One of the current crop of SDGOP Chairman wannabees is campaigning as we roll into the holidays, this time with a postcard. A tiny, weird postcard which doesn’t really tell us anything other than they’re “calm.”
Ezra Hayes dropped this 4×6 postcard to County GOP officials, or rather, Custer County’s LeeAnn McWhorter did so on Hayes’ behalf, with a postcard extolling that he’s Calm * Confident * Servant*. Ezra might have also added “groomed” or “freshly showered” for all the meaning it has. The fact he’s telling us he’s a “calm servant” might be nice if he’s bringing me brunch at Perkins or the Fryn’ Pan, but what does that have to do with him wanting to be SDGOP Chair?
(And before you ask, you’d have to ask the SOS if that is supposed to have a disclaimer for a party office, versus a public office. I tend not to think so.)
If you go to the reverse side, the address side tells us what Hayes would bring to the table besides syrup.
Actually, it said absolutely nothing. …which is what he’s telling us he brings to the table in this postcard.
Custer County GOP Chair LeeAnne has her return address on it for sending these out. I would venture a guess that is who he intends as his vice-chair, which might be the the most we glean off of this ‘campaign’ piece, and I use that in the loosest of terms.
When it comes to the next chair of the South Dakota Republican Party, I’m still hoping for someone good to jump in. Because we don’t have that to date.
Sioux Falls City Councilor David Barranco is telling KELOland to day that he’s noticed that people are hating on Sioux Falls less:
After traveling across the state for the past two years, Sioux Falls council member David Barranco said he starting to see the anti-Sioux Falls bias starting to crack.
and..
Barranco said during the prior legislative session, lawmakers and others from rural communities were key in the support of some of the city’s legislative priorities. He gave credit to local Sioux Falls lawmakers, but “it must be noted that we prevailed, not despite rural communities’ efforts, but thanks to them.”
Republican State’s Attorney Austin Hoffman drops truth a well-deserved truth bomb on McPherson GOP chairman Mike Klipfel using and abusing his position as County GOP Chair to promote his own personal issues in a lengthy letter to the local newspaper:
This is a response to a “letter to the editor” published on December 12, 2024, on the McPherson County Herald’s Facebook page, written by Mike Klipfel, as Chairman of the McPherson County Republicans. Over the last several years, I have seldom responded to inaccurate statements and accusations leveled by misinformed citizens. When I did, I remained polite. However, the disinformation in that letter requires a less than tepid response. Here are the undisputable facts.
and..
Over the last several years, Mr. Klipfel and other members of the Executive Board have used those positions to push personal agendas. They have used the McPherson County Republican Executive Board as a vehicle to move forward an anti-CO2 pipeline agenda, an unfounded election integrity agenda, and most recently to push a blatantly false and incorrect narrative that myself, as State’s Attorney, am attempting to push a resolution that would violate First Amendment freedom of speech rights. The first two items I mention are inappropriate. The latter is absurd.
If Mr. Klipfel, or anyone else on the Executive Board, wants to make these arguments as a citizen of McPherson County, they have every right to do that. However, to use their positions on the McPherson County Republican Executive Board to do so, is in direct violation of the Board’s bylaws. It needs to stop. They represent the entirety of the Republican Party in McPherson County. I am positive that many Republicans do not share the same viewpoints as they do. Simply put, they are not policymakers.
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I have no issues with someone disagreeing with me politically or unhappy with the decisions I make as McPherson County State’s Attorney. Everyone has the right to their opinion. But using one’s role as Chairman of the McPherson County Republicans to make incorrect and false accusations, to push personal agendas, or to complain about legal bills they created, is an entirely different story.
Everyone should go read this, as it lays out a cogent argument against everything that many people want the South Dakota Republican organization to become. Because either they want to represent Republicans and win elections, or they want the Republican Party to become a giant facebook group where they scold people for not agreeing with them.
Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by…
Rounds’ Legislation to Improve Homeownership Opportunities for Native American Veterans Headed to President’s Desk The Native American Direct Loan Improvement Act passed the Senate and House in December
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), today announced that his legislation to help Native American veterans achieve homeownership is heading to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The Native American Direct Loan (NADL) Improvement Act passed the Senate on December 12, 2024, and the House on December 16, 2024.
The NADL Improvement Act will reform the NADL program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and make it more accessible to Native American veterans living on trust land.
“Homeownership is part of the American dream and a key to building wealth,” said Rounds. “The mortgage lending process is particularly difficult on tribal trust land. My legislation seeks to improve the NADL program by offering enhanced outreach and other assistance as needed to Native American veterans who are looking to qualify for mortgage financing. I am pleased this bill is heading to the President’s desk to be signed into law, making the dream of homeownership a reality for more of our veterans.”
