Tyler Tordsen is hosting a campaign rally this afternoon, which is and open to anyone, no obligation to donate. Tyler is giving out swag, t-shirts, drinks, and good company to motivate people to come out and campaign for him.
Go check it out!
Was I saying that it was getting a little saltier in the race for Governor?
After criticism from Congressman Dusty Johnson over his property tax plan being an increase in sales taxes, Governor Larry Rhoden has released an attack ad against Dusty based on his being elected to serve in Washington, referring to him as a DC politician:
I suspect that the candidates are going to continue to split hairs over tax plan, since it does actually take sales tax funds and shift them to offset property taxes.
And I’m sure the terminology will continue to be debated for some time.
Technically, I believe the Janklow property tax cuts were the largest property tax reduction in SD history. But it’s campaign season, and the candidates have a meat-and-potatoes issue to dig into.
Melissa Hull Announces Candidacy for South Dakota State Treasurer
Seven-Year Treasury Manager Brings Proven Record of Modernization, Accountability, and Results
PIERRE, S.D. — Melissa Hull of Pierre has announced her candidacy for South Dakota State Treasurer, citing seven years of direct leadership and delivering measurable, effective results for South Dakota taxpayers.
Hull has served as Treasury Manager since 2019, following the swearing-in of State Treasurer Josh Haeder. In that role, she has overseen the day-to-day operations of the division and spearheaded key initiatives to strengthen the office’s financial safeguards, operational efficiency, and technology infrastructure.
“From day one, we’ve transformed how this office operates — not just in terms of technology, but in how we protect and account for every taxpayer dollar,” Hull said. “The results speak for themselves, and I’m proud of what our team has built.”
During her tenure, Hull has driven meaningful modernization across the office. She led the implementation of affordable, AI-powered tools to carry out responsibilities more efficiently and accurately – saving staff hours each day and improving accounting accuracy. She spearheaded the rollout of Positive Pay through the state’s banking partner, a fraud-prevention system that monitors for unauthorized, altered, or duplicate checks and ACH debits.
Hull currently serves as the office lead on behalf of Treasurer Haeder for Project BISON, a $70 million technology initiative that will completely overhaul how South Dakota state government conducts daily business. She also built the Treasury team from the ground up at the start of Haeder’s term, leading cross-training efforts between the Treasury and Unclaimed Property divisions — two of the office’s core functions — to strengthen continuity, deepen the team’s expertise across both areas, and ensure checks and balances.
“When I accepted this role, we had to rebuild the team while simultaneously modernizing how the office functioned,” Hull said. “We implemented new technology, tightened fraud protections, and made the office more efficient — all without missing a beat on our central responsibilities to South Dakota taxpayers.”
With Treasurer Haeder unable to seek another term, Hull said the progress made over the past seven years — and the responsibility to protect it — inspired her to run.
“We’ve built something worth continuing.” Hull said. “I know what South Dakotans deserve and expect; South Dakotans deserve someone who is ready to hit the ground running and deliver results from day one, and I’m that candidate.”
A lifelong South Dakotan, Hull was raised in Philip and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Black Hills State University. She lives in Pierre with her husband, Chris, and their daughter, Charlie. Outside of work, she enjoys live music, boating, and spending time outdoors with her family.
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You can read it in the headline. Once again, the South Dakota Democrat Party out-raised the state Republican party by a factor of 1,000x, and at the same time posted in the neighborhood of 50+ donors.
SDDP April 2026 FEC Report by Pat Powers
While current SDGOP Chairman (& 32-year former Democrat) Jim Eschenbaum’s GOP managed a single $45 donation, South Dakota Democrats posted $40,698.05 raised in their federal account. Democrats spent $38,781.89 according to their report, and were left with $60,993.02 cash on hand at the close of the reporting period.
Ugh. If we have to have a recent Democrat running the South Dakota Republican Party, why didn’t they send one of the ones who knows how to run a political party? This is just embarassing.
I think it has been quite a while, but at some point in the past I know I have told the story about the Republican candidate for the legislature out in Rapid City who had an odd companion for door-to-door.
