The Secretary of State contest has continued to heat up since Monae Johnson’s interview where she was pressed by KELOland about whether she is an an election denier, with a clip of the interview now finding it’s way into a commercial that’s been running on the air for her Democrat opponent, Tom Cool:

The ad marks a rare instance of a constitutional contest getting negative and combative, but it remains to be seen whether the latest entrant into the political wars from the Democrat opponent can rise above the static from the races higher up the totem pole. That’s one problem with going negative a week before the election.. who is listening at this point? By now people have been subjected to weeks and weeks of commercials, and it’s just more noise.  Tom Cool likely doesn’t have the cash to bring the issue to the level of awareness that it needs to be. It’s a minor hit, but it’s still a hit.

The “election denier” controversy in the Secretary of State’s race does bring up another point. Who is running Monae Johnson’s campaign? Because at this point, I question whether they lack any campaign intelligence whatsoever. Tom Cool has long been known as just an awful a placeholder candidate for Democrats, losing in his last 5 or so times at bat. But Monae Johnson’s stumbles have given his people a rare something to grab on to in a Constitutional race.

I’ve read at least two interviews since the infamous KELOland ‘election denier’ interview.. and all the interviewers want to talk about is whether she’s an election denier. So Monae is forced to address the question again, and again, and again, keeping the media cycle on the hit against her alive with life it might not have otherwise.

With a week to go, the smart thing to do would be for Monae to quit doing interviews. The only publicity she’s getting from those is not helping her. The damage is done, so she needs to quit giving the story daily CPR.

If she would do that, she can probably ride the GOP wave of the election through to the finish line.

South Dakota’s Senior US Senator, John Thune has an Op Ed in the Wall Street Journal today pointing out how the Biden Administration plans for the Internal Revenue Service, and warns taxpayers to choose carefully this next Tuesday. Because it may come back to haunt them if Democrats are allowed to continue unchecked:

Few differences between Democrats and Republicans are sharper than their approaches to the Internal Revenue Service. Republicans believe the IRS’s priorities should be fairly administering the law and keeping Americans’ interactions with the agency simple and few, which was a central achievement of our 2017 tax-reform law. Democrats seem to value revenue above efficiency or accountability and are intent on creating a far bigger and more intrusive enforcement-focused agency. With the narrowest of majorities they have implemented radical changes to the IRS while refusing to provide accountability and oversight. If Republican majorities take Congress, that will change.

Like the Obama IRS, President Biden’s has been marked by political bias, management failure and a lack of accountability.

Read the entire story here.

Maggie Seidel, a former Senior Advisor for Governor Kristi Noem was said to be active in working behind the scenes for unsuccessful District 24 Republican House Candidate Mary Weinheimer in Pierre this last June. And now the Argus Leader is reporting that Seidel has founded a local chapter of conservative lobbying group “Moms for Liberty.”

Maggie Seidel confirmed in an email to the Argus Leader that she’s the chapter chair of South Dakota’s new and only Moms for Liberty chapter, based in Hughes County, where Pierre is the county seat.

and..

Across the nation, Moms for Liberty chapters and other local PACs have driven interest in school board races, endorsing and raising money for candidates, many of whom rejected mask mandates in the wake of COVID-19 or opposed race-based education, according to USA Today.

Read the entire story here.

With the passing of Kitty Werthmann this last July, noting that Kitty led lobbying efforts for conservative women’s group the Eagle Forum which has not sent a lobbyist to Pierre since 2020, this may be an organization that attempts to fill the void for conservative women.

 

PUC Chair and Candidate Chris Nelson was interviewed by Dakota News Now this past weekend, and Chris has posted the interview to his facebook page for your watching:

SDGOP Chair Dan Lederman is part of the program with former President Donald Trump this Thursday in Sioux City, according to the official line-up for Donald Trump’s “Save America” Rally:

The official lineup for Donald Trump’s Save America Rally on Nov. 3 in Sioux City was announced Monday afternoon and includes the number of former party leaders and new hopefuls on the ballot.

