Circling back to last afternoon’s announcement that State Rep. Phil Jensen will be challenging Watertown Mayor Reid Holien for representing South Dakota at the national level as the SDGOP National Committeeman, as Republicans, it should give us all pause as to what image we want to represent.

Because Phil Jensen might be the worst role model to represent South Dakota Republicans.

Let me count the ways…

During Vietnam, Phil was a draft-dodger:

“I was drafted,” Jensen said. “And I filed for conscientious objector and I was going through a process of looking for alternative service. And then Nixon cancelled the drafting power before I got established.”

Read that here.

He’s been a Member of the far-right Oath Keepers Militia

“In 2014 I was sitting at my desk in the Senate chambers and I had read some information about the Oath Keepers. I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the South Dakota Constitution, and it seemed like a good group of guys to belong to.”

Read that here.

He brought a bill that would’ve made it justifiable homicide to actually kill a doctor who performed abortions.

Phil says that he believes to be OK for businesses to deny service on the basis of race or religion:

While the bill was killed, Jensen defended it to the Journal as legislation that would ensure businesses have the freedom to choose their clientele. He also said that businesses should also have the right to choose based on race and religion – whether that’s right or wrong, he said, can be fairly addressed by the free market, not the government.

Read that there.

Let’s not forget his skills in phrenology.

Speaking over the phone on the way to Pierre on Tuesday, Jensen recalled when one of his constituents told him he witnessed “dozens of South Americans” fleeing a white bus parked near downtown Rapid City.

“He knew they were South Americans,” Jensen said, “because they had different skull structures and skin tones from Mexicans.”

Read it here.

Did I miss any of the high points?

If the South Dakota Republican Party wants to portray to the rest of the nation that we are a bunch of backwater redneck crazy uncles who might be racists, then he might be a good selection.

I for one tend to disagree, and think we can do better.  Ried Holien has done a nice job, and will not bring the SDGOP National embarrassment.

I’m hearing an early report (nothing official yet) that Justin McNeal has failed in his petition signature collection once again, and did not get sufficient signatures to run, this time as an independent on the ballot.

2 different party campaigns attempted. 2 failures.

At this point, is he going to switch to Libertarian? He hasn’t done that one yet. Or maybe he can get with Terry LaFleur and revive the Constitution party?

You never know.

It sounds like convention chaos has already kicked off.

The word I am hearing is that infamous state legislator and awful person Phil Jensen will be challenging Watertown Mayor Reid Holien at the South Dakota Republican Party convention for the office of party national committeeman.

A Rapid City woman, Amber Christianson, has supposedly also made an announcement for Public Utilities Commission, challenging sitting PUC Commissioner Kristi Fiegen.

In case the conversations starting today get a bit contentious at the Republican convention, just a reminder that South Dakota Republicans have somehow managed to get along since 1889.

 

 

Maybe I’m the only one, but reading this account of how Minnehaha county Auditor Leah Anderson seemingly ambushed a precinct superintendent in conjunction with election conspiracy group head Jessica Pollema, it throws up some red flags as to how closely the two walk hand-in-hand on election issues:

“I just want to give you a heads up about something,” Anderson said in a voicemail to Mikkelsen, which has been obtained by the Argus Leader. “We’re going to be headed over there, and we need your precinct board to, um, work on an issue.”

And…

Pollema and Anderson were seen talking together to some degree: An Argus Leader reporter was speaking with Pollema while ballots were being counted, when Anderson interrupted to ask if the canvassing group leader knew whether some or all of the challenged ballots were tossed. Anderson later handed Pollema, a citizen, a stack of unknown documents, as the county auditor was wrapping up the ballot count for the night.

It’s unclear what those documents were and what Anderson’s next steps will be in the matter, as well as whaat role the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the election process statewide, may have down the line, if any.

Read the entire story here.

For the last several years, I had produced the SDGOP Newsletter, including a special convention edition that was distributed at the SDGOP Convention.  Since I’m no longer doing that, I thought I’d share one of the most interesting items that I would regularly include in it; a history of the South Dakota Republican Party’s conventions.

