After House Leadership elections this last weekend, the South Dakota Freedom (Free-dumb?) Caucus sent out a press release this morning claiming that because their choices were not selected for leadership, they’re claiming that there’s a major split in the party, and intimate that it’s still up in the air whether their secret group members may not participate in the GOP House caucus.

SD House GOP Caucus Becomes More Progressive

Pierre, S.D. (Nov. 21, 2022) – Saturday, the South Dakota House Republicans met to hold leadership elections for the 2023 legislative session, and the results have some claiming the Republican party is going blue, resulting in a major split in the party.

Hugh Bartels was nominated to be the next Speaker of the House, breaking with a tradition that Speaker Pro Tempore, Representative Jon Hansen, would take the position. Following Bartels for Speaker, Representative Mike Stevens was elected as Speaker Pro Tempore, Representative Will Mortensen as the Majority Leader, and Representative Taylor Rehfeldt as Assistant Majority Leader.

Some “conservative” Republicans in South Dakota have said that the party was swinging blue for some time, feeling increasingly excluded from the party, and according to the American Conservative Union, the recently elected Republican leadership are of some of the states lowest rated Republican Representatives , proving the point for conservatives that the party is going blue. The American Conservative Union best known for their annual C-PAC conference held in Washington D.C. the ACU 2021 scorecard rated Bartels at 58%, Mortensen at 70%, Rehfeldt at 78% and Stevens at 65%.

But what has some conservative Republicans worried about the newly elected leadership are their SD Right to Life ratings, with Bartels and Mortensen rated below 80%. That has Republicans like members of the South Dakota Freedom Caucus especially troubled, as Democrat groups like Dakotans for Health are circulating an Initiated Constitutional Amendment petition to make prenatal life termination a Constitutional right in South Dakota, overturning the trigger law that went into effect in South Dakota after the Dobbs decision earlier this year.

Unlike the newly elected House GOP leadership, former Speaker Pro Tempore Republican Rep. Jon Hansen is working to fight back against efforts to make feticide a right in South Dakota, forming the Life Defense Fund and has been actively raising money to combat the efforts of the Democrats.

The divide over these values has some Republican Representatives wondering if they will continue to caucus with the Republican GOP during the upcoming session.

The South Dakota Freedom Caucus said they understand the sentiment being shared by some, claiming that the Republican party is abandoning its principles and is why they formed their caucus in the first place. “Being a Republican isn’t just a name, it’s a set of values,” proclaimed Freedom Caucus Secretary/Treasurer  Representative Tina Mulally. And while some Republican Representatives have already reached out to the Freedom Caucus about attending, Freedom Caucus Vice-Chairman Representative Tony Randolph said they’re only taking those Republicans whose voting records align with the Republican platform.

“We expect people to say what they mean, and mean what they say,” said Freedom Caucus Chairman Representative Aaron Aylward, “we don’t want people who are lukewarm on their values, you’re either hot or cold.”

The Freedom Caucus hasn’t officially stated whether their members will be attending the House GOP Caucus. However, these elections have been a boost for membership for their caucus, whose membership is anonymous outside of their leadership.

The South Dakota 2023 legislative session starts January 10th.

Really? What a bunch of drama queens.

If Representative Aylwayd actually believes his expressed jingoism, and says what he means, and means what he says, he probably should not just throw out thinly veiled threats.  He, Tina Mulally, Tony Randolph, and their “anonymous caucus members” should have the courage expressed in their press release and walk. 

Because, really, if they’re not lukewarm on their values as they complain about House leadership, they should demonstrate it.

From Twitter:

At #HFX2022🦞, @SenatorRounds makes a very pithy point: “Can we imagine the world we would be living in if the #USA🇺🇸 had not welcomed Albert Einstein to immigrate?” @HFXforum pic.twitter.com/GymoZ6Pj6k

— Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲 (@DrJPPham) November 19, 2022

Word is floating around out there that Taffy Howard might be working behind the scenes on a run for State Republican Party Chair or Vice Chair this next year.  Yes, Taffy Howard of the 86% attendance record.

Tonight on Facebook, Taffy gave us a preview of what her leadership (or lack thereof) would look like, as she spewed a message of venom and disunity on Facebook because House leadership is not looking how she would have liked:

So, because Taffy doesn’t get her way, the majority are all RINO’s running fellow RINO’s against her choices..? Really?  I’m not really seeing how some sort of evil fix was in.

Nevermind that the House and Senate Caucuses selected from among their own membership based on who had the confidence of their colleagues. This might be one reason Congressman Dusty Johnson won in a landslide against Taffy in the GOP Primary election. Because Taffy has no interest whatsoever in considering that (as proven at the ballot box) she might be in the minority.

