Guest Weekly Column by Aleesia Dillon, Ben Reifel Intern

Working in politics has always been in the back of my mind, but I had never seriously considered it. On June 3, 2024, my window of opportunity opened to work on Capitol Hill. It was my first day as the Ben Reifel intern with Congressman Dusty Johnson. I had never been to Washington, D.C., and I felt like a turtle seeking refuge in its shell. While I didn’t have the slightest idea of what was to come, now at the end of my internship, I can say I met great people and made memories I’ll keep forever.

During my second week, I heard from Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) at an intern lecture series. What he shared set my standards high and laid a great foundation for my internship. I took his advice to seize opportunities, make a good impression, and do my best.

Dusty is similar in this way—he’s always making sure the interns get exposure to what Congress is like and he helps set up once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for us. As interns, we attended many of his constituent meetings and staff meetings to learn the inner workings of his office. This always made me feel like I was truly a part of his team, not just a lowly intern who is tasked with getting coffee for our boss (which we never had to do). Throughout my internship, I heard Dusty crack several dad jokes while sharing snacks with his staff.

My time studying at Cornell University has prepared me for the fast-paced environment of Capitol Hill, but I did improve and refine my skills throughout the internship. My writing, communication, and professionalism were sharpened throughout working with the staff who provided edits on my work. I’m confident I’ll be an even better student when I return to campus this fall.

The highlight of my internship was meeting with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. I asked for her advice about law school, how she balances her identity as a Native with her work life, and her favorite traditional meal. She told me that Native women think about things differently, and to never let fear stop me. Meeting Secretary Haaland brought me an immense amount of joy, and I’m deeply grateful for Dusty’s office for setting up the meeting. I’ve never been prouder to be a Lakota woman.

Throughout my internship, I joined Dusty’s famous night tours of the Capitol, toured the White House, met with other members (including some “famous” ones), visited many of the Smithsonian museums, and did so much more. I am so thankful I took this opportunity to work on the Hill, and I’m glad I didn’t let fear of the unknown stop me.

Ben Reifel represented South Dakota in the US House of Representatives from 1961 to 1971. He was the first Lakotah to serve in Congress. The Ben Reifel internship is an opportunity for South Dakota students interested in tribal affairs to intern in Congressman Dusty Johnson’s office working on those issues.

From my e~mail box this AM, looks like the Brown County GOP‘s leadership team is collapsing in the wake of Katie Washnok’s departure:

Brown County Republican Central Committee Members,

After taking some time to think about things, I am writing to resign from my position as Brown County Republican Party secretary, effective immediately. In light of Katie’s recent departure, I believe that the direction for the future of the Brown County GOP has changed.

Our country has reached a pivotal point where the success of our nation depends on citizens’ willingness to work together towards a common goal. The same is true at the local level. I believe that as executive board members, we hold a duty to diligently work to unite the Brown County GOP through leadership and example. Unfortunately, in recent years, personal agendas have plagued our efforts and have threatened the upward trajectory that we have worked tirelessly to maintain. I will always believe that our board exists to represent and welcome ALL Republicans, not just those who share our same views and opinions.

It has been my honor to serve Brown County for the past five years. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, especially our efforts to ensure that Brown County remains red. It is, and always will be, a privilege to carry water for the elephant.

Respectfully,

Ashley Tanner-Fliehs

And that’s another person choosing to walk away in light of the divisiveness that’s plaguing the SDGOP.

Interesting email sent my way this morning. The coalition of confederates are calling themselves a new name today – the By-Law Compliant Counties (seriously?), and continuing their effort to overthrow SDGOP leadership.

In part..

From: SD GOP By-Law Compliant Counties <sdgopconservativecoalition@217194070.mailchimpapp.com>
Date: Sat, Aug 10, 2024 at 11:30 AM
Subject: Notice of SD GOP Special Meeting – Quorum Call

All,

To all members of the South Dakota State Republican Central Committee:

Please plan to attend a Special [Summer] meeting of the State Central Committee as permitted by and through this quorum call by the Bylaw-approved initiative and actions of the county chairs listed below on Saturday, August 24, 2024…

…

The primary purpose of this Special meeting call is to discuss coordinated strategies for defeating various ballot propositions and measures that will be on our statewide ballot in just a matter of weeks leading up to the November election.

Logistics. As a courtesy, Brown County Chairman Rich Hilgemann will be providing coffee, cinnamon rolls and muffins to attendees. Box lunches are available for purchase at the cost of ~$21 (includes sales tax and 18% gratuity). The options include:

….

