Kristi for Governor Launches New Ad: “The Conversation Continues”

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, the Kristi for Governor campaign launched a new ad called “The Conversation Continues.” The ad plays verbatim additional comments that Jamie Smith made at the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary where he stated, “We need more things to tax.”

At the Rotary event, when he was specifically asked a follow-up question about this comment, Jamie said, “New things to tax, right? Not all these things are actually – some of them are shifts as well. Does that makes sense?” The ad highlights these comments.

“No, it doesn’t make sense,” said Ian Fury, Communications Director at Kristi for Governor. “The people of South Dakota deserve to know – what ‘new things’ or ‘shifts’ is Jamie Smith looking to add to their tax burden?”

Jamie Smith has a record of raising taxes. He opposed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which then-Congresswoman Noem helped pass for the people of South Dakota. That bill put $2,400 back in the pockets of the average South Dakota family.

Jamie Smith also wanted to make it easier for counties to raise taxes on South Dakotans, and he cosponsored a bill to raise the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.85%.

Governor Kristi Noem is proud that South Dakota has a low, simple tax code. South Dakota has no personal income tax, no corporate income tax, and no statewide personal property tax. Governor Noem has proposed eliminating the sales tax on food, which will lower the tax burden on South Dakotans by another $100 million.

To learn more about Jamie Smith’s history of supporting high taxes, visit JamieandJoe.com.

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From my mailbox, an important finding as we wind down to the final days of the campaign.. The Hughes Co State’s Atty has found no violations on South Dakota law on State plane use…

 

LaMie releases findings on Government Accountability Board complaints

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, October 25, 2022

PIERRE, S.D. – Hughes County State’s Attorney Jessica LaMie announced today the end of the Division of Criminal Investigation’s inquiry into complaints that Gov. Kristi Noem had misused the state airplane and that the plane’s flight records had been tampered with.

LaMie and the DCI concluded that there were no facts to support a criminal prosecution under current law for the use of the airplane and that the allegation regarding flight records was frivolous.

“I want to thank the DCI for conducting a thorough and professional investigation,” said LaMie. “There is no basis to pursue these matters further.”

The original complaints were filed with the Government Accountability Board. The board referred them to Attorney General Mark Vargo on Sept. 9, 2022, asking that the DCI investigate. Vargo recused himself and the Attorney General’s Office and asked LaMie to oversee the inquiry and make any charging decisions.

LaMie on Monday informed the Government Accountability Board that she had concluded her inquiry and referred the matter back to the board.

LaMie said she would have no additional comment and referred any additional questions to the Government Accountability Board or the Attorney General’s Office.

South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman files campaign finance complaint against Smith for Governor

UNION COUNTY – Today, South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman filed a complaint with the South Dakota Secretary of State against Jamie Smith’s campaign. The complaint is regarding Smith for Governor’s more than 1,500 campaign finance violations in the Pre-General report last night. Smith for Governor failed to include the addresses, cities, and states of donors in each of these 1,500 instances.

“Each omission is a plain violation of basic, long standing, and well-settled campaign finance requirements, and each is a criminal act,” Chairman Lederman states in his complaint. “Given the importance of guaranteeing integrity in our constitutional election process, we are requesting immediate relief.

Last night, the Kristi for Governor campaign called for an immediate investigation into Jamie Smith’s campaign finance violations.

The complaint calls for two remedies from the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office:

• Commence a contested case pursuant to chapter 1-26 against Smith for Governor; and
• Refer the complaint to the Division of Criminal Investigation for an investigation pursuant to chapter 23-3.

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From my mailbox:

Tomorrow at 1:30 in Sioux Falls at the public library, the Next Generational Leadership PAC is hosting an event to provide more information as to why they are opposing Initiated Measure 27, featuring Sioux Falls and State Leaders.

As noted, they intend to voice their concerns about crime, drug addiction and the consequences of recreational marijuana.

Expanding on the press release from the group opposing the pot legalization measure, Protecting South Dakota Kids, I wanted to dig into their campaign finance report.. which is an interesting collection of odd bedfellows in South Dakota politics.

While on one side of the equation, with the Fred Deutsch led effort, you have donations from Tonchi Weaver and Citizens for Liberty, but on the other, you have donations from Al Kurtenbach and Daugaard for South Dakota. Which seems to say that despite differences within the various factions of the South Dakota GOP, on occasion disparate groups of Republicans can come together and agree on something. In this instance, that legalization of marijuana isn’t the way to go.

Read the report for yourself below.

Protecting SDKids PAC Filing by Pat Powers on Scribd

In it’s inaugural set of stories, news website South Dakota Searchlight interviews interim Attorney General Mark Vargo, who opines that South Dakota political parties should consider selecting their candidates for Attorney General in a different way:

“I will say that I do think it would be smart to consider whether or not that nomination process should be through a convention or through a primary,” Vargo said.

Currently, delegates at political party conventions nominate the candidates for the state’s top law enforcement job. Meanwhile, voters in primary elections choose nominees for some other statewide offices, including the governor and the state’s three congressional seats.

Read the entire interview here at South Dakota Searchlight. 

In what might be a rare occurrence, SD-EPIC, the political action committee for SDEA, the state teacher’s association has endorsed more Republicans than Democrats this election, declaring them “pro-public education recommended state legislative candidates” as published in a recent issue of the SDEA Educator’s Advocate:

Of 51 endorsees from an education group which has historically endorsed far more Democrats, in the 2022 election 31 of the endorsees are Republican.