1889 – September 4, Huron 1890 – August 27, Mitchell 1891 – September 29, Aberdeen (Special to fill Cong. vacancy) 1892 – July 27, Madison 1894 – August 25, Yankton 1896 – July 8-9, Aberdeen 1898 – August 24-25, Mitchell 1900 – May 23, Sioux Falls 1902 – June 4, Sioux Falls 1904 – May 4, Sioux Falls 1906 – June 6, Sioux Falls 1908 – July 18, Mitchell 1910 – July 5, Sioux Falls 1912 – July 2, Huron 1914 – January 5, Pierre 1916- July 5, Huron 1918- July 2-3, Sioux Falls 1920 – August 9, Huron 1921 – December 7, Pierre 1924 – July 18, Huron 1926 – December 1, Pierre 1928 – August 17, Huron 1930 – May 20, Pierre 1932 – May 24, Pierre 1934 – May 29, Pierre 1936 – June 2, Pierre 1938 – June 27, Pierre 1940 – July 22, Pierre 1942 – June 6 – Pierre 1944 – May 29, Watertown 1946 – July 8, Pierre 1948 – July 12, Pierre 1950 – July 17, Pierre 1952 – July 21, Pierre 1954 – July 26, Pierre 1956 – July 16, Pierre 1958 – July 14, Pierre 1960 – August 1, Pierre 1962 – July 15-16, Pierre 1964 – August 1, Pierre 1966 – July 30, Pierre 1968 – July 15, Pierre 1970 – July 13, Pierre 1972 – June 26, Pierre 1974 – July 13, Rapid City 1976 – July 10, Pierre 1978 – June 22, Sioux Falls 1980 – June 27-28, Aberdeen 1982 – June 24-26, Yankton 1984 – June 28, Rapid City 1986 – June 28, Mitchell 1988 – June 22, Watertown 1990 – June 29, Sioux Falls 1992 – June 26, Spearfish 1994 – June 24, Pierre 1996 – June 27-29, Aberdeen 1998 – June 25, Pierre 2000 – June 22-24, Spearfish 2002 – June 21-22, Sioux Falls 2004 – January 23-24, Sioux Falls (Special to fill Cong. vacancy) 2004 – June 24-26, Mitchell 2006 – June 22-24, Watertown 2008 – June 19-21, Oacoma 2010 – June 25-26, Huron 2012 – June 21-24, Sioux Falls 2014 – June 19-21, Rapid City 2016 – June 24-25, Aberdeen 2018 – June 21-23, Pierre 2020 – June 19-20  “Virtual Convention” 2022 – June 23-25, Watertown 2024 – June 5-8, Pierre

Project BISON Achieves Milestone: Contracts Signed with Sierra-Cedar and Oracle

PIERRE, S.D. – The Bureau of Finance and Management (BFM) has taken a crucial step toward modernizing the State of South Dakota’s financial processes through Project BISON. Last week, BFM secured Oracle Fusion Cloud as its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and selected Sierra-Cedar to lead the implementation of Project BISON.

Project BISON is spearheading a significant financial transition by replacing a 36-year-old system with a state-of-the-art, cloud-based ERP solution. The new ERP system will integrate all financial functions into a centralized platform, ensuring that all agencies work from a unified data set. This advanced technology will enable State financial staff to access accurate, real-time financial data with just a few clicks. This collaborative effort across all State agencies will leverage their collective expertise to design, test, and implement the new system alongside Sierra-Cedar, ensuring its longevity for decades to come.

The need to update state government’s financial operations has been a long-standing discussion due to the aging nature of existing systems and limited vendor support. The current core financial system, in use since 1988, has undergone numerous extensions to its critical infrastructure, however it now requires a comprehensive replacement. A feasibility study completed in January 2022 confirmed the necessity for a financial system overhaul.

“Governor Noem understands the importance of modernizing the financial system for the State of South Dakota,” said BFM Commissioner, Jim Terwilliger. “Not only that, but she also recognized the need for Project BISON to receive appropriate support to ensure successful implementation.”

