Good article on the National Conference of State Legislature’s Website featuring Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, and discussing what he’s learned over his many years of service in the South Dakota State Legislature:

You’ve had several stints in the South Dakota Legislature going back to the late ’70s. What is it about legislative life that keeps you coming back?

I like trying to solve problems, and when I first served, I thought it was about strident advocacy for things you were passionate about. It’s about how do you fix the roads, patch the potholes, make the trains run on time. I think I have a certain knack for getting people together to solve problems. But I’m not going to run again after this time. We don’t lose as many people to term limits as we lose to spouse limits.

and..

Any advice for new legislators who won their elections last month?

The new senators that’ll be coming in, I’ve told them all, “When you take the oath of office, make sure your families come, too.”

I would also say that on issues, keep your powder dry. That was what the majority leader told me when I showed up in the Senate in 1995. Good advice because you hear one side right away. They make sense and then you commit and the next thing you know, that’s the dumbest idea ever. So keep your powder dry. Relationships matter. Go out and get to know on a personal level the people you’re going to serve with because every one of them has a story and most of them are great stories. If you understand them and they get to understand you, you’re going to solve more problems.

Be disciplined. It doesn’t matter if you can sleep in when you’re at the Capitol. That’s time you wasted that you could have got something done. It’s also true that while you can stay up late at night, that’s generally not good. Don’t forget where you came from. I’m a mechanic’s kid, and I know that I need to get back and talk to regular blue-collar folks.

Elections are like balloons filled with helium, and the election brings you back down to the ground. So you’re talking to people and people are telling you how great you are and filling it up with more helium. Every two years, here in South Dakota, you get brought back down. So you can understand where you’re supposed to be at.

Read the entire article here.

Lee has always been willing to mentor young candidates and new legislators in both elections and getting a solid foundation on being a good legislator. Check it out. It’s a good article.

The e-mails are flying back and forth as an anonymous e-mail account continues to try to catfish Minnehaha County Central Committee members into attending a meeting where they claim to have the votes to hold a meeting.. despite not providing any proof, nor actually identifying themselves.

In part:

As the correspondent who sent me the e-mail noted “This is getting ridiculous. Does anyone know who runs this email account???”

That’s largely the problem with this whole thing. Anonymous and unsigned e-mails, claiming that they have the votes.. but they don’t say who.  Even worse, they seem to be “catfishing” recipients pretending to be “the Minnehaha Central Committee” with an unsigned e-mail when they are anything but.  It seems as if they’re hedging their bets and making a number of claims without providing any proof.

If you can’t make your statements in the light of day, and try to cloak your effort under anonymity and fake names, there is no legitimacy attached to it.

Unless the fake “Minnehaha Central Committee” doesn’t care about things like voter integrity?

Just saying.

From Twitter:

Scoop: Gov. @KristiNoem now owns her own flamethrower, a Christmas gift from her staff. pic.twitter.com/sYV1u9arrM

— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) December 25, 2022

Would they let me use one of those in town? I swear officer, it’s for burning weeds…

State Representative Kevin Jensen, first elected to the House in 2016, has announced his candidacy for State Republican Party chair against State Senator John Wiik, who has received endorsements from a significant portion of County GOP Elected officials, as well as nearly all statewide elected officials.

According to a report this morning from The Dakota Scout:

Canton lawmaker Kevin Jensen told The Dakota Scout Tuesday evening that he will formally announce his candidacy for the position being vacated next month by long-time state Republican chairman Dan Lederman.

Jensen will face off against John Wiik, the state senator from Watertown who has the backing of the GOP establishment, including nearly every statewide elected official.

“I like John, and John and I have run a lot of bills together,” Jensen said in a phone interview. “But we have different ideas on how the party should run.”

Read that here.

While Senator Wiik is closely allied with Governor Kristi Noem, this last election cycle as funded largely by his new seatmate Rep. – Elect Karla Lems, Jensen formed a political action committee called “Keep South Dakota Red.” The PAC backed at least a few candidates challenging incumbents, including Colin Paulsen, who challenged Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, and the Steve Haugaard for Governor campaign running against Governor Noem.

Keep SD Red Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

 

In the fall, Jensen’s PAC in part funded both his own and Karla Lems’ fall races for the House.

It remains to be seen how Jensen would gain the support of Senate Leadership and the Governor to achieve party goals after directing efforts against both.