Interestingly, I note that several of those endorsed are anticipated to potentially serve in leadership roles in both the House and the Senate, including 2 of the 3 current contenders for Speaker of the House (Hugh Bartels and Jess Olson), Will Mortenson who is said to be running for House Majority Leader and Taylor Rehfeldt who is said to be running for Assistant House Majority Leader. In the Senate, we’re also seeing anticipated leadership in Lee Schoenbeck (President Pro Tempore) & Casey Crabtree (Running for Majority Leader). It also includes Kyle Schoenfish, Jim Bolin, David Wheeler & Helene Duhamel who are said to be running for whip positions.

Some of the down-ticket candidates are going up on the air, and one of which I was surprised to see was Secretary of State Candidate Tom Cool, who had an ad on during the commercial break on Good Morning America where he notes that he’s not an election denier:

 

(I am having a sense of deja vu… – pp)

ATTORNEY GENERAL RELEASES DRAFT EXPLANATION FOR PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE SOUTH DAKOTA CONSTITUTION 

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo has released an Attorney General’s ballot draft explanation for a draft Constitutional Amendment entitled: An Initiated Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Taxes on Anything Sold for Eating or Drinking.

Review the draft explanation here on the Draft Ballot Explanations page on the Attorney General’s website.

State law requires the Attorney General to draft a title and explanation for each initiated measure, initiated constitutional amendment, constitutional amendment proposed by the Legislature, or referred measure that may appear on an election ballot. See SDCL 12-13-9 & 12-13-25.1.

The Attorney General’s explanation is meant to be an “objective, clear, and simple summary” intended to “educate the voters of the purpose and effect of the proposed” measure, as well as identify the “legal consequences” of each measure. SDCL 12-13-9 & 12-13-25.1. Each explanation is limited to 200 words.

The public can comment on draft Attorney General explanations. Once the Attorney General has filed and posted the draft explanation, the public has 10 days to provide written comment. The Attorney General must review all accepted comments and may revise the draft explanation as deemed necessary. The final explanation from the Attorney General must be filed with the Secretary of State no later than 20 days after filing the draft explanation.

For more information regarding ballot measures, please visit the Secretary of State’s website.

State law may be reviewed by visiting the Legislative Research Council webpage.

To file written comments on a draft Attorney General’s explanation please use one of the following methods below. Copies of all received comments will be posted on this website. The deadline for comments on this amendment explanation is November 3, 2022, at the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota. The final explanation is due to the Secretary of State on November 14, 2022.

Comments may be submitted via mail, or through hand delivery, to the Attorney General’s Office at the following address:

Office of the Attorney General Ballot Comment
1302 E. Hwy. 14, Suite 1
Pierre, SD 57501

Comments that are hand delivered must be received by the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota, on the day the time to accept comments expires. Comments that are mailed must be received by the Attorney General’s Office before the deadline expires to accept comments. Comments may also be emailed to ATGballotcomments@state.sd.us. Emailed comments must be received by the Attorney General’s Office before the deadline expires to accept comments. Comments should be clearly expressed in the body of the email. The Attorney General’s Office will not open attachments in an effort to prevent malware or other digital threats. Please include your name and contact information when submitting your comment. The title of the comment must be included in the subject line of the email.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL RELEASES DRAFT EXPLANATION FOR PROPOSED INITIATED MEASURE

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo has released an Attorney General’s ballot draft explanation for a draft Initiated Measure entitled: An Initiated Measure Prohibiting Taxes on Anything Sold for Eating or Drinking.

Review the draft explanation here on the Draft Ballot Explanations page on the Attorney General’s website.

State law requires the Attorney General to draft a title and explanation for each initiated measure, initiated constitutional amendment, constitutional amendment proposed by the Legislature, or referred measure that may appear on an election ballot. See SDCL 12-13-9 & 12-13-25.1.

The Attorney General’s explanation is meant to be an “objective, clear, and simple summary” intended to “educate the voters of the purpose and effect of the proposed” measure, as well as identify the “legal consequences” of each measure. SDCL 12-13-9 & 12-13-25.1. Each explanation is limited to 200 words.

The public can comment on draft Attorney General explanations. Once the Attorney General has filed and posted the draft explanation, the public has 10 days to provide written comment. The Attorney General must review all accepted comments and may revise the draft explanation as deemed necessary. The final explanation from the Attorney General must be filed with the Secretary of State no later than 20 days after filing the draft explanation.

For more information regarding ballot measures, please visit the Secretary of State’s website.

State law may be reviewed by visiting the Legislative Research Council webpage.

To file written comments on a draft Attorney General’s explanation please use one of the following methods below. Copies of all received comments will be posted on this website. The deadline for comments on this amendment explanation is November 3, 2022, at the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota. The final explanation is due to the Secretary of State on November 14, 2022.

Comments may be submitted via mail, or through hand delivery, to the Attorney General’s Office at the following address:

Office of the Attorney General Ballot Comment
1302 E. Hwy. 14, Suite 1
Pierre, SD 57501

Comments that are hand delivered must be received by the close of business in Pierre, South Dakota, on the day the time to accept comments expires. Comments that are mailed must be received by the Attorney General’s Office before the deadline expires to accept comments. Comments may also be emailed to ATGballotcomments@state.sd.us. Emailed comments must be received by the Attorney General’s Office before the deadline expires to accept comments. Comments should be clearly expressed in the body of the email. The Attorney General’s Office will not open attachments in an effort to prevent malware or other digital threats. Please include your name and contact information when submitting your comment. The title of the comment must be included in the subject line of the email.

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