Specifically, the NADL Improvement Act will:
· Allow Native American veterans to use the NADL program to refinance other existing mortgages on the same property.
· Expand the VA’s existing NADL program outreach to include collaborating with local service providers that are familiar with the mortgage lending process on trust land, which would offer homebuyer education and housing counseling to assist Native American veterans who are looking to qualify for mortgage financing.
· Create a relending program to allow Native Community Development Financial Institutions to obtain loans through the NADL program and relend those funds to qualified Native American veterans.
BACKGROUND:
In June 2020, Rounds joined SVAC Chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the NADL program. The report was published in April 2022. The GAO found that in Fiscal Years 2012 through 2021, NADL originated only 89 loans to veterans in the contiguous United States, despite there being an estimated 64,000 to 70,000 eligible veterans.
Following the release of the GAO report, Rounds first introduced the NADL Improvement Act in July 2022. It was reintroduced in the 118th Congress in February 2023, passing SVAC later that same month.
An article was just posted this morning from the Dakota Scout which should be on everyone’s reading list, as it lays out the playing field for the big battle of the next legislative session, where $4 million is being proposed to go to those who seek to place their children in private schools, or to not provide a formal education at all, instead providing homeschool instruction. Why should it be of concern? Because of the open hostility being displayed by some towards teachers and administrators:
“As educators, we will never compromise our commitment to doing everything we can to educate every student who enters our school buildings and classrooms,” SDEA Public Affairs Director Sandra Waltman told The Dakota Scout, confirming that attempts to dialogue with the state and lawmakers working most closely with the Governor’s Office on the proposal have been unsuccessful. “That is why we need lawmakers to listen to our concerns about how voucher programs will hurt public schools and, more importantly, the students who attend them.”
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South Dakota House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, who’s working closely with DOE to draft legislation for his colleagues to consider, dismissed the notion that public educators aren’t being consulted.
“They do have a seat at the table given all the lobbying they do during session, and I know their positions, so it wouldn’t be productive because they’re not willing to compromise,” the Spearfish Republican said.
Odenbach said that while work on a bill is still under way, it’s likely the proposal could call for incremental expansion – both in funding and eligibility – over a number of years.
Am I reading House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach being snippy with educators because they have associations that represent them in Pierre, and declaring that he won’t meet with teacher groups, “because he knows their positions, so it wouldn’t be productive because they’re not willing to compromise?”
How would he know what their position is if he won’t meet with them in the process of crafting the legislation? If Scott is leading the charge on a plan to gut and strip mine the public resources that would go to Spearfish High School for purposes of diverting them to private schools and homeschoolers, it would seem that as one of their representatives in Pierre he could make the time to sit down with teachers to hear their concerns, whether he agrees with them or not.
Refusing to talk with teachers is an odd kind of advocacy.
It has been a number of years since South Dakota teachers got fired up to get involved in the political process en masse, but the attitudes displayed by those such as Rep. Odenbach in refusing to even hear the concerns of his educator constituents may rouse those groups to fight back.
I remember going to Pierre Football Games many years ago, and you could not get through a ticket line without a gaggle of teachers with clipboards looking for signatures on ballot petitions. Kicking a sleeping bear might not be in Scott’s best interest. They do know how to organize and fight.
This might be the opening salvos we’re hearing in the battle that will become 2026 Referred Law 22.
This morning, Attorney General Marty Jackley released the indictment against Renee Strong, accused of filing false and forged documents with the state on Health Inspection reports:
From Twitter, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds is confirming that he will vote to confirm all Trump nominees:
🚨 Senator Mike Rounds indicates he will vote to confirm all of President Trump’s cabinet nominees: “The president should get the benefit of the doubt on any of his nominees.” pic.twitter.com/sJ0149b5zw
Exciting news – the latest edition of the South Dakota Political Show with myself and Mike Lauritsen is now live (and live a day early).
This episode is bursting at the seams, with introductions from co-host Mike Lauritsen, as well as an extensive discussion with South Dakota Republican Party Chairman and State Senator John Wiik, as he winds down the final weeks of his time as chairman of the state’s largest political party in a reflection and review of his time in office.
Chairman Wiik points out some of the challenges he faced over the past 2 years, and what might be coming for the South Dakota Republican Party in the coming months.
You can listen to the podcast as hosted on Acast, or on Apple Podcasts… All you have to do is click and listen!
