Spotted on the road in Sioux Falls today.

Whoa! This one slipped under the radar.  While no one was looking, District 3 House Democrat Candidate Erin Rudner came in and ran the boards with fundraising, bringing in more than her Republican opponents combined.

Erin Rudner D3 Candidate by Pat Powers on Scribd

 

In D3, Novstrup brought in $12k, after a $3700 loan to himself, and Schaefbauer raised $21,325 after giving herself a $10,000 loan.

But with income of over $46,000 (inc a $5k loan), it should get some notice that Rudner has some serious capital to work with in her District 3 State House race.  And for her, she doesn’t have to win. Just come in second place and knocking out whomever is the low hanging fruit.

It might be a tall order, but with the interest and energy (and cash dump) coming into that contest, they could turn that into a sleeper upset.

Someone explain to me where the SDGOP adopted a stance on RL21?

Because it looks like the Minnehaha County GOP is coloring outside the lines on this one, as they blast out to their facebook contacts and use their e-mail list to campaign against Referred Law 21:

Considering this is an issue the SDGOP has not adopted a position on, and there are a considerable number of people on both sides of the issue, you have to wonder what’s going on.

And more importantly, what is the Minnehaha County Republican party doing for candidates? If they’re putting their efforts into an outside ballot measure, they must have put considerable resources into their actual job, electing Republican candidates?

You would think.

The Legislative Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access by Minors is meeting this am, and one of the major pieces being presented today is a letter to the committee by Facebook’s parent company, META, regarding age verification and parental approval for teens under 16 to download apps.

Check it out for yourself:

24-10-23_SD_Meta_FINAL by Pat Powers on Scribd

If you recall my post on Monday noting how State Representative Scott Odenbach was among Independent Candidate Karen McNeal’s largest donors through his Liberty Tree PAC, the days since haven’t gone much better.

In an op/ed from the Dakota Scout, Nanny State Representative Bethany Soye authored an article with Indy Senate Candidate Karen McNeal where they jointly attacked McNeal’s Republican opponent for State Senate, Senator Helene Duhamel.

Why? Because Soye doesn’t know how to write legislation that will pass muster in the courts, but insists on it being passed or her opponents are immoral demons? Aside from the fact she thinks that only she is qualified to tell parents how to raise their kids.

Why do we need a couple of carpetbaggers from out of state (Soye & McNeal) telling South Dakota parents how to raise our kids and that being sued over unconstitutional legislation is the way to go?  And even worse is that one of them is supposed to call herself a member of the House Republican caucus yet is providing comfort to the enemy?

And giving comfort to the opposition to Republicans is the continuing theme for House members as apparently helping the other team to beat members of your own caucus is the trend for 2024. For another example, check out what a reader pointed out to me.

Remember Karen McNeal’s son, Justin McNeal who ran as an independent? He had some familiar names trying to help him on his way:

 After Dusty Johnson had been solidified as the Republican Nominee for Congress in March, on line #4, we have State Representative Jon Hansen signing his name to Justin McNeal’s Independent Candidate petition to run against Republican Dusty Johnson on April 12th. (This also comes after Hansen voted ‘No’ last year on the House Republican nominee for Speaker. )

I also caught Brown County Commission candidate and Aberdeen Right Winger Kyler Dinger on line 7.

Moving to the other side..

“Supposedly Republican” Brown County Commissioner Duane Sutton is line #8 signing a petition for the opponent to Dusty Johnson. On line #9 signing on for a non-Republican alternative to the GOP Candidate we have State Representative Brandei Schaefbauer. We also have Republican D1 House Candidate Christopher Reder showing up below Brandei on the sheet at petition signature line #15.

I imagine it may be kind of hard for some of these people to try to rally people around the Republican Party banner when they might be looking to run for office within their respective Republican Caucuses, coming as it will after they give aid and comfort to the enemy.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in caucus elections when they get together to try to explain why they’re the best choice to be a part of the leadership team to lead House Republicans next month.

Stay tuned.