It’s almost a little scary that there are even rumors that she would even consider attempting to offer herself in consideration for statewide leadership of the South Dakota Republican Party. It’s kind of like when Lora Hubbel found herself as chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party. More than a decade later, that group is still trying to recover from the damage Lora did.

I’m guessing that’s the kind of leadership Taffy would bring.

Because I don’t get the impression that she has any interest in growing the Republican party. As much as figuratively throwing gasoline on Reagan’s big tent, and burning it down to the ground while yelling “RINO’s” as she danced around the fire. And then washing the ash down a sewer grate in hopes of eliminating people that don’t think as she does.

Yeah..  I don’t think that would end well.

SOUTH DAKOTA HOUSE REPUBLICANS ELECT MORTENSON, REHFELDT
CAUCUS NOMINATES BARTELS FOR SPEAKER; STEVENS FOR SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE

PIERRE, S.D. – The House Republican Caucus met this morning at the State Capitol in Pierre to elect caucus leaders for the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session.

Caucus members elected Rep. Will Mortenson, of Pierre, as House Majority Leader and Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, of Sioux Falls, as House Assistant Majority Leader.

Mortenson will lead a caucus of 63 Republicans, the largest majority caucus since the House was set at 70 members in 1973. He succeeds House Majority Leader Kent Peterson of Salem, who was term-limited.

Mortenson, 34, is a second-term lawmaker from District 24. An attorney and cow hand, he is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and will be the first tribal member to lead a Republican caucus in Pierre. Mortenson is a native of Fort Pierre and a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the University of Virginia School of Law. He and his wife, Shuree, have two children.

“I’m honored to get to work for this group of legislators,” said Mortenson. “We’ve got a big job ahead of us, and we look forward to delivering conservative results to the people of South Dakota.”

Rehfeldt, 33, is a second-term legislator from District 14. A certified registered nurse anesthetist, she is assistant program director of the Mount Marty University graduate program in nurse anesthesiology. Rehfeldt is a Rapid City native and a graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, South Dakota State University, and Mount Marty University. She and her husband, Corey, have two children.

“It is a privilege to be elected by the House Republican Caucus,” said Rehfeldt. “I am excited to join with my fellow members and get to work.”

Joining Mortenson and Rehfeldt in the Republican leadership will be five majority whips: Reps. Rocky Blare of Ideal, Gary Cammack of Union Center, Kirk Chaffee of Whitewood, Becky Drury of Rapid City, and J. D. Wangsness of Miller.

In addition, the Republican caucus selected the party’s nominees for Speaker of the House and Speaker Pro Tempore, which will be elected when the State House convenes on January 10, 2023.

Rep. Hugh Bartels, 69, was nominated for Speaker of the House. Bartels, a Watertown retired community banker, has represented District 5 since 2017. He served on the Legislative Research Council Executive Board in 2018 and from 2021-22 and has chaired the House Retirement Laws Committee. Bartels is a graduate of Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota. He and his wife, Shelley, have three children and three grandchildren.

Rep. Mike Stevens, 69, was nominated for Speaker Pro Tempore. Stevens, a Yankton attorney, has represented District 18 from 2013-18 and again since 2021. He was a majority whip in 2014-15 and an LRC Executive Board member in 2017-18, and has been chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Stevens is a graduate of Bethel University in St. Paul MN and the University of South Dakota School of Law. He and his wife, Linda, have four children and six grandchildren.

The 98^th Session of the South Dakota State Legislature convenes on January 10, 2023.

-30-

Did I hear the sound of cooperation coming out of Pierre this morning?

Because word is that after two prior Speakers that were a bit of a train wreck, House members broke with tradition and are starting fresh, choosing to select people completely new to lead the body and the caucus.

Hugh Bartels of Watertown is said to have successfully turned aside Speaker Pro Tempore Jon Hansen in a break from tradition which would have elevated him to the position of Speaker of the House.  Mike Stevens was ultimately unopposed and will be the next Speaker Pro Tempore.

On the more political side, Will Mortenson won the position of House Majority Leader, and Taylor Rehfeldt won the position of Assistant Majority Leader.

Mortenson and Rehfeldt will be starting their second terms of office with both having 2 more terms available after that, which has the potential to provide fairly stable leadership in the House for some time to come. In addition, both are strong campaigners, which bodes well for House Republican efforts in upcoming elections.

(**Update – Wangsness, Drury, Chaffee, Blare, and Cammack are whips for the upcoming term)

Congratulations to all!

Apparently the Argus Leader is not just sending their printing to another state, but they’re sending the money paid for subscriptions outside of South Dakota, and proving what many suspect, that Gannett is kind of evil as they are putting their reporters on furlough over Christmas:

You can contribute to the GoFundMe here.

I do see that Berk Ehmergerd, the executive director for the Democrat Party for now, already gave $20.

