A measure to ask South Dakota voters to choose for themselves whether they would like the same opportunity to choose their Attorney General and other offices in a primary election as they have to select their Governor or legislators failed in committee after sponsors could not convince the House State Affairs Committee to send the resolution on to the floor.

House Joint Resolution 5001, a measure proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election an amendment to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, requiring all non-judicial offices elected by a statewide vote to be nominated at a primary election failed to gather sufficient votes in committee to move the measure to the floor after testimony from several interested parties, including South Dakota Republican Chairman and Senator John Wiik.

The discussion over moving offices out of the convention process has arisen after a trend has emerged at State Republican Conventions of groups of activists registering as precinct people showing up only to vote, and not otherwise participating in any Republican Party activities. Controversy over these activists grew after the last Republican convention after many of the agitators forced a vote  to make the convention free, which would have bankrupted the Republican Party. The measure narrowly lost by 5 votes.

It remains to be seen if the proposal will come back in another form during this legislative session, but this remains a problem which the Republican Party will have to face in the months to come.

What do we do about HJR 5001?
By Sen. John Wiik, SDGOP Chairman

As I traveled back and forth to Pierre this weekend, my phone was ringing constantly.  What do we do about HJR 5001?  What are you going to do?  What can I do?  After an Executive Board meeting and over 50 phone calls about this matter, I felt that three things needed to be said and to be solved before we can move forward on this issue.

• The 2022 convention.  Most of this issue stems from the Republican convention of 2022.  I understand the frustration with the events of that convention, and I have been looking for solutions. That frustration comes from a disconnect between our voters and our delegates. As a party, we then failed to achieve the primary goal of a convention—to unify the party around our candidates and march together locked arms to victory in November.  In some respects we are victims of our own success, having reached over half of SD voter registrations and over 90 percent of state legislative seats.  Factions have developed within our midst. The only opponent some can see is the other side of our own party.
• The gradual replacement of the SDGOP with the House and Senate Republican PAC’s.  This development has become an incredible convenience for the executive board and Chairman of SDGOP, but having those hands off the wheel have not served the county party organizations well.  The county parties see their influence falling away and are perhaps trying to find new ways to stay relevant in this changing political landscape.  In the same frame of thought, the Senate and House caucuses are gradually able to be more detached from the county party organizations.
• A tremendous change I have witnessed, perhaps since the 2021 passing of Rush Limbaugh, has been a lack of civility in disagreement.  We are a big tent party and there is absolutely no officeholder or even voter that adheres to this platform to the letter.  I served on the last two platform committees, one as chairman.  The pressure to tighten the platform to fit a certain mindset within the party is real, and only serves to frustrate everyone.  Many floor debates are heard quoting the planks of the platform that fit a certain mindset—while another plank is quoted back to the other side of the same issue.  There is room for disagreement within our party.   Our common goals of small stable government, economic growth and adherence to our Constitution will continue to push us forward in a common direction, but we need to learn that disagreement is ok.  We’re operating in the arena of ideas, and we can debate without the fear of retribution for a different idea. The basic ideas of conservative Republican policies are proven to work, and unlike Liberal and Progressive ideologies, the more we debate our ideas, the better they become.  It’s up to us to educate our voters and respond to our own party without harsh lecturing.  We need to engage each other and maintain civility in all circles.

With those three things in mind, the crisis points that bring us to the annual introduction of bills or resolutions that will effectively change our entire election system in South Dakota stem from a belief that delegates are straying from the voters.  When a Party loses a connection with its voters, it has no business being a 51% registration party.  We must not create a situation that seven hundred people can overturn an 80/20 primary election.  56% of those 700+ voters ruled the day—but many in the party believed that too many delegates ignored the will of the voters.

Enter this year’s attempt, HJR 5001.  Last year’s SB40, with its problems was much cleaner and would have allowed the legislature to tweak things as we go and fix mistakes.  A constitutional amendment is forever.  I vehemently disagree with HJR 5001 being a Constitutional Amendment.  HJR 5001 has flaws that the legislature will not be able to fix and therefore surrenders its sovereignty to the interpretations of courts.