App Store Parental Approval: A Simple Solution Backed by SD Parents
by Dr. Steven Meyer

The future of any nation is solely in the hands of its ensuing generation. It is my children and yours who will dictate the agendas, priorities and vision for our nation for decades to come. Unfortunately, the current youth of this country are being molded and guided by ever-changing and at times diabolical forces outside the moral and appropriate guidance of family, community, church and local educational Systems.

As access to the internet, social media and smartphones grow exponentially, our children’s formative guidance is being shifted from familiar allies to diverse and at times nefarious sources throughout the world. While exposure to alternative lifestyles and ideas can be enlightening, it can also lead impressionable youths down irreversible paths of calamity.

During my upbringing decades ago, while I read voraciously, it was my parents, pastors and teachers who provided firm guidance to monitor the appropriate and unacceptable material which was available. It behooves us as citizens to demand that our legislatures provide us as parents with appropriate tools to regulate our youth internet app usage to protect them from diabolical influences.

As a father to six children, it is inconceivable that I have little or variable control of my children’s online access and encounters. More concerning is certain governmental attempts to usurp the authority of parents by dictating and allowing minors access to inappropriate content. State lawmakers must focus on solutions that empower parents to enforce healthy online habits in line with each families’ individual viewpoints and priorities. Government must not be allowed to parent our children!

While parenteral control tools do exist, they are universally confusing and cannot begin to keep up with evolving technology and the ever-increasing plethora of new internet applications. A ubiquitous system which would require parental consent as a blanket tool would solve this confusing landscape.

Fortunately for parents the South Dakota legislature’s study committee on AI and regulation of Internet Access by Minors is considering a parent focused proposal to circumvent the current ineffective and burdensome system which will require all children under 16 to obtain parent permission before they can download any new app. Because app stores are centralized hubs for activity, setting parental approval guardrails in app stores ensures parents will be given a simple, powerful tool for protecting their kids from access to harmful sites.

South Dakota could be the first state in the nation to mandate App Store parental approval for all children under the age of 16. Based on current polling by Concerned Women for America of South Dakota, an overwhelming 85% of South Dakota parents polled support requiring app stores to obtain parental approval for teens under 16 years of age to download their apps. Furthermore 79% of them trust app stores more than individual apps to be utilized as gatekeepers for parents and children’s personal information and internet app access.

This simple legislative solution, which is already supported by the vast majority of South Dakota parents, will empower parents to ensure that their kids are not accessing inappropriate apps and internet content. Parents must stay in charge of what their children can access on their devices.

As a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, I strongly urge the South Dakota study committee on AI and regulation of internet access by minors to hear this call from parents like myself. We want to maintain authority over our children’s upbringing and not be overpowered by government and nefarious outside influence. Please put the future of our state and our country first by passing the committee proposal to require app store parental approval.

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There’s a Political Action Committee that has been running attack ads on Senators Larry Zikmund and Arch Beal that no one really knew much about. But now that they’ve made their campaign finance filing, things are getting clearer.

Starting about a week ago, the Government that Works PAC had ads that have been noticed on Dakota News Now, likely geo-fenced to Sioux Falls.

And nobody really knew anything about it. It’s being run by Dem Activist Zach Nistler, but that was it until today, when we find out that Zach has cash to burn for his attack ads:

Government That Works PAC by Pat Powers on Scribd

The Government that Works PAC has a single source of money. A massive $40,000 donation from the federal WayBackPAC.

Who is the “Way Back PAC?” According to records, it is a decidedly liberal PAC based in Sheridan Wyoming which has almost exclusively donated to Democrat Candidates since inception.

$40,000 from Democrat politicians to run attack ads against Republican candidates is nothing to scoff at. Especially in a year when infighting has crippled fundraising for the GOP to run things like slate mailers, and may things they’ve had to forego due to belt-tightening.

No word on whether anyone else has reported being hit. But keep your eyes peeled, and let me know if you see any more attack ads from the “Government that Works PAC.”