Wednesday Night’s “kid-friendly” drag show at South Dakota State University has made the twitter feed of Libs of TikTok, as they show what you were in for if you had brought your whole family as they had suggested:

South Dakota State University held a “family-friendly” drag show where they encouraged kids to bring cash to tip the drag queens.

Here’s some footage of the “family-friendly” drag event. pic.twitter.com/xcdiT49vAk

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 18, 2022

As I had noted last week it didn’t sound very kid-friendly, I don’t know that my opinion is any different with footage leaking out.

What was I saying about it being like hosting strippers at SDSU?  Or do you believe nothing says “kid-friendly” like a strip of duct tape.

In reply to criticism over the event taking place at SDSU, SDSU President Barry Dunn had offered a media soundbite that the event “was not sponsored by the university.” Unfortunately, that claim rings a bit hollow in the face of previous events being sponsored by the same University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs  that Dunn had claimed had nothing to do with this years’ event.

Honestly, had the University not advertised the event as “kid-friendly,” and sold tickets on line that it was family-appropriate fare, it would have quietly slipped under the radar for yet another year, and no one would have really cared.  But, now I suspect the Board of Regents and South Dakota State University are going to have to do a lot of damage control in Pierre starting in January, because legislators are fired up over this one.  With good reason.

From the Dakota Scout, Governor Kristi Noem goes into more detail in reference her comments on Donald Trump while attending the most recent RGA Meeting:

“What I said is every single one of us as Republicans need to be messengers. It’s all of our jobs. President Trump is the only one running for president, the only one who has been president. He’s obviously the leader of our party right now, and he has a responsibility, but we all do too.

“I think that’s what we need to recognize. We should not put all the weight of messaging what is great about America on one person, that it is every one of our jobs and we should get up every day with that responsibility on our shoulders.”

Read the entire story here.

 

Gov. Noem Announces Christmas at the Capitol Grand Lighting Ceremony

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem has announced that the 2022 Grand Lighting Ceremony for Christmas at the South Dakota Capitol will take place in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 7 pm CT. This year’s theme for Christmas at the Capitol is “Merry Prairie Christmas.”

The Capitol Christmas display includes around 82 trees decorated by volunteers from communities, schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, and state government offices. The public is invited to join Gov. Kristi Noem, First Gentleman Bryon Noem, and Pierre Mayor Steve Harding as they welcome guests and light the Capitol Christmas trees.

The largest tree in the Capitol, a 38 ft Black Hills Spruce, is being decorated by the South Dakota Shriners. The tree was donated by Steve and Sue Ahlers and Donald and Kristin Berger, from Pierre, SD. After being trimmed, the tree stands at 29.5 feet in the rotunda.

At the ceremony, music will be provided by the El Riad Shrine Chanters from the Sioux Falls area.

Santa will be at the Capitol to say hello to the kids and set out his North Pole Mailbox for the year. Children can write letters to Santa at home and bring them along to the Capitol and drop them into the mailbox, which will be located on first floor by the South Dakota First Ladies and First Gentlemen Exhibit while the display is open to the public.

Hours for folks to come view the tree display are 8 am to 10 pm daily starting on Nov. 23, including holidays and weekends. The last day to view the display is Saturday, Dec. 26.

You can follow the Christmas at the Capitol events on Facebook and Instagram.

###

I caught this tidbit the other day as South Dakota Democrats started examining their performances and pointing fingers after their performance on November 8th noting their fortunes have not changed as once again the GOP hammered them up and down the ladder in South Dakota. As noted at the Democrat blog SD Standard..

SDDP Chairman Randy Seiler chose not to challenge his friend Marty Jackley for attorney general, allowing Jackley to return to his old job without a contest. Seiler plans to retire, leaving the state party in flux yet again.

Read that here.

At the same time they feel they have to bring up Randy not running for Attorney General because Marty Jackley is a friend, they pointed out that he’s planning to retire. After Seiler financially righted their ship, including putting his name on a loan, that statement is not exactly dripping with gratitude for taking on a nigh-impossible task. There isn’t much discussion as to who is interested in taking over the position, as they face the same challenges that the past few Democrat Party chairs have faced, and even if they’re registered that way, not many people want to identify with the Democrat Party, much less run as a candidate championing their views.  What are those challenges?

#1 – While Democrats have focused on ballot measures, no one has been doing any party building.

And it shows.   In fact, I have a chart..

 

That chart is not what Democrats are wanting to see. As of today, Democrat registration is outpacing Independents by only 5900 voters. Compare that to 2006, there was a gap of over 116,000 voters. How do you lose 110,000 voters? On an annual basis, that’s losing a little less than 7000 voters a year, but over time it adds up until you’re in big trouble. At this rate, at some point in 2023, maybe early 2024, Democrats will be third behind independents.   During the same period of time, Republicans have gained 50,000 voters.  Now, it would be nice if the GOP could grab a bigger share, but it’s less critical for us as we’re trending in the right direction while Democrats are headed for a major crash.