There are some who believe the only interpretation of this HJR 5001 once the clarification lawsuits start will be to open the primaries and no longer allow Republican voters to choose Republican candidates.  Independents and some minor party activity is not adequately addressed, and a judge will have to intervene.  Is there a way to fix this?  Possibly.  I don’t believe that it’s necessary, as we have a system that has provided some of the giants in South Dakota political history.  From Bill Janklow and Marty Jackley to Chris Nelson, Josh Haeder and beyond, the SDGOP convention has provided greatness for South Dakota, and we should not surrender that connection we’ve built for our voters.

Finally, I look at our SDGOP convention as a system similar toour Electoral College.  If we move to a complete primary system, what is the incentive for a candidate to visit places like Mcintosh or Milbank or Martin?  If HJR 5001 passes, it would be entirely possible to stay in counties with single digit prefixes on their license plates and rarely stray from an interstate, leaving the possibility of countless small towns once again left out of another vote or another political decision.

I cannot speak for the entire Central Committee—I can’t even speak for our entire Executive Committee.  I can only speak for myself as a small county chairman and the SDGOP Chairman.  Let’s keep our disagreements out of the Constitution and open the dialog to solve our problems in our own Party.  Please send HJR 5001 to the 41st day on Wednesday and start working together better Thursday and beyond.

Gov. Noem Announces District 34 Legislative Appointment

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem appointed Becky Drury to represent District 34 in the South Dakota House of Representatives, effective January 16, 2024. The vacancy was created after Jess Olson announced her resignation. Drury will serve during the 2024 legislative session.

“I am proud to appoint Becky to this role,” said Governor Noem. “We have worked together in the past to create real solutions for the people of South Dakota – and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.”

Drury has served as the state representative for District 32 since January 2021. She has since moved to District 34.  She resigned the District 32 seat in order to take this appointment.

“I’m thankful to Governor Noem for appointing me to fill the vacancy in the House of Representatives in District 34,” said Drury. “It is my honor to continue serving Rapid City. Much like my service on the City Council, where my goal was for the betterment of all of Rapid City, this move will carry on my goal to serve Rapid City and our great state.”

During Rep. Drury’s time in the legislature, she has advocated for victims of child abuse, supported teachers, looked for solutions to workforce shortages, and focused on creating more transparency in state government. Drury has also served as a member of the Rapid City Common Council and on the Wall School Board. She has a Master’s Degree in Administration and a Bachelor of Science, both from the University of South Dakota.

Governor Noem has been continuing the process of considering candidates for District 32. Interested parties can submit resumes and cover letters to Ben.Koisti@state.sd.us by Tuesday, January 23^rd, 2024.

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Had an observant reader catch this and sent it over..

“Interesting campaign finance tidbit is that Keintz terminated her Lt. Account and transferred $3,352.56 to her Keintz for House.”

Sending a bigger pot of money over to an equally dormant account that had $133 in it… why would this be? The speculation is whether Jennifer is going to join her running mate Jamie Smith with both attempting a return to the legislature in 2024.

More to come.

Proponents of House Joint Resolution 5001 to propose a vote to choose whether to switch South Dakota to a primary voting system for all statewide offices just dropped a huge bombshell in their pursuit of legislative success.

This afternoon HJR 5001 prime sponsor Rep. Tyler Tordsen released a letter of support from 7 of the 8 9 living past South Dakota Republican Party chairmen, representing over a quarter century of GOP leadership, urging passage of the measure:

The only ones missing from this list, the 8th living past State Republican Party chair and immediate past Chairman Dan Lederman, currently sits on the State Republican Party’s Executive Board and also serves as chairman of the Union County Republican Party. The 9th, also not signing the letter is former GOP Chair Arlene Ham.  (My bad, I missed Arlene when I wrote this, who served as party chair in the late 70’s. Arlene is 88 years old, and I hope she is with us for many more years to come – she’s a great lady!)

