South Dakota Democrats are in the media today, complaining about efforts by Governor Larry Rhoden to deport illegal aliens who are in state prison after being convicted of felony crimes.

In a press release from South Dakota Democrats, House Minority leader Erin Healey noted:

“This operation with ICE creates fear and uncertainty for immigrant families. When we turn state troopers and DOC agents into ICE enforcers, we’re not protecting anyone. We’re tearing families apart, hurting our economy, and damaging trust with law enforcement.”

Read that here.

In a story posted by the Dakota Scout, the Governor’s staff provided an example of the families being ‘torn apart’ by deportation:

The governor’s office is defending the initiative as a targeted public safety effort aimed at removing individuals convicted of serious crimes from the state. Rhoden’s press secretary, Josie Harms, cited two recent ICE deportation cases that originated in South Dakota: a Honduran woman convicted of child sexual exploitation who was deported, and an Eritrean man convicted of sexual contact with a child. The latter is still in DOC custody awaiting deportation.

Read that here.

I think the criminal’s families were torn apart by their sex crimes against kids moreso than these people being removed from the country.

Democrats are protesting that illegal aliens or others who came to this country who have been tried, convicted, and sent to prison are being removed from the country for child sexual exploitation, and child molestation?

I don’t think that’s a hill I would die on if I were the Democrats.

Dakota Leadership PAC Mid Year Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

Dusty Johnson can add another $356k to his total of funds ready to be rolled into his vision for what his race will mean for South Dakota.

His Dakota Leadership PAC filed paperwork this morning showing that his mid-year report reflects a balance of $356,582.00 in it’s coffers, which he can add to his previously filed reports reflecting $5,995,554.28 in the Friends of Dusty Johnson Committee, and the $713,074.22 in the Dusty Johnson Victory Committee.

$7,065,210.50 certainly helps provide some seed money when you’re running for Governor.

Gov. Rhoden Announces Operation: Prairie Thunder

Major Public Safety Initiative in Sioux Falls Metro Area

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced Operation: Prairie Thunder – a comprehensive, targeted public safety initiative to protect South Dakotans, especially in the Sioux Falls metro area.

“We are keeping South Dakotans strong, safe, and free. When it comes to safety, one of our biggest opportunities to move the needle is right here in Sioux Falls, and that’s where Operation: Prairie Thunder comes in,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “We are taking decisive action to hold criminals accountable and protect our communities.”

Governor Rhoden announced Operation: Prairie Thunder at a press conference at the Sioux Falls Public Safety Campus. Operation: Prairie Thunder has two main components:

• A targeted anti-crime initiative in the Sioux Falls metro to interdict drugs, investigate gang activity, hold parole absconders accountable, and deter lawlessness; and
• A comprehensive effort to support the work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) secure our borders and deport illegal alien criminals.

The targeted anti-crime initiative in the Sioux Falls metro includes:

• Providing 10-15 Highway Patrol troopers for monthly saturation patrols over the next five months;
• Deploying aerial assets including the South Dakota National Guard (SDNG) Lakota helicopters and the South Dakota Highway Patrol airplane to help with drug interdiction and traffic enforcement;
• Utilizing Department of Corrections (DOC) Parole Agents and the Absconder Apprehension Unit to assist with apprehensions and lists of fugitives, absconders, and other intelligence; and
• Coordinating all efforts through the existing local crime task forces in the Sioux Falls area.

The comprehensive effort to support ICE’s work includes:

• Equipping the South Dakota Highway Patrol to assist with ICE’s actions to keep America safe – a partnership that the Governor previously obtained;
• Activating six SDNG soldiers to assist ICE with administrative functions; and
• Enabling DOC to work with ICE to deport offenders and transfer violent offenders for federal incarceration and assist ICE with processing and transportation of illegal alien criminals.

“Our work alongside ICE boils down to this: Highway Patrol will support ICE with arrests. The National Guard will support ICE with processing and administrative functions. And DOC will support ICE with transportation, identifying illegal immigrants in our prisons, and getting them paroled to ICE custody,” continued Governor Rhoden.

To facilitate the DOC component of supporting ICE, Governor Rhoden sent a letter of intent for a 287(g) agreement between DOC and Ice under the Jail Enforcement Model. He sent this letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons. You can find the letter here.

At the announcement, Governor Rhoden was joined by state, federal, city, and county law enforcement leaders including Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen, and Secretary of Public Safety Bob Perry. You can find a picture here.

Governor Rhoden is committed to working with local leaders to identify additional ways to address these issues to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.

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Get the popcorn!  The Hansen/Lemming attacks against Toby Doeden continue as another one of the lemmings is going after the Doeden campaign for calls that Hansen can’t win and should drop out.