In addition to the sandwiches, the boxes include a bag of chips, granola bar, candy bar, beef jerky stick, apple, and condiments.

Your prompt replies to this notice are appreciated.

Regards,

Dan Hargreaves, Chairman, Aurora County
Judd Schomp, Chairman, Bennett County
Stu Cvrk, Chairman, Bon Homme County
Dusta Ismay, Vice Chair, Butte County
Dwight Wiest, Chairman, Campbell County
Lee Qualm, Chairman, Charles Mix County
Clint Clark, Chairman, Corson County
Lea Anne McWhorter, Chair, Custer County
Larry Mathis, Chairman, Davison County
Mary Nosbush, Chair, Deuel County
Sandy Wahlert, Chair, Fall River County
Amber Werdel, Chair, Hand County
Rep. Jessica Baumiller, Chair, Hanson County
Betty Olson, Chair, Harding County
Jason Williams, Hughes County
Tucker Amiotte, Chairman, Jackson County
Betty Otten, Chair, Lincoln County
Mike Klipfel, Chairman, McPherson County
R. Shawn Tornow, Chairman, Minnehaha County
Amy Wagner, Chair, Pennington County
Scott Assman, Chairman, Todd County
Bob Tate, Chairman, Tripp County
Jim VanDeRostyne, Chairman, Turner County
Steve Rokahr, Chairman, Yankton County
Jana Hunt, Chair, Ziebach County

Interesting that his first action in becoming the new Brown county GOP chair, Rich Hilgemann is to buy breakfast for the confederate coalition who spends their time attacking party leadership. And even more surprisingly, Hughes County GOP Chair and Deputy State Treasurer Jason Williams is apparently throwing in with this lot. While not on the e-mail went out, I’m told R. Shawn Tornow of the Minnehaha GOP is paying for the room.. so, there’s cash not going towards Minnehaha GOP candidates that is instead being spent on his delusions of grandeur.

It sounds like they’re not going to accomplish a darn thing except talking and talking and wasting the day if you look at their agenda:

Ballot Propositions Discussion
• Purpose
• Goal
• Action Plan
• List of ballot propositions: (They list all of the ballot measures, one by one by one.)

Strategy/Coordination of Key Races
• Public Utilities Commissioner
• Other

Get-Out-The Vote (GOTV) Training
• Campaign Sidekick operation (pending RNC support)
• Other

Other (time permitting)
• Approved resolutions disposition
• Bylaws

Working Lunch
• Box lunches for purchase (pre-order required)

Notice that going on ad nauseam about ballot measures is first and foremost, and talk about electing candidates is barely mentioned. Legislative races? They are “other.”

For their talk of “coordinating,” and action plans, the problem is that almost none of these counties participating in this eye-rolling endeavor have financially supported the efforts of the state party.

Talk is cheap, at the expense of one of the last weekends before school starts. But how will they implement and pay for all these action plans? The SDGOP is not in a good financial state. Is this meeting intended to help set the stage to sell off use of the party’s name & logo to their preferred ballot measures – despite many Republicans being divided on many ballot measures? (As one recipient speculated to me?)   And how do they propose to elect candidates? Despite it being far, lower on their agendas, that’s the actual job of the party.

Here’s an item of even greater concern, I am also hearing talk the participants of this meeting may have a mind to attempt to use the meeting to completely kick the cart over, and to use the meeting to oust the chair right before the fall elections begin. That could possibly not come at a worse time, as this group’s antics have already crippled GOP fundraising at the same time they refuse to help. Why don’t they then create complete disorganization too?  

What would they accomplish? Not a ton. That upheaval would set the stage for the current Vice-Chair Mary Fitzgerald to be the new chair, where she could select a new vice-chair. Unless the leadership team resigns en masse in protest. Not sure there’s bylaws to even address that.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a party group acting to completely nuke their organization before an election like the confederates.. er, By-Law Compliant Counties. 

But hold your beers. They’re going to give it a shot.

From Facebook, it looks like there is another candidate looking at the D20 House Race:

Mike was also the former Deputy Commissioner of School and Public Lands, as well as the former Director of business services for the Secretary of State. Good guy.

One of the early people rumored to be running for the Khromer D20 House vacancy was Boyd Reimnitz of Mitchell. But as we see from him in the last 5 minutes, that’s apparently not going to be the case:

From Facebook:

Protecting South Dakota Kids Isn’t An Anti-Recreational Marijuana Group Anymore
By Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck

Right before the primary election in June I saw the logo For Protecting South Dakota Kids on a candidate’s campaign piece! Given that most people thought this organization was about fighting recreational marijuana and the upcoming ballot issue – that seemed really strange. In fact, it was organized as a “Statewide Ballot Question Committee” and says so right on the front of their publicly filed report.