The letter is an open letter to all Republicans noting in part:

Pulled up a couple of posts I did this last year during the debate over SB40 which both contain  information which continues to be valid during the debates being held in the legislature beginning tomorrow over House Joint Resolution 5001, which proposes to put it to a decision of voters whether or not they want to continue allowing political parties to nominating several statewide candidates at a convention, or to allow all Republicans to weigh in. First, from a post I made on Feb 14, 2023..

..It would be interesting to look at the public offices in South Dakota where we select the partisan candidates in a primary election process to represent those parties in the November election, and those we select at the Republican or Democrat State Conventions.

• US Senate – Primary
• US House – Primary
• Governor – Primary
• Lt. Gov – Convention
• Atty General – Convention
• Secretary of State – Convention
• State Auditor – Convention
• State Treasurer – Convention
• School & Lands – Convention
• Public Utilities Commission – Convention
• State Senate – Primary
• State House – Primary
• Circuit Court Judge – Primary (if more than 2 for each seat)
• County Commissioners – Primary
• State’s Attorney – Primary
• Sheriff – Primary
• County Auditor – Primary (and/or county finance officer)
• County Treasurer – Primary
• Register of Deeds – Primary
• Primary Coroner – Primary (or appointment after 2023 per HB 1057)

and.. If you think about it, the argument against the constitutional offices being decided by the voters in a primary is largely being made by precinct people.. who themselves are chosen in a primary.  I imagine they would be the first people against precinct committee positions being chosen and filled by a small group of party insiders.

Read that post here.

Next, a post that goes back further in state history, to the last time the legislature had a debate of this nature, when it was decided to move several offices at the top of the ticket away from party conventions to a statewide primary:

Apparently, up until that time, those candidates had been vetted exclusively by party nominating committees, and by 1929, legislators had had enough complaints that they had to do something to change the system. From the Aberdeen American News, via Argus Leader, 22 Jan 1929, Tue · Page 6

It appears that the problem before was that the choices that ended up in front of them were not great via that party system of vetting, and “party followers are too often given the choice of voting in the fall for a candidate they do not want.”

Read that entire post here.

So far, I think I’ve read it a couple of times today on how South Dakota Republicans have had precinct people since about 1917. And the people claiming this are woefully misinformed.

If someone is going to talk about the issue, they at least owe everyone the duty of honesty and accuracy.  I wrote about this last year during the debate over SB40, and it remains true.. Precinct people were not part of the process until 1990:

In the 1990 GOP convention when GOP Chair Dwight Adams (Doing double duty as Mickelson re-election chair) threw the doors open to bring more people into the process in exchange for precinct peoples labor, it was lauded as an expansion of the process.  In fact, I wrote about it in Dakotawarcollege’s early days waaaaay back in 2005:

Dwight took the party representation for the State Party convention and blew it wide open. He went from having county representation comprised of only a few select individuals on a county wide basis to opening it up to dozens or more per county. He opened up participation and guaranteed that precinct level representatives would be part of county delegations at the state convention. What he did was in effect a molding of the command structure of the party to a military model. It was an organized and well defined structure from the state chairman at the top down the precinct level.

The system was transformed! The “carrot” was that the precinct level people could vote for the candidate of their choice and on issues at convention. But in turn, they also had to be active in precinct level activities, such as poll watching, etc. This in turn gives the party a literally endless pool of volunteers and activists – activists, many of whom someday might be candidates.

With the simple change of a set of rules, the number of people who attended conventions exploded. While the loyal opposition still might be pushing 100 or so for their convention, in some years the GOP has had numbers exceeding 800 or more. (Why do you think Frank Kloucek sometimes makes an appearance at our convention? It’s where the people are). County GOP meetings have people attending simply because they identify themselves as precinct people – another positive effect.