While Trump is expected to address the crowd at 7 p.m., seven others are expected to speak to the crowd that day with speeches starting at 4 p.m.

and..

Two former Trump Administration officials will also speak. Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who served as the ambassador to China for the Trump administration, is expected to speak at the event as is former acting Attorney General Matt Whittaker.

The remaining two speakers will be Iowa Republican party chairman Jeff Kaufmann and South Dakota Republican party chairman Dan Lederman.

Read the entire story here.

If you’re interested in getting tickets (and if they’re still available) you can get them here.

UPDATED LOCATION: Gov. Noem to Host Rally with Gov. Youngkin

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA – On Wednesday, November 2, Governor Kristi Noem will host a campaign rally in Sioux Falls with special guest Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Due to popular demand, the event will now take place at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance. The time is still 3pm CT.

Governor Glenn Youngkin was elected in a blue state last year despite long odds and a well-funded well-known opponent. He remained focused on the concerns of Virginia parents, including opposition to Critical Race Theory.

The event sold out of tickets in 24 hours at the original location. You can sign up for the event here.

WHAT: Kristi for Governor rally

WHO: Governor Kristi Noem and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin

WHEN: Doors open at 2:30 pm CT; rally begins at 3pm CT

WHERE: South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance, 1600 West Russell St. Sioux Falls, SD 57104

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Over the last two years our economic, energy, and national security have been moving in the wrong direction. High inflation has strained family budgets month after month. A radical environmental agenda threatens our energy security. And a failure to address the surge in illegal immigration has led to a humanitarian crisis at our southern border. These crises are the result of President Biden and Democrats putting their big-government priorities over the needs of the American people.

Most Americans just wanted to get back to normal after a year of the pandemic, but Democrats swept into office determined to enact a far-left agenda. They started off with their $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, flooding the economy with unnecessary spending despite economists warning that their proposal could trigger inflation. Even as it became clear that the American Rescue Plan was indeed driving up inflation, Democrats kept pushing ahead with another, even larger reckless tax-and-spending spree. While they were eventually forced to shelve this $5 trillion plan last December, by the following August Democrats had agreed on yet another partisan tax-and-spending bill. And just days after signing this bill into law, President Biden announced a massive student loan giveaway, which alone could cost more than $1 trillion and will, to quote one independent analysis, “meaningfully boost inflation.”

Democrats’ reckless spending has helped drive up prices across the board, including energy prices. But the price of energy is especially high because of Democrats’ attacks on conventional energy production. From canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, to imposing burdensome regulations on investment in the oil and gas sector, to increasing taxes on oil and gas producers, the president and Democrats have pursued an agenda hostile to conventional U.S. energy production. The result has been higher prices for utilities, gas, and diesel, not to mention the energy jobs that will be lost because of the administration’s misguided policies.

After taking office the president also made quick work of dismantling our nation’s border security, sending a clear message to migrants that the border was open. In fiscal year 2022, the Biden administration broke its own record for the highest number of illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border. There were 2.3 million encounters in fiscal year 2022, a 37 percent increase over fiscal year 2021. And that doesn’t include known “gotaways,” immigrants who evaded apprehension after crossing the border – more than 1.1 million combined in the previous two fiscal years alone. Yet Democrats refuse to acknowledge that there is a crisis at the border or that their policies have contributed to the ongoing surge in illegal crossings.

Instead of addressing the crises they helped create, Democrats are focused on passing the rest of their original reckless tax-and-spending bill, which would drive up inflation even further. And if they increase their majority in November, they may again try to gut Senate rules to force through legislation empowering a federal takeover of elections and allowing abortion up until the moment of birth.

Republicans, on the other hand, want to promote growth in our economy by making lower tax rates permanent. We want to unleash American energy production with an all-of-the-above energy agenda. And we want to secure the border, deter illegal immigration, and stop deadly drugs like fentanyl from pouring into our communities.