Stay tuned. I’m sure we will be hearing more to come.

While many are planning their new year’s resolutions, getting ready to go back to school, and soaking up the last days of the holidays, Congress is gearing up for a shift in majority.

The top of many minds and news stories is the race for House Speaker. While there has been some uncertainty of a Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA), I believe he will prevail. We have much more important things to focus on—like the border, inflation, China, and crime—so I am hopeful the Speaker vote will move quickly.

Here’s a few things to expect from a Republican-led House of Representatives: 

Fiscal Responsibility-

America is more than $32 trillion in debt. This is not a problem to be ignored and left to our children to solve. A Republican-led House will be able to block any additional reckless spending by the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats. Doing so will help slow inflation. Over the past two years, I have opposed more than $13 trillion in Democrat spending packages and will continue to do the same.

China-

China is not our friend. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to expand its authoritarian regime in multiple spheres of our lives. Their negative influence of TikTok content for American youth and increased purchases American farmland and ag businesses poses a geopolitical threat to our national security. Next Congress, Republicans will establish a Select Committee on China to investigate the CCP’s actions and propose policies to ensure America is prepared to tackle this security threat.

Border Security-

The situation at the southern border is a crisis—a humanitarian crisis, national security crisis, and public safety crisis. I’m grateful the end of Title 42 was delayed, preventing a greater influx of migrants at our border that is already under stress. I’m hopeful for bipartisan support in this area to secure our border and increase public safety.

Farm Bill-

Every five years, the Farm Bill gets reauthorized. The last Farm Bill was authorized in 2018, which means it needs adjusted and passed again in 2023. Some titles that are included are conservation, crop insurance, and nutrition programs. I’m hopeful to be a chairman of a subcommittee within the House Agriculture Committee, giving me a lead role in drafting parts of this bill.

The next Congress will be pretty busy, and I am looking forward to bringing home more wins for South Dakota.

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Attorney General releases Crime in South Dakota 2021 report

 PIERRE, S.D. – The Office of the Attorney General today released the Crime in South Dakota

2021 report. This report is compiled annually by the Attorney General’s Criminal Statistical Analysis Center (SAC). Despite technical and staffing issues that affected the 2021 reporting, this publication is designed to reflect the actual arrest and reporting information by South Dakota law enforcement.

The 2021 report reflects the work of law enforcement professionals around the state and assists in final determinations regarding the allocation of personnel as well as information and technology resources.

“Criminal statistics are an indispensable asset to aid in identifying trends in criminal activity,” said Interim Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation Chad Mosteller. “And that helps law enforcement officers and agencies in their efforts to keep South Dakota communities safe.”

South Dakota law enforcement agencies reported a total of 38,160 arrests involving 69,277 offenses in 2021. More serious offenses accounted for a total of 15,210 arrests and include the following: murder (1^st and 2^nd degree)-9, sex offenses-76, assault-5,070, larceny/theft-908, fraud-574, drug/narcotic-6,928, prostitution-7, kidnapping-64, robbery-52, arson-17, burglary-204, motor vehicle theft-270, counterfeiting- 152, embezzlement-12, stolen property-167, destruction of property-386, pornography/obscene material- 26, and weapon law violations-274. Less serious offenses included the following; DUI-5,654, liquor law violations-1,526, and disorderly conduct-2,615.

In November 2022 the Attorney General’s Office hired a full-time Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator and, going forward, the Office will collect incidents investigated on Indian Country and report them in this publication. That information has not previously been included in the state totals and is not included in the 2021 report.

You can read the full report here.

-30-

Former Libertarian Candidate for Governor and Libertarian candidate for District 23 State Senate CJ Abernathey is continuing his string of legal troubles since running for office.

After looking for bail money in 2019, being sued in Small Claims court in 2020, and having the Secretary of State Scold him for not filing a campaign finance report, he managed to get himself into serious trouble this year.

 

 

After the US Marshalls picked him up, and initial appearances were held in South Dakota, they shipped him over to North Carolina. On November 2nd, in the Eastern District of North Carolina Federal Couty, represented by a Federal Public Defender, Abernathey pled guilty to two counts of “Transmitting a Threat in Interstate Commerce,” while pleading not guilty to an additional count of transmitting a threat, and interstate stalking.