Uh oh.

Toby Doeden’s buddy Mark Robinson, the North Carolina Gubernatorial Candidate and allegedly self-described ‘black nazi’ whom Doeden featured at a dinner in Sioux Falls seems to carry an aura of amnesia around him, as people are forgetting many things about him:

Asked by POLITICO at a campaign stop on Monday whether he would urge voters here to still support Mark Robinson, Trump declined to say either way.

“I’m not familiar with the state of the race right now,” Trump told POLITICO as he prepared to step into the black SUV that would whisk him back to his private plane. “I haven’t seen it.”

Read the story at Politico.

Draft Explanations Released for Proposed 2026 Initiated Measure to Limit Property Tax Assessment Increases

PIERRE, S.D. – As required by state law, an explanation for a proposed initiated measure that would limit annual property tax assessment increases for non-agricultural property, which would be on the 2026 general election ballot if approved, has been submitted for public review by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.

Attorney General Marty Jackley takes no position on any such proposal for purposes of the ballot explanation. He has provided a fair and neutral explanation on the initiated measure to help assist the voters. The sponsor of the proposed initiated measure is Joe Hurley of Sioux Falls.

This proposed initiated measure would limit annual property tax assessment increases on all non-agricultural land to no more than 2.5 percent of a base amount. If the measure is approved by voters, the new limit would start with the 2027 assessment.

The ballot explanation can be found here.

State law requires the Attorney General draft a title and explanation for each initiated measure, initiated constitutional amendment, constitutional amendment proposed by the Legislature, or referred measure that may appear on an election ballot. The Attorney General’s explanation is meant to be an “objective, clear, and simple summary” intended to “educate the voters of the purpose and effect of the proposed” measure, as well as identify the “legal consequences” of each measure.

Once the Attorney General has filed and posted the draft explanation, the public has 10 days to provide written comment. The explanation was filed Oct. 21, 2024, and the deadline for comments on this explanation is Thursday, October 31, at the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota. The final explanation is due to the Secretary of State on Tuesday, November 12.

The initiated measure would require 17,509 valid petition signatures to qualify for the 2026 general election ballot.

To file written comments on a draft Attorney General’s explanation please use one of the following methods below. Copies of all received comments will be posted on this website.

Comments may be submitted via mail, or through hand delivery, to the Attorney General’s Office at:

Office of the Attorney General
Ballot Comment
1302 E. Hwy. 14, Suite 1
Pierre, SD 57501

Comments that are hand delivered must be received by the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota, by Thursday, October 31.

Comments can be emailed to: [email protected] by the end of the day on Thursday, October 31.  Comments should be clearly expressed in the body of the email.

The Attorney General’s Office will not open attachments in an effort to prevent malware or other digital threats. Please include your name and contact information when submitting your comment. The title of the comment must be included in the subject line of the email.

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I get the feeling that someone can’t take a hint that voters didn’t care to see her elected:

18-point loser won’t drop claims

Lawrence County elected officials have also faced six legal actions from Kate Crowley-Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate as a Republican in the June primary. Four have been dismissed, one against the Lawrence County auditor and board of commissioners is pending, and an appeal was filed in another case in September.

Crowley-Johnson lost by 18 percentage points to incumbent Sen. Randy Deibert, R-Spearfish. She’s filed actions against Deibert, Lawrence County commissioners and the auditor challenging the use of automatic tabulating machines to count ballots.

and..

“Many of the claims are not fully developed,” Judge Jeffrey Connolly wrote. “Many are illogical.”

Crowley-Johnson denied an interview request for this story but alleged in text messages to South Dakota Searchlight that “the court system broke its own laws.” She also used profanity in the text messages and accused South Dakota Searchlight of writing “propaganda.”

Read the entire story here.

So, Kate Crowley-Johnson lost by nearly 20 points, she keeps having election conspiracy lawsuits thrown out, claims the court system broke it’s own laws, and accuses media the media of propaganda?

Well, good luck with that.