Protecting SD Kids Termination Report  on Scribd (Protecting SD Kids Ballot Question Committee Filing, signed May 1, 2014)

I called the group’s leader, Jim Kinyon, and asked what was going on. He said they were endorsing candidates based on the “objective” standard of their scorecard that I could “go check on our website.”  I did. Jim Kinyon didn’t tell the truth.

To be clear, I oppose recreational marijuana. While their ratings obviously don’t mean much as seen below, Kinyon’s group rates me 100% A+ on the subject. In the last election, I wrote a personal check and did a bunch of radio ads in our community on why legalizing marijuana is a bad idea. Unlike Jim Kinyon, I think this issue is bigger than personal political agendas.

HOW KINYON’s FLIP FLOP CAME TO LIGHT

Rep Byron Callies

Our House member Byron Callies has a 100% A+ rating by Kinyon’s group. His website lists Byron as one the legislators they “honored!” Guess what “honored” means to Kinyon’s group? Byron had an opponent this primary that, particularly on pharmaceuticals, could best be described as odd. Kinyon’s group gave out $30,000 to candidates and the largest checks were for $2,500 according to their public report. Given Rep. Byron Callies attained their highest rating and was somebody they “honored” you would assume he got $2,500. You would be wrong! They contributed to his opponent. Byron is retired military. Pretty sure that’s not what “honored” meant his world.

Kinyon’s group is now clearly about some very different “unique” political scorecard of Kinyon’s and as you’ll see below it is even worse.

Senator Randy Deibert

Senator Deibert had a primary in June. He has a 100% A+ rating from Kinyon’s group and is described by Kinyon’s website as having “earned high honors.” Sounds like a candidate for a $2,500 highest honor contribution, right? Wrong. Zero support.

Tamara Groves

Tamara ran unopposed in the primary and has no voting record and doesn’t appear on the “objective list” Kinyon said he used. Probably no check or some nominal one, right? Nope. Maximum contribution of $2,500 !  Noticing a trend here? This PAC is not about what Jim Kinyon has been telling people it is about – but it gets worse.

Brenda Lawrence

Brenda Lawrence ran in 2020 and didn’t make the ballot due to insufficient signatures. By 2022 the old “Cathedral District” had been redistricted into a competitive district and a solid recruit stepped up to take on Sen. Nesiba. Brenda Lawrence successfully challenged the stronger candidates’ petitions, which she has a right to do. Once she knocked the solid GOP candidate out, she proceeded to barely run a campaign (turning down help) and handed the seat to Sen Nesiba.

Sen Nesiba has a voting record with Kinyon’s group of an F at 8%, tying for their worst rating in the Senate. So, no money for the Lawrence that helped the pro-pot crowd, right? Wrong. $1,000 was diverted from the fall ballot campaign to give to Ms. Lawrence’s next failed race!

Senator Helene Duhamel

Not only is Helene Duhamel 100% A+ rated by Kinyon’s group, she has been the Senate leader on this issue. The major victory Kinyon claims from the last session was a bill Senator Duhamel shepherded through the state senate – and it was no easy path.

Helene chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and works for law enforcement as a day job. She has a tough general election coming. She sounds like Kinyon’s most obvious $2,500 contribution for the season, right? Wrong! Even though others who have hurt the cause or not proven themselves received big checks, our champion on this issue received zilch!

It gets weirder. In April, Jim Kinyon was asked by the Independent candidate running against Senator Duhamel for a signature on their petition. Given that Senator Duhamel had earned, in Jim Kenyon’s words on his website, “high honors”, you would assume he declined. You would be wrong. Jim Kinyon abandoned his group’s Senate leader on his issue and his objectives have changed.

 

Jim Kinyon only told a 25% truth

If you compare the public record of where Kinyon diverted the ballot money issue in races, only 25% went to those that were on his proven “objective” scorecard. Oddly, of the 25%, half didn’t get to the A+100% voting record mark – but still got some of the money that could have been spent on the fall ballot issue.

So, it is clear that these funds were disbursed on some very different standard by Jim Kinyon.

 

The Public Can’t Trust the Protecting South Dakota Kids group.

The original group was a Statewide Ballot Question Committee to try and stop legalizing marijuana. If you asked most of us that care, we’d still say that was their mission. We would be wrong!

In May, Jim Kinyon terminated the Statewide Ballot Question Committee and moved all their funds into a PAC he controls. The entity no longer is about stopping the recreational ballot initiative, now it is for Kinyon’s very far right political agenda.