This legislative candidate would go door-to-door with a parrot on her shoulder as she met voters. That’s right. Knocking on the door, introducing herself, asking for their vote and the parrot was there as a conversational trigger.
Her fellow House Candidate in the district would relate these stories as kind of a WTF moment as related to him by voters left wondering whether this was a serious candidate when he would go door-to-door.
Needless to say, he handily won election. While parrot gal did not.
Why do I bring this up? I am reminded of it by one of the things I’m seeing from a candidate on social media:
Another instance when we might be better off considering the flightless bird as a candidate, versus the fool using it to campaign.
Three of the candidates running for the South Dakota State Legislature in District 3 are having a big fundraiser in Aberdeen on Thursday night. Katie Washnok for Senate, Spencer Sommers for District 3 House, and Tim Hanigan for District 3 House are all teaming up. Or should I say, a number of people in Aberdeen are teaming up to support them. Check it out:
Be there on Thursday to help improve the quality of legislators representing District 3 in Pierre.
If you’re not able to go, you can support these great candidates by using the QR codes on the ad to send them a donation:
South Dakota News Watch is reporting this AM that Congressman Dusty Johnson is currently surging in the race for Governor, while the man who had been his chief competitor has taken a tumble in polling conducted from April 7-11.
The scientific survey of 500 registered Republicans, conducted April 7-11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, found Johnson leading the four-way contest for governor with 34% of likely GOP primary voters supporting his candidacy.
The other three candidates are effectively tied for second due to the margin of error being plus-or-minus 4.5%. State House Speaker Jon Hansen, of Dell Rapids, has 18% support from GOP voters, and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden and Gov. Larry Rhoden both have 17%. Roughly 14% of those surveyed were undecided.
and..
“Johnson is moving into the clear front-runner status,” he said.
“People know him. People like him, and that’s probably why he’s ahead right now. Whether he can hold on to that will depend on what the other campaigns – particularly Hansen’s – are able to do in the coming weeks,” Coker told News Watch, pointing to the poll results that found Johnson has a 47% favorability rating, the highest of any of the candidates.
That’s a massive shift of support against Governor Rhoden, who had been in a relatively close second place this last year when they last polled, with him shedding 10 points since that time. At this point, Dusty Johnson is in the lead, with the rest of the field virtually tied. (I heard all of them were at 17, and they’re getting Hansen to 18 by rounding up. I heard Doeden 17.4%, Hansen 17.8%, and Rhoden 17.0%)
While we’ve all been watching the Toby Doeden ads, making us insensitive to the deluge of negativity he’s running on, they’ve somewhat faded into the background and are ignored at this point as he attacks Dusty Johnson and Larry Rhoden, (and ignoring 2% Jon Hansen).
But this morning, while watching the news, gears have shifted and I saw the first negative ad directly against Larry Rhoden which went after him. I didn’t get a chance to record it, but I did grab a couple of screen shots with my phone:
The group promoting this effort is the “Rushmore Principles” Political Action Committee, so we’ll have to wait a few weeks until the pre-primary report to find out who is behind it.
But it pulls no punches, and goes straight after Governor Rhoden hard for the shift of sales taxes to offset property taxes that was passed this last legislative session.
Stay tuned. I’m sure things will get rougher before the election is done.
UPDATE:
This is not a tiny ad buy. Looking like 250k or so?
Democrats Want to Bring Back Open Borders, Republicans Won’t Let Them
By Sen. John Thune
Democrats have made it clear that they are the party of open borders and defunding law enforcement. They kept the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shut down for nearly two months, repeatedly moved the goalposts on negotiations to fund the agency, and ultimately walked away from bipartisan talks. Then, just before Easter, every Democrat in the Senate showed their true colors by refusing to fund the law enforcement and border security components of DHS.
Needless to say, Democrats’ extreme position is unacceptable for Republicans, and I would think for most Americans too. So while Democrats embrace open borders and defunding law enforcement, the Republican majority will move ahead to fund these critical agencies without their support through the budget reconciliation process.