Recently, former Turner County GOP Chair Tammy Weis (who kept trying to cut Gov Noem off at their gop-like dinner a few years back) is on social media attacking the Doeden campaign manager. And it appear that she’s attacking Doeden supporters in general for suggesting that Hansen drop out because he isn’t going anywhere:

From Facebook:

Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: July 21-27, 2025

Welcome back to another Weekly Round[s] Up. Here in DC, we continue to work on confirming President Trump’s nominees. Despite facing a historic level of obstruction from the other side of the aisle, the Senate is continuing to confirm nominees at a record pace. As of this past week, the Senate has confirmed 105 of President Trump’s nominees to positions in the executive and judicial branches. This is almost double the number of nominees that had been confirmed this far into President Trump’s first term. In addition, we’ve taken 435 roll call votes, which is more votes than the Senate has taken during some entire years. All this to say that we’re moving at a fast pace to get nominees in place and implement the agenda voted on by the American people. More on the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota groups I met with: Melissa Magstadt, South Dakota’s Secretary of Health; South Dakota representatives from the Oncology Nurse Society; Ryman LeBeau, Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; Jim Speirs, Executive Director of Arts South Dakota; Janet Alkire, Chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; Brian Cooper with Maguire Iron; two South Dakota school psychologists in town for a national training; South Dakota’s class of Tomorrow’s Ag Leaders; Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz, founder of the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota; Ron Heiser with Pivotal Health Solutions; South Dakota representatives of 340B Health; and students representing South Dakota and Boys and Girls Nation.

South Dakota towns represented: Aberdeen, Andover, Brandon, Castlewood, Corsica, Eagle Butte, Groton, Hecla, Irene, Lake Preston, Madison, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Wallace, Watertown and Yankton.

Other meetings: Representatives from Canada’s parliament; Jason Droege, CEO of Scale AI; Eric Jensen, CEO of ICEYE US; Dr. Greg Sorensen with RadNet; leaders from the Coalition for Health AI; and Will Lansing, CEO of FICO. I also attended our Senate Bible Study, where our verse of the week was Proverbs 13:24, and our Senate Prayer Breakfast, where I was our speaker this past week!

Hearings: I attended two hearings in the Senate Armed Services Committee. You can watch a clip of one of these hearings here.

Briefings and markups: I attended one classified briefing as part of my work on the Intelligence committee. I also attended a markup in the Appropriations committee to discuss our bills funding Interior and Environment, as well as Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Legislation introduced: I introduced two pieces of legislation to address the critical shortage of housing across the country and create more affordable paths to owning a home for more Americans. Together the Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act and the Better Use of Intergovernmental & Local Development (BUILD) Housing Act would streamline the federal housing environmental review process to responsibly increase housing production and boost overall supply and lower cost. Read more here.

In addition, I introduced the Intelligence Community Property Security Act of 2025, legislation to establish a specific provision prohibiting unauthorized access to U.S. Intelligence Community property and strengthening the penalty for trespassing on property that is under jurisdiction of the United States intelligence community. Read more about this bill here.

Votes taken: 20 – we confirmed nine additional nominees this past week.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Pierre, Redfield, Wall and Winner.

Steps taken: 46,792 steps or 21.14 miles.

Video of the week: I joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business this past week to discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel:

An Aberdeen couple who were at the center of the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary battle between then-Congresswoman Kristi Noem and Attorney General Marty Jackley have recently filed for divorce in Brown County.

A petition for divorce has been filed between Laura Zylstra Kaiser and former State Rep. Dan Kaiser.  If you recall, Zylstra, a former DCI agent had won a $1.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit involving the Brown County Sheriff’s office, and was featured in campaign advertising by Kristi Noem during the campaign against Marty Jackley after claims by Zylstra that her settlement was delayed over payment issues, which the AG cited as being handled by the office of Risk Management.

Immediately after Noem’s primary win, Zylstra’s spouse, Rep. Dan Kaiser, was featured in e-mails and a campaign to delegates by State Rep. Liz May to draft him to be nominated for Lt. Governor:

Current conservative legislators join former conservative icons, in advance of the Republican state convention, in endorsing conservative Representative Dan Kaiser (R-Aberdeen) to be the Republican Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor.

On Saturday, Republican delegates will cast official votes to determine who is on the November general election ballot as the Republican Party candidate for Public Utilities Commission, School & Public Lands Commissioner, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Lieutenant Governor.

and..

