featuring Tim Walz, their party’s most recent Vice Presidential offering.  It’s entirely possible that we may see an announcement of what she’s going to run for at the event.

Stay tuned.