It is shameful what Democrats have done to Homeland Security. Since October, Democrats have subjected this department to not one but two record-breaking shutdowns, forcing some department employees to go without pay for extended periods of time. Republicans tried to work with Democrats; we tried to negotiate with them on reforms to immigration enforcement that they said that they wanted. But time and again, Democrats blocked our attempts, moved the goalposts in bipartisan negotiations, and eventually just walked away.
But that won’t be the end of the story. First, thanks to our foresight in the Working Families Tax Cuts bill, immigration enforcement and border security are funded through the end of this fiscal year. Now that it’s clear that we can’t trust Democrats to fund law enforcement, Republicans are going to take up a bill through budget reconciliation that will allow us to fund these missions through the remainder of the Trump administration without Democrats.
Democrats have once again shown their embrace of open borders and defunding law enforcement. They refuse to fund the deportation of criminal illegal aliens. They refuse to fund drug interdiction and border security. They refuse to fund the agency that investigates drug smugglers and human traffickers. And they refuse to fund Border Patrol. Apparently, the Biden administration’s four years of record-breaking illegal immigration weren’t enough for Democrats. Based on their present position, they’re perfectly willing to allow the border crisis of the last administration to return. Republicans won’t let that happen.
It’s mindboggling, but Democrats don’t really believe in securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. It’s now clear that Democrats were never interested in a solution, they were just interested in a political talking point. But I don’t think “defund law enforcement” is a winning message for my Democrat colleagues.
Republicans are in complete agreement that we need to ensure law enforcement and border security are fully funded, and we’re going to ensure that they are funded quickly and completely to keep our border secure and America safe.
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Freedom Drives Opportunity
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
April 17, 2026
In South Dakota, we believe in protecting our freedom, defending our constitutional rights, and putting common sense policies into action. That’s a big reason why South Dakota remains strong, safe, and free. But one right exists to protect all other rights – and that’s the Second Amendment.
We have the results to prove that South Dakota is the most pro-Second Amendment state in America.
Last year on my Open for Opportunity tour, I had the chance to visit Western Dakota Technical College. When I met with President Ericson, she shared the opportunity to bring a gunsmithing program to South Dakota. I went back to the office and immediately got to work to make it happen.
South Dakota is home to many growing and thriving firearm businesses, and in the last few years, we’ve brought even more of them here. That didn’t happen by accident. While other states were taking away Second Amendment rights, South Dakota said, “Not here.” We chose a different path. We chose to stand up for our freedoms and welcome these businesses with open arms.
Finally, this week, I was proud to announce a $4 million Future Fund grant to bring the gunsmithing program to Western Dakota Tech. We helped them purchase equipment and curriculum and acquire the gunsmithing school in Colorado.
Ryan Lishner, the president of the Colorado school, said gun policies in Colorado are starting to impede what firearms dealers and firearms manufacturers can do, and it’s impacting their educational process.
That won’t happen in South Dakota. This is the freest state in a nation founded on the principle of freedom – and other states are taking notice.
We’re proud to be the most Second Amendment-friendly state in the nation. We don’t just say that – we back it up. I’ve fought for the Second Amendment my entire career. This year, we became the first state to remove silencers from the list of controlled weapons. In fact, other states have already followed our example!
The very first bill that we signed during the Noem-Rhoden Administration was Constitutional Carry to guarantee the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding South Dakotan. We became the first state to eliminate fees for concealed carry permits. And our leadership in this area goes back decades. In fact, when I was in the Legislature, I was the prime sponsor of a bill to eliminate the 48-hour waiting period to purchase a pistol, among other strong pro-2A laws.
The Second Amendment exists to protect all other rights, so my administration will always protect it. And we will welcome with open arms those who will help us advance the Second Amendment.
This new gunsmithing school is a win for our students, our workforce, our businesses, and our firearms industry. We aren’t putting up roadblocks; we’re opening doors. We’re keeping our young folks here at home and helping our businesses find the skilled workers they need. We’re proving that South Dakota is Open for Opportunity – and we’re keeping it the most pro-Second Amendment state in America.
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