Sadly, but a little bit humorous is that he duped the Presentation Sisters out of a check for this effort. He talked nuns out of their money, but used it for another purpose. Their political agenda does not match where Kinyon ultimately diverted the money – and anyone who ever went to parochial school can tell you that if you’re foolish enough to tell a fib to a nun, there will be some ‘splain’n to do there.

Protecting Sd Kids Pac on Scribd

And that is the sad ending to this story. The primary election campaign finance reports reveal what Jim Kinyon did to distort the battle against recreational marijuana, and he knows better. He’s the Executive Director of the Western South Dakota Catholic Foundation. He understands public trust that follows donated funds. When you pull a fast one, you don’t get that back. He and his friends didn’t need to wreck another South Dakota institution.

They could have set up their Kinyon’s Wackadoodles PAC, put the money there, and spent it the same. They wouldn’t have duped the Sisters, but they didn’t get much there. They couldn’t have misused the logo to dupe voters, and that is a good thing. More importantly, they wouldn’t have damaged the reputation of an entity for their short-term political gain.

We saw the same thing in the public report of South Dakota Right to Life. For a long time, real conservatives have complained about the erosion of important institutions – now you can see first-hand how it happens.

WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: July 29-August 4, 2024
by Senator Mike Rounds

We had a busy week in Washington to close out our summer work period. I was able to meet with several South Dakotans this week, speak at an artificial intelligence event, cast votes on the Senate floor and introduce legislation to offer a new loan option for students paying for higher education. We also said goodbye to our summer interns in the DC office. Now, I’m back in South Dakota for our in-state work period. I’m looking forward to spending this month making visits all across the state to hear more about the issues that are important to you. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakotans I met with: South Dakota members of Christians United for Israel; Ryman LeBeau, Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; Dr. Vance Thompson of Vance Thompson Vision in Sioux Falls; the South Dakota Council of Administrators of Special Education; and Major General Mark Morrell, Adjutant General of the South Dakota National Guard.

Met with South Dakotans from: Aberdeen, Box Elder, Twin Brooks, Dakota Valley, Eagle Butte, Lennox, Sioux Falls and Sturgis.

Other meetings: Matthew Sannito, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Army G-4; a delegation of leaders from Rwanda; leaders from Gevo; Steve Forthuber and Dr. Greg Sorensen, leaders from RadNet; Alan Garber, Interim President at Harvard University; Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; Ukrainian Members of Parliament; and Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo.

I attended an AI summit, where I spoke with attendees about my work on artificial intelligence, as well as the future of AI regulation in the United States. I attended our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, where my friend Senator Angus King of Maine was our speaker.

Votes taken: 11 – many of these were on nominations to positions within the Department of State and judge positions in Maine, New York and Pennsylvania. We also voted on a package of bills that contained the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act. I voted yes on these pieces of legislation that would expand both privacy and safety for kids online.

In addition, we voted on legislation which would have increased the amount of refundable Child Tax Credits available to people who are not paying taxes, but would have eliminated tax credits for almost 27 million Americans who are paying taxes. I voted no because I believe we have to address other tax policies which are expiring next year, and these proposals should be part of that discussion. Members on both sides of the aisle also voted no, recognizing the need to do a more comprehensive approach that would address the upcoming tax policies that will be expiring. We expect a major tax reform bill to be forthcoming either after the election or after the first of the year.

The Affordable Future Loan Program: This past week, I introduced legislation that would offer a new affordable loan option. Under this proposal, credit unions and banks would be allowed to make direct loans to students which would be guaranteed up to 98% by the federal government. The federal government would pay the interest on these loans while the individual is a full-time student. The student could attend a college or a technical school.

This would be very similar to the guaranteed loan program that was successful in the 1960s through the early 2000s. Once the student graduated, they would begin repaying the loan at a lower interest rate than many of them have today, and could extend the payment period out to 15 years. This was a very successful program and was replaced when the Obama administration eliminated the direct loan program and required all of these loans to be made through the federal government, which has been a bureaucratic nightmare. My proposal does not eliminate any of the existing subsidized plans, but rather adds an additional plan based on the previous successful program that would provide loans to middle income families.

You can read more about the program along with the full text of the bill here.

Hearings: I attended one hearing this week in the Senate Armed Services Committee, where we heard from leaders from the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. You can watch a clip of my questions for them here.

Classified briefings: I attended four classified briefings this week. One was part of my work on the Select Committee on Intelligence, while one was related to my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. I also attended our bi-weekly cyber education seminar, and a briefing with the Strategic Forces Association.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen and Olivet.