South Dakotans can’t afford another two years like the last two. And for the sake of our country, I hope we don’t have to see what two more years of Democrat power would bring.

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It’s Halloween weekend—we see jack-o-lanterns, bats, skeletons, and zombies in many front yards of our streets. It gets us in the spooky spirit of Halloween, but there’s one thing that spooks me year-round—American energy insecurity.

Our president’s actions continue to make America reliant on other countries, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and OPEC for energy—putting our energy supply in their control. We saw the risks of this when OPEC recently decided to significantly cut oil production to keep prices high. While OPEC benefits from higher profits, Americans are feeling the strain on their wallet from these record high prices. On average, monthly energy costs are up $159 per household in South Dakota, and most Americans are experiencing the same high prices.

This week, the Congressional Western Caucus released their priorities for an economy that’s strong. Through American energy dominance, an all-of-the-above energy portfolio, permitting reform, and responsible American mining, we can have cleaner energy, a stronger and more secure energy supply, and a stronger economy.

As our energy demand increases, we should be producing more to meet the needs of Americans. States like California and parts of the Midwest have been preparing for rolling blackouts and President Biden still refuses to increase American oil production. Two steps to increase our energy security are maximizing production of reliable, American-made energy, and cutting the permitting process time in half to reduce our reliance on foreign countries.

I sent a letter to President Biden with over 120 of my Republican colleagues urging him to address the energy crisis he is worsening by his policy decisions. We strongly requested that he issues a five-year offshore leasing plan to unleash American energy. We need to tap into America’s vast energy resources. It’ll be for the better for our energy security, the climate, and the world.

There’s not much that’s spookier than an America that goes dark.

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I recently met with several childcare providers in Sioux Falls to discuss challenges their industry faces. One of the biggest challenges to filling the available jobs across our state is the lack of available childcare, and I knew that our childcare providers would be best at finding solutions to increase access and affordability. We had a fantastic discussion about streamlining regulations that are currently placed on our childcare industry and how to start fixing the broken business model. I was so moved by these folks’ insight and passion. And I loved their emphasis on helping South Dakota families.

That’s at the heart of everything I do as Governor: helping families. Building stronger families leads to stronger communities. In turn, stronger communities build a stronger South Dakota. With every action I take, and every policy I pursue, I focus on making South Dakota safer and stronger for our kids and grandkids. That’s what family is all about – setting our next generation up for success.

In the past few years, we have promoted families in South Dakota by extending paid family leave opportunities to state employees. In my budget for next year, I will include resources to help expand these opportunities to private employers across the state.

I will continue to work on increasing access to childcare. We have awarded numerous grants to childcare providers across the state to help them cover costs and continue to help families, but we have more work to do. One of their biggest challenges is that they can’t provide benefits to their employees, so I will be working on a solution that will make employment in childcare more attractive for potential employees. We will also overhaul our child care rules and regulations, in partnership with the industry leaders.

And we will continue our work to recruit more foster families in our state. All kids deserve to grow up in a family where they are loved and protected, and foster families help provide that opportunity to many of our precious South Dakota children. We met our goal this past year of recruiting 300 new families to help kids who are in crisis, and we will continue working to meet our new goal of recruiting 900 families over the next three years.

So many of the folks moving to South Dakota are doing it for family reasons. Their kids didn’t have the opportunity to learn in the classroom. They couldn’t take their families to church. When governments closed these families’  small businesses, it became harder to put food on the table. Some of them were prevented from saying “goodbye” to a loved one in their final days. For all of these reasons and more, they were moved by South Dakota’s Freedom, and they chose to make our state their home.

Bryon and I love our family. The honor of our lifetimes has been raising three children who love their family and have an even deeper love for the Lord. And as a new grandma, I’m once again being reminded of the joy that children bring into the world. I want to continue to promote strong families for the sake of my grandchildren – and for kids and grandkids across the state of South Dakota.

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