Senate Bill 23 was introduced during the 2023 Legislative Session to support this project. The bill was approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives with widespread bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor Noem on March 27, 2023.

Following over a year of planning, Request for Proposal (RFP) development, on-site demonstrations from multiple system integrators, and examining ERP systems, the Project BISON evaluation committee selected Sierra-Cedar to implement Oracle Fusion Cloud as the modern financial system of record for the State of South Dakota. Contracts with Sierra-Cedar and Oracle were signed by BFM Commissioner Terwilliger and Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (BIT) Commissioner Clines.

“We anticipate kicking off Project BISON to state employees in July 2024,” said BFM Commissioner Terwilliger. “This project is expected to go live in FY27, bringing with it a modern ERP system and financial processes following industry best practices.”

To read more about Project BISON and sign up for project updates, visit https://www.sd.gov/bison.

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Rounds, Durbin Introduce Legislation to Protect Rural Postal Processing Facilities

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) today introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to consider consequences for rural areas during their closure or downsizing review process in order to protect rural mail processing facilities.

USPS’s reviews of processing facilities closures does not require them to consider the impact on rural areas or highly rural areas as long as the closure gains efficiencies. However, USPS’s reviews of post office retail locations does require them to answer whether closing the location is consistent with their obligation to provide effective and regular postal services to rural areas. This legislation would require USPS to consider the impact to rural areas when closing or downsizing processing centers, just as they do with closing post office retail locations.

“Rural mail services are a lifeline for residents of many communities across South Dakota,” said Rounds. “The U.S. Postal Service should be required to consider the impact of closing processing facilities on rural residents, just as they consider it when closing retail locations. I’m pleased to be introducing this legislation to make certain rural residents receive their mail in a timely and efficient manner.”

“If I drop a piece of mail off in Springfield to make it across town, why should it have to go all the way to St. Louis and back? Eliminating mail processing centers across our state, without consideration for the impact on mail service and postal employees, will only decimate USPS. It is yet another instance of Postmaster General DeJoy’s ‘Delivering for America’ plan disastrously missing the mark,” said Durbin. “I’m joining Senator Rounds in introducing legislation requiring USPS to study the effects of closing or consolidating mail processing and shipping facilities to ensure that our postal service serves Illinoisans to the best of its abilities.”

This legislation is cosponsored by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

BACKGROUND:

–       As part of its Delivering for America plan, USPS is reviewing every processing and distribution center in the nation with the goal of creating efficiencies by reducing services at some centers and eliminating others.

–       There are three USPS processing facilities in South Dakota: Huron, Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

–       In February 2024, USPS finalized a plan to move all non-local processing at the Huron facility to Fargo, North Dakota.

–       In April 2024, USPS finalized a plan to move all non-local processing at the Sioux Falls facility to Omaha, Nebraska.

–       In April 2024, Rounds led a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging the postal service to avoid downsizing or significantly reorganizing mail processing operations in South Dakota.

–       In May 2024, Rounds sends follow up letter to Postmaster DeJoy highlighting continued concerns with USPS’ plans to downsize mail processing centers nationwide.

–       In May 2024, following bipartisan pressure from Senators, USPS announced it is pausing the downsizing of mail processing facilities in South Dakota.

Click HERE for full bill text.

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South Dakota’s senior US Senator John Thune has been spending part of this last week carrying water for the elephant on a national basis, as he was out raising money for key US Senate battleground contests:

On Friday, he traveled to Nevada to fundraise for Army veteran Sam Brown, the Republican establishment pick to challenge Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) in the fall. Thune spent the next two days in Montana to support Republican businessman Tim Sheehy, who is expected to advance in Tuesday’s GOP primary for Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) seat.

and..

“This is a make-or-break moment, really, for the country and an opportunity to get a Republican majority,” Thune, the Senate minority whip, said in a phone interview from Montana. “Everybody’s doing what they can — it’s a team effort — and we’re trying to contribute where we can help out.”

A large part of Thune’s efforts are geared toward the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He’s raised more for the campaign arm than any other senator this cycle besides its chairman, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT).

Read the entire story here.

Good on Senator Thune!