Steps taken this past week: 55,524 steps or 27.52 miles.

Photo of the week:

My team and I were lucky to have a great group of summer interns, both in South Dakota and in DC. My DC interns, Seth, Griffin, Ella and Lily, are pictured here after our breakfast in the Senate Dining Room to thank them for their hard work this summer. Seth is from Sioux Falls, where he graduated from O’Gorman High School. Griffin is from Onida and attends the University of South Dakota, while Ella is a Jackrabbit at South Dakota State University. Lily is from Spearfish and was lucky to have her sister out in DC completing a Congressional internship as well.

Yesterday, District 20 Republican State Representative Ben Krohmer withdrew from the fall ballot at the very last minute, creating the 4th legislative vacancy (3 dems, 1 R) in District 20 in 6 legislative slots for the fall election.

Apparently, no one from D20 wants to be in Pierre!

For Republicans, what does that mean? What is the process?  According to an e-mail that went out this morning:

From: Rich Hilgemann
Date: Wed, Aug 7, 2024, 11:25 AM
Subject: D20 replacement meeting notice

I am Rich Hilgemann, a region director for the state Republican party, Chairman Wiik has tasked me with running this replacement meeting. I am reaching out because all of you are eligible voters and need to be notified of a replacement meeting to be held on Monday August 12th at the Mitchell Public Library, 221 N. Duff Street in Mitchell, SD.

Yesterday afternoon Representative Krohmer withdrew from the 2024 general election ballot. All elected Republicans residing in District 20, and organized county party executive boards are eligible to vote at a replacement meeting. Davison County Republicans have a room booked for us and will also help with credentialing.

Credentials will run from 6pm to 7pm.
Nominations and voting starts at 7pm.
Spectators are welcome but I will ask they be seated separately from the credentialed voting block.

Those eligible to obtain credentials: There are 2 organized counties in District 20, Jerauld and Davison and their executive boards are eligible as long as they are still registered Republicans in District 20/their counties. District 20 partisan office holders, current Legislators/Senator, county elected officials (Coroner, Sheriff, Auditor, Deeds, Treasurer, Commissioners, State’s Attorney) and precinct people.

Nominations and a second will be required to be considered a candidate. Nominating speeches and candidate speeches I believe would be in order, seconding speeches optional. Nominations and seconds can only be made by credentialed voters.

I do want to apologize for the short notice and nature of this notice but the deadline for replacement is the day after the meeting so email, social media, and phone calls are what we are relegated to. Also I would ask your help in forwarding this email to those who are eligible but have not seen this email notice or know about the meeting yet.

Please feel free to reply to this email with questions or concerns.

Thanks!
Rich Hilgemann

In case you’re looking for the specific bylaw passages,

You should also refer to who is on the central committee…

The GOP’s candidate will be voted on, as detailed in Hilgemann’s e-mail and in the bylaws as being the precinct committeepeople (selected at the primary),  current officeholders, and the GOP County Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, State Committeeman and State Committeewoman.

RUMOR ALERT: I’m hearing that multiple candidates are rumored to be looking at it, including (former vice president of Muth Electric, Terry Sabers, and – UPDATE Sabers not running per local media)  local Mitchell landlord Boyd Reimnitz. And I’m sure there will be more names flying before Monday’s meeting.

There’s no specific process if someone wants to run to be a candidate, other than showing up and campaigning for the office.. and no requirement that candidates be a precinct people of county central committees.  Candidates would just have to be registered Republicans residing in District 20 (Davison, Jerauld, Miner, or Sanborn).  While there is no general election at the moment, there may be if Democrats fill the open positions on the ballot.

If Democrats don’t fill on their side? The person chosen Monday night may be the next State Representative from District 20.

How do you tell that a South Dakota politician is done running for office?

Minnesota is a lot more attractive to South Dakotans than South Dakota is to Minnesotans. https://t.co/qajC9blLdR

— Reynold Nesiba (@ReynoldNesiba) August 7, 2024

I get the feeling that Governor Noem does not care for Tim Walz..

Tim Walz is so terribly radical that his own citizen legislature brought legislation to allow certain counties to leave Minnesota and join us here in South Dakota. pic.twitter.com/DAXNdvVeUz

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) August 6, 2024

Walz is no leader. He’s a radical. I served with him in Congress. He pretended to be moderate, then showed his true extremist colors as soon as he became Governor.

South Dakota has been kicking Minnesota’s butt economically for years. Last year, nearly 7,000 Minnesotans moved to…

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) August 6, 2024