According to court documents, after attorneys discussed his “liberty status” in the 11/2 hearing, the judge in the matter remanded him to custody until his time of sentencing, set for the 2/7/23 term of court in North Carolina.

South Dakota Ethanol Officials: Unnecessary Delays in Summit Carbon Solutions’ Regulatory Proceedings Will Harm Our Economy 

December 28, 2022 – Multiple officials from major South Dakota ethanol producers today argued that unnecessary delays to the regulatory proceedings around Summit Carbon Solutions proposed carbon capture, transportation, and storage project will cause significant harm to both the ethanol and agricultural industries.

This follows comments from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission that they are considering a delay in the regulatory proceedings around this project.

“For years, the ethanol industry has served as the critical customer for corn growers in the state of South Dakota and across the Midwest, helping drive growth in commodity prices and land values in the process,” said Walt Wendland, President and CEO of Ringneck Energy in Onida, South Dakota. “Carbon capture projects like Summit Carbon Solutions are absolutely vital to ensuring ethanol producers remain competitive in the years and decades to come. Simply put, the future of the ethanol industry is uncertain at best without these critical investments in our infrastructure and delays in the regulatory process could come at a significant cost.”

The ethanol industry in South Dakota supports more than 5,000 jobs, contributes nearly $600 million annually to the state’s gross domestic product, and purchases more than half of all the corn grown in the state. Summit Carbon Solutions will allow its 32 ethanol plant partners to sell their product at a premium in the states and countries that have adopted policies incentivizing the use of low carbon fuels.

“We strongly encourage the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to resist unwarranted efforts to delay the regulatory process in the state,” said Ron Alverson, Board Member at Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota. “With 2,300 landowners across the Midwest signing 3,800 easement agreements accounting for 56% of the proposed route, it’s clear that farmers are embracing the Summit Carbon Solutions project because they believe it’s critical for their bottom line. Those landowners deserve to have a formal hearing in April, which would meet South Dakota’s required statutory permit decision deadline of June 15.”

Other ethanol officials encouraging the South Dakota PUC to hold the Summit Carbon Solutions permitting hearing in April include:

• Ron Alverson, Board Member and a Founder of Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota
• Walt Wendland, President and CEO of Ringneck Energy in Onida, South Dakota
• Eric Baukol, CEO of Redfield Energy in Redfield, South Dakota
• Scott Mundt, CEO of Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota
• Jim Seurer, CEO of Glacial Lakes Energy in Watertown, Aberdeen, Mina, and Huron, (all operating in South Dakota)

To learn more, please visit www.DakotaEthanol.com, www.GlacialLakesEnergy.com, www.RedfieldEnergy.com, www.GlacialLakesEnergy.com, and www.RingneckEnergy.com.

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You go girl. Hot off the press this evening, Maggie Sutton, chair of the Minnehaha County Republican party is stepping up and clapping back at former legislator R. Shawn Tornow’s attempt at overthrowing GOP leadership.

Chairwoman Maggie notes Tornow is refusing to provide his alleged list of “20-percenters” and points out his effort will not be legal under party bylaws anyway:

From: Margaret Sutton
Date: December 27, 2022 at 10:32:09 PM CST
Subject: MINNEHAHA REPUBLICAN PARTY

Dear Minnehaha Central Committee Members:

Many of you recently received a notice of a Central Committee meeting to be held on December 29^th.  This notice did not come from the leadership of the Minnehaha Republican Party and was not a proper notice.

Issue one is that while they claim to have the signatures of 20% of the required members, Tornow Law Office has refused to provide a list to verify they met the 20% requirement.

Issue two, we have verified that a significant number of members were not notified of the meeting or did not receive the required five day notice.  Again, Tornow Law Office refused to cooperate and refused to provide the list used for notification.

Because of these deficiencies in the process, and our inability to verify the accuracy of the claims, the officers have been advised by council not to attend this meeting. The bylaws require that a quorum must include at least two officers.  Not having the required officers present will result in the lack of a quorum and thus this will not be a recognized meeting and any actions taken will be void.

While we agree that the bylaws do require holding two meetings a year, there is no penalty for failure to do so.  A good faith effort was made to hold the second meeting on December 15^th.  Unfortunately, with no travel recommended for all of Minnehaha County the board made the prudent decision to cancel that meeting.