Joining Rep. Liz May (R-Kyle) in her support and endorsement of Representative Dan Kaiser are some of South Dakotas most conservative current and past legislators: Rep. Sam Marty (R-Prairie City), Rep. Steve Livermont (R-Martin), Rep. Tim Goodwin (R-Rapid City), Rep. Drew Dennert (R-Aberdeen), Rep. Tom Pischke (R-Dell Rapids), Rep. Lynne Hix-DiSanto (R-Rapid City), Rep. Julie Frye-Mueller (R-Rapid City), Rep. “Chip” Campbell (R-Rapid City), Senator Phil Jensen (R-Rapid City), Senator Stace Nelson (R-Fulton), Senator Emeritus Betty Olson (R-Prairie City), Senator Emeritus Gordon Howie (R-Rapid City), and Representative Emeritus Don Kopp (R-Rapid City).

Read that here (via the wayback machine).

According to the UJS website, the status of the divorce is currently pending the recusal of the assigned judge.

I’m continuing to unpack what went on in politics this last week while I was at my biennial work conference for my day job.

The big news of the week was the announcement that Christine Erickson is running to be the next Mayor of Sioux Falls.

But one of the more quiet, yet interesting developments is that supporters of the candidate who last polled at 4% in the gubernatorial race, Toby Doeden, such as State Rep. & awful human being Phil Jensen and Mike “13 just violates the age of consent” Zitterich, are calling for opposing candidate Jon Hansen to drop out of the race, because they believe Hansen will deny Doeden a win.

Of course, this raised the ire of 4% Hansen supporters, such as Neal “I’m only a terrorist attack away from winning congress” Tapio..

Watch for the bombs to continue to be thrown between the camps in the far right, as the battle over whether Jon Hansen should drop out is just starting between the two.

Backers Push $1.50 Flat Tax to Replace S.D.’s Local Property Taxes
By Scott Sundberg, Hub City Radio, and Todd Epp, Northern Plains News

ABERDEEN, S.D. (Hub City Radio/NPN) — A group wants to kill property taxes in South Dakota.

They’ve filed a proposed constitutional amendment with the state Attorney General’s Office.

Former State Senator Julie Frye-Mueller, one of the measure’s backers, said the proposal would fund county governments through a flat transaction tax applied to most goods and services.

“We’re not trying to take money away from schools or counties,” Frye-Mueller said. “We’re offering an alternative that doesn’t punish property owners.”

Her husband, Mike Mueller, argued the transaction tax would be more equitable and less invasive than property assessments.

“This tax follows your choice to spend, not your right to own,” Mueller said.

Under the plan, South Dakota’s $1.8 billion in property tax revenue would be replaced with a $1.50 charge on most retail transactions. Not a percentage—a flat fee. Buy a candy bar, pay $1.50. Buy a car, same thing.

Matt Smith, a podcaster helping with the campaign, says that makes the system simple and predictable.

“People will know exactly what they’re paying,” Smith said. “It keeps legislators from playing shell games with property values.”

Critics say it does the opposite: it makes taxes less fair and more erratic. A $1.50 charge hits poor people harder than rich ones. And it doesn’t scale with what you buy.

The amendment allows lawmakers to raise the fee—up to $5—if the budget demands it.

“We added that language so they don’t try to open it later and turn it into something worse,” Frye-Mueller said.

The state doesn’t collect property taxes. That’s done by counties, schools, and other local governments. Supporters claim the new tax will cover those costs. They haven’t shown how, at least yet.

Mueller says the details will come later.

“Who’s going to pay for the schools? This will,” he said. “Who’s going to pay for the counties? This will.”

Frye-Mueller says the Legislature could put the measure on the ballot, but she doesn’t trust them to do it.

She was censured by the South Dakota Senate in 2023 for harassing a legislative staffer. That hasn’t stopped her from making the rounds at Republican events.

The state GOP isn’t backing the plan.

“We’re just giving them a venue,” said party chair Jim Eschenbaum. “We’re not taking any official position.”

The group’s website is www.abolishpropertytaxessd.com.

A state property tax task force will meet in Aberdeen on Wednesday, August 13. Time and place are still TBD.

What the Amendment Proposes

The amendment would scrap South Dakota’s $1.8 billion property tax system and replace it with a flat $1.50 fee on most purchases. Backers call it fair and simple. Critics say it hits low-income buyers hardest and hasn’t been tested. The plan allows lawmakers to raise the fee to $5 if future budgets require it.

Had a reader send this over..  what idiot is sending out a political text blast at 12:13 AM? 

That would be the Doeden campaign.

Seriously? That’s a complete and definite no no.  When people get a text message at 12:13 AM, they’re wondering if someone is in the hospital or if a relative died – not getting a political message from a grumpy looking politician.

Already, it’s a long campaign.