I would make the argument that no other single factor has helped ensure the party’s continued electoral success than making it more participatory. It’s not that people didn’t identify before – party registration numbers illustrated that – but more people than ever could dig into the nuts and bolts work that happens behind the scenes with the party.

You can read that entire piece here at Dakotawarcollege Classic.

The issue that has come about since I wrote that piece in 2005 is that there’s a lot of the precinct process that has changed in the years since 1990.  Technology has made precinct watchers obsolete. The phone tree has been replaced with auto dialers and call centers, and a lot of their job has gone away.  But, while the call to action for working together has gone away, it’s been replaced in some cases by those who have no interest in being representative of their communities for the GOP, and are more interested in weaponizing the process. These are the people who are recruited for one candidate, only to vote and never be seen again.  These are the same people who complain incessantly that when a convention is held, it should all be a free lunch, as a number attempted to do in 2022.

Read my entire post here.

Agree or disagree with the proposal, please quit making things up, people.

When I was writing about kooky Toby Doeden statements yesterday, it was more for humor’s sake, but apparently at a rally he held yesterday, it sounds as if he underlined some of his batsh*t crazy, promoted unfounded conspiracies, and demanded a return to the days when people were “marrying young and having children.”

From the Aberdeen Insider:

“Whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, they’re all part of the same oligarchy system,” Doeden said, stressing his belief that political outsiders like himself and Former President Donald Trump are the way forward.

He made claims that Johnson has been recruiting left-leaning individuals who plan to switch parties and run for the South Dakota Legislature.

and..

Doeden also said he will stand to promote traditional family values, such as marrying young and having children, and what he calls other conservative, Christian values.

Read the entire story here (subscription required).

“oligarchy system?” Why do I have the feeling we’re paying far too much attention at this point?

First off, for starters, does he have any examples that Dusty Johnson is recruiting “left-leaning” individuals to run for the legislature?  Or who those people are? Because it sounds like he’s just talking out of his tail.  Secondly, the whole “marrying young and having children” line sounds as if he wants to impose some sort of religious theocracy on the country.

At this point, I’m happy to encourage my 16 year old to get good grades, pick up his room and get the dogs out. I don’t need to push him to get married and reproduce at this point.

The more we hear, the less seriously we should be considering the Doeden candidacy. But, I will admit – it provides a lot of comedy.

South Dakota Retailers Elect President, Officers, Board Members

PIERRE, SD – Kevin Nyberg of Nyberg’s Ace and Dakota Workwear in Sioux Falls and Watertown has been elected President of the South Dakota Retailers Association Board of Directors. Board members are responsible for setting general policies, establishing goals and objectives, and determining legislative positions for the influential statewide business organization, founded in 1897.

Having served on the board since 2016, Nyberg officially received the gavel from outgoing President Travis Anderberg of Miller during the association’s annual business conference on January 8 in Pierre.

“It’s an honor to serve as President of one of the country’s oldest and largest state retail associations,” Nyberg said. “I’m proud to follow my dad’s service in leading this organization that does so much to support businesses in communities throughout South Dakota.”

Nyberg’s father Roy also served as Retailers Association President in 1989.

In addition to Nyberg, three other business owners were named as officers: Sarah Hustead of Wall Drug as President-Elect, Jason Harms of Harms Oil Company as Secretary-Treasurer, and Travis Anderberg of Miller Rexall Drug as Past-President.

Four first-term board members were elected to serve in 2024, including Angi Hanzlik of Berry + Basil in Chamberlain, Andy Jerke of James Valley Landscape Solutions in Mitchell, Samantha Tupper of Wink’s Fine Jewelry in Brookings, and Pat Wiederhold of Granite Sports in Hill City.

“Our board consists of outstanding South Dakota business professionals, and our newest members are no exception,” said Executive Director Nathan Sanderson. “With their dedication and expertise, we will continue to provide our members with unmatched information, advocacy, and services.”