For a couple of decades now, Democrats have put their eggs in the basket of ballot measures, feeling that will help them with lists and recruitment. If they haven’t figured it out by now that was and continues to be a fools’ errand. People aren’t going to switch parties on the basis of one issue, whether it’s pot, abortion, teacher pay, etcetera.

Disagree? Don’t take my word for it, look at the squiggly line in the chart.

 

#2 – You are guaranteed to lose every race you don’t field a candidate for.  

In April of 2022, Democrats left a staggering 23 Senate seats uncontested. 23! Literally, they abandoned even running for over 65% of the Senate seats available.  Democrats were slightly better in the House races, where they skipped nine House seats at the time. They ended up losing several more because a number of their candidates were just placeholders who dropped out.

Let me remind you what Democrat Leadership had to say about that:

“I think we would always love to have more candidates,” Berk Ehrmantraut, the South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director, told KELOLAND News. “I think we’ve set ourselves up to be really competitive and pick up some seats this year in the legislature.”

and..

While Democrats will leave 23 Senate seats and nine House seats uncontested, Ehrmantraut said having more than 50 candidates for state Senate or House was in the range the party was aiming for.

Read that here.

Abandoning 23 Senate seats is “competitive?” I don’t really think so. The term I’m more apt to use is that it’s a total ****-show.  When they say they were set to pick up some seats, it ended up that a House seat was traded for a Senate seat to maintain net numbers of Democrats across the entire legislature, granting Republicans continued and total dominance.  Democrats need to actually pay attention to recruiting more than just talking their current crop of interns into running until they find someone better.

 

#3 – Who exactly is the base of the Democrat party in South Dakota? Because even they don’t seem to be sure.

I can tell you that the South Dakota Republican Party is very glad to focus on issues of agriculture, ethanol, seniors, workforce, etc., while Democrats focus on pronoun use, drag shows, and protests that devolve into riots. It’s like they don’t know who they want to represent. Remember when Democrat Taneeza Islam went after bonus pay for city employees in the last Sioux Falls Mayoral Election? She raised the ire of South Dakota Federation of Labor who blasted her. You know you’re in trouble as a Democrat when the labor unions go after you.

Don’t forget Democrats’ fading memories about people who go to church, as in their platform plank this past year where they attack religion noting “we respect individual conscience and we will not allow religious ideology to infringe on one’s basic human rights.” You have to go out of your way to take a dig at “religious ideology,” and Democrats are happy to do so.  It’s as if they have forgotten the very people who once made up their base in South Dakota, abandoning those people and their values in favor of a national woke agenda.

Democrat politics as of late seem to focus mainly on more urban areas to the exclusion of everything that’s not focused on young people in Sioux Falls. While Democrats have gone woke, Republicans have been able to make inroads into areas Democrats once had exclusive control over. District 1 which contains the Sisseton-Whapeton Oyate is not just represented by three Republicans, but part of that group are two House members who are both Native American, a group that Democrats once enjoyed the exclusive support of. Democrats are in really big trouble if Republicans can continue to make inroads into the state’s Native American population, which we will. Faith and family are very important to large swaths of the GOP and Native Americans alike, and there are issues they can and will continue to find common ground on.

If you think about it, the last Democrat officeholder who successfully navigated the traditional Democrat constituencies in South Dakota was arguably Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. But even she eventually succumbed to the combination of a wave election, as well as members of her own party directly throwing her under the bus for trying to navigate the minefield between traditional old-school Dems and the cadre of the woke. While some Democrats may reminisce about her time in office and long for thoughts of her return, they’re forgetting that they only narrowly averted a primary challenge against her from the left, prior to her being voted out of office.

Their basic problem is that Democrats need to figure out who they want to represent and why.  As noted by one, apparently reluctant Democrat at the onset of the election..

Heenan, who ran for a spot on the Pennington County commission as an independent in 2018, said she reluctantly switched from an independent to Democrat a month ago. She said the national tone of the Democratic Party is not applicable or appropriate to South Dakota, but said running as an independent for state office was not efficient.

Read that here.

That’s a pretty good summary. Do they want to be a party representing South Dakotans who vote, or the people who make tiktok videos all day? Because the latter isn’t putting anyone into office, and it is turning people off.

 

Until the South Dakota Democrat party is willing to pay attention to business of a state political party, actually run candidates, and represent the viewpoints of the residents of South Dakota, I don’t think they’re going to change their fortunes, and be competitive in state elections.

Think there are other reasons for the Democrat party’s steep decline in the state and what they need to fix? The floor is yours.