Due to Christmas, New Years, Inauguration, and the start of the legislative session all falling in the immediate future, a decision was made to hold elections later in January.  This will still meet the requirement given in the bylaws.

Therefore, the officers of the Minnehaha Republican Party have unanimously decided to only attend the meeting planned for January 27^th or 28^th.  A separate invitation will be sent in the next few days.

The Executive Board of the Minnehaha Republican Party
Maggie Sutton, Chair

SD GOP Bylaws for County Central Committees:

Section III – South Dakota Republican Party (sdgop.com)

Not being able to lay your cards on the table when it’s time to show what you’re holding might just be a problem when you’re playing poker.

See you at the end of January.

Just had this passed my way. Word on the street is that a group led by former legislator and former Sioux Falls City Attorney R. Shawn Tornow is supposedly attempting a coup to take over the Minnehaha County Republican Party, by holding their own meeting this coming Thursday in Sioux Falls.

As the note sent to me indicated:

“A small group of ..election deniers ..are attempting to hold an illegitimate central committee meeting in Minnehaha county this Thursday. They will not even provide a list of the members who called for the meeting.”

When I queried further and asked for names of those involved, I was told:

“Shawn Tornow seems to be the ring leader, Cindy Meyer and Vicky Buhr, Penny Baybridge and Jennifer Fuoss are also involved. I am sure they have more but I know those for sure. Its the same group that caused the *** storm at convention with Minnehaha County”

So, former State Rep Tornow, Cindy Meyer with the SD Canvassing Group, Vicky Buhr who is involved with Convention of States, Penny Baybridge who came in 4th out of 4 in the District 13 House race, and Sioux Falls Chiropractor Jennifer Foss who gave a nominating speech for Steve Haugaard at the 2022 SDGOP Convention (pictured at left) are said to be pushing to take over the Republican organization in Minnehaha County?  I’m told there’s a letter floating around out there, which I’ll post as soon as I can chase a copy down.

Aside from questioning why they feel the need to try to be sneaky and overtake the already scheduled county elections in an effort which may fall flat on it’s face, what the organization needs to consider is what – if anything- the Minnehaha GOP would accomplish with a group of hardest of the hard-right activists at the helm.

If you go back a few years when Minnehaha County GOP chair David Rose resigned, turning the organization over to GOP (at the time) vice-chair Lora Hubbel, the implications were nothing short of a nuclear disaster for the county organization. Which has continued to reverberate to today.

Regular donors evaporated like mist. Businesspeople ended their support. Literally no one wanted to be associated with the group and actively abandoned what was once a vibrant well-funded group that actually had paid staff and an established headquarters for years and helped political races be competitive.  Now a decade later the organization struggles to attract even a tenth of the attention and prestige (not to mention donors) it had in it’s heyday.

The job of a political party is to win elections. And when the most radically polarized are in charge, they don’t try to expand the tent and attract voters. They’re more interested in kicking out those they disagree with, and claiming “they won.”

Nevermind what they would win are diminishing returns, and a strong likelihood of being a liability more than an asset to the candidates which run under their banner.

 

*Update* – “Election integrity?”

So, I have this letter, and a couple of interesting points to go with it. Here are the important items…

Dear Minnehaha County Central Committee Members: 

Please be informed that one-fifth of the Minnehaha County Central Committee members have called for a special meeting.

and..

This meeting was requested by more than 20% of the Central Committee Members, per the Central Committee bylaws; therefore, this meeting must be scheduled.  The list of central committee members requesting this meeting can be viewed by contacting Tornow Law Office at 605-271-9006.

Tornow claims to have 20% who have signed on a meeting to conduct his coup against Minnehaha County GOP Leadership to supersede the election that has already been scheduled for a time when Legislators and other can be available to attend, and that their secret list can be viewed by contacting his law office. But I’ve spoken with at least two people who have called only to have the phone ring and ring to no avail to try to view this secret list.

Which makes one wonder.. Why would a list of the precinct people who are calling for a special election need to be secret in the first place?  Why wouldn’t they just send that out so people could see who is calling for the meeting, and they would verify that the people he is claiming are calling for the meeting are actually eligible to do so?

Shouldn’t the group actually be open about it? They are elected from within the party, and a number of them appeared on the ballot.

I mean, they are for election integrity. Aren’t they?