Outgoing board members were also recognized for their contributions: Jenny Behlings of Jenny’s Floral in Custer, Gary Cammack of Cammack Ranch Supply in Union Center, Clancy Kingsbury of Who’s Hobby House in Rapid City, and Hillarey Warner of HH Design in Britton.

To view a complete list of South Dakota Retailers Association board members or to find out more about their efforts to foster a successful business climate in South Dakota, visit sdra.org/sdrabod.

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WHO’S AFRAID OF THE PRECINCT PEOPLE?
by State Rep. Scott Odenbach (Dist. 31)

A bill with the potential to radically change South Dakota’s political landscape has been introduced this session that would throw out our time-tested tradition of choosing statewide candidates. It should be opposed by all those who would preserve our Republican form of government.

Unlike SB 13 which would change state law to let the candidate for Governor choose his/her own Lieutenant Governor, which most everybody supports, HJR 5001 (https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24594) would clutter the November ballot with an unnecessary CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT requiring ALL non-judicial statewide nominees to be selected during the primary election, rather than chosen by the convention delegates as has been done since 1917.

Currently SDCL 12-5-21, states:

The state convention shall nominate candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands, and public utilities commissioner and in the years when a President of the United States is to be elected, presidential electors and national committeeman and national committeewoman of the party.

Using this tried and true method, we’ve elected Attorneys General such as Bill Janklow, Mark Meierhenry, Mark Barnett and Marty Jackley; Secretaries of State such as Gladys Pyle in 1927, Alice Kundert in 1979, Joyce Hazeltine in the 1980’s; Monae Johnson in 2022, and long-time public servant and good guy Chris Nelson (who may hold the world record for attending Lincoln Day dinners); School and Public Lands Commissioners such as Jarrod Johnson, Brock Greenfield and Ryan Brunner; Auditors like Alice Kundert and Vern Larson; Public Utilities Commissioners like Kristie Fiegen and Gary Hanson; and Treasurers including Rich Sattgast and Josh Haider.

Not a bad record of good public servants in my opinion! And NOT a system that is broken or needing radical change.

HJR 5001 is a continuation of the outrage expressed by some in the establishment wing of the GOP because too many movement conservatives showed up and caused trouble for their favored candidates at the last convention. To fix the situation, they’d upend decades of grass-roots involvement by “We the People” of South Dakota, replacing it with more expensive, nasty, statewide primaries, cutting off their nose to spite their face while enriching campaign consultants. A never-ending deluge of postcards, ads, robo-calls and signs would follow every two years. All for a bill that had so little support in the legislature last year that it’s now been resurrected this session as a constitutional amendment. If every losing bill is just later referred to the voters, why have session every winter?

A few headlines from the past few years illustrate the high stakes:

“George Soros’ quiet overhaul of the U.S. justice system” (Politico, August 30, 2016);

“How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge” (NY Post, December 18, 2021).

“George Soros’ prosecutors wage war on law and order” (Heritage Foundation, June 22, 2023);

Who really believes that in a small state like South Dakota, we’re better off letting big corporate donors or out of state interests bankroll and select their favored candidate(s) for our statewide offices rather than local party activists who live here and care about their respective platforms and party principles? Precinct people personify “educated voters,” as they are some of the most involved individuals amongst the electorate. They have put themselves out there to run for office to be able to participate at the convention.

I haven’t spoken to one voter who is asking for this. They want us to protect property rights, balance economic growth with preservation of our land and water, and cut taxes. This is a manufactured crisis by politicos who think they can get their way by buying future elections. Who really thinks that a good candidate for Attorney General should have to raise a minimum of $500,000.00 just to compete with the favored candidate of an establishment able to raise that kind of money with a few phone calls? Who would ever run for Commissioner of School and Public Lands if they needed to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get in the ring? Who’s ready for Summit Carbon to spend $2 million against Kristie Fiegen next time so they can force their way through our PUC?

All people who love our South Dakota way of life should call their legislators and demand a NO vote on HJR 5001.