What on earth?  As bad as things are, this might be the most messed up thing I’ve heard, and I go looking for stories of the off-beat.

In Aberdeen, someone may have hired a private investigator to call a councilwoman’s babysitter, asking about her kids, regarding “city council matters.”

In a printed statement distributed to the council Monday at the end of the regular meeting, Langer said she was told on May 9 by her former babysitter that the care provider was contacted by a private investigator.

“The questions ranged from when they were with adults, to whom they are with and where. (The babysitter) was told this information was being gathered for potential city council matters,” Langer’s statement read.

and..

The issue is the latest conflict within the council. In recent weeks, campaign material issued by Andy Schaunaman that claimed that Aberdeen was just “one vote” from hiring a “liberal city manager” sparked controversy.

Read the entire story here.

This literally might be one of the worst things I’ve read about in a long time.

I don’t care if it involves a Republican, Democrat, or other political affiliation. If you’re so messed up, you send a private investigator out to ask about an elected officials kids over “city council matters,” the problem might be with you, and you belong nowhere near politics. Because you’re a pretty short step away from being a stalker.

If you recall, a day or so ago, District 2 House candidate Jake Schoenbeck released a nice endorsement from Governor Kristi Noem that will likely be appearing in mailboxes:

Thanks Gov. @KristiNoem! pic.twitter.com/tmQRpd9luG

— Jake Schoenbeck (@JakeSchoenbeck) May 17, 2022

And yesterday, his fellow District 2 House Candidate John Sjaarda mailed out a different postcard, touting the endorsement of a number of politicians that have little or nothing to do with his district:

I’m not sure what the common thread is here. Most of the House members endorsing him opposed impeachment, although Sjaarda claimed ignorance when asked about it by the Argus.  Although I do see Aylward voted in favor of it.   So, that’s not it.

A couple of them used to represent a small portion of what is now District 2. But… not the others?

Kind of a head scratcher.

You know, the Governor supporting an up and coming candidate is one thing, considering she’s the most popular Republican in South Dakota among Republican voters. Just not seeing that Tom Pischke or Rhonda Milstead are going to compel a similar sense of “we need this guy.”

Endorsed by randoms.

District 9 State Senate Candidate Mark Willadsen had been the recipient of a donation from Convention of States this election, but after seeing some of their attack ads against candidates, he said thanks, but no thanks. And also hinted that they are dead to him:

Hearing from a few people as well that Convention of States made a grave miscalculation this election, and that they probably shouldn’t bother to show up at the next session, as it’s going to be a long time before people forget their attack ads.

If you recall the message from “Conservative” Hillary Clinton Donor Liz May, people who changed over to be Republicans are a serious problem in South Dakota elections.

However, this morning, Conservative State Representative Kevin Jensen had a different message:

While Conservative Hillary Clinton donor Liz May hates party switchers, Kevin Jensen says bring them on and switch now, because “you can always switch back.”

Kind of getting a mixed message here.

Well, that campaign went south fast.

After her campaign sent out a campaign letter, which attacked teachers, referring to them as tyrants, and others, Rapid City School Board Candidate Janyce Hockenbary suddenly developed amnesia. In addition to being an awful person.

At a Tuesday school board candidate forum hosted by Elevate Rapid City, Hockenbary publicly denied writing the letter. In a follow-up interview attempt with the Journal after the forum, Hockenbary avoided saying who actually wrote the letter, but that she approved it.

And..

When asked who wrote the letter, she replied, “I do not know.”

She said she approved the letter “in an email.” She declined to answer any additional questions from the Journal about who the email came from and walked away from the interview.

Read the entire story here.

You know, with that sudden onset amnesia, she should make sure she doesn’t have a more serious underlying condition. She should probably go see a physician.

But good luck finding a doctor who wasn’t exposed to one of those awful tyrant teachers she spends so much time complaining about. (Maybe someone’s got some essential oils laying around.)

As opposed to his fellow District 2 Candidate John Sjaarda, new candidate Jake Schoenbeck has a different approach to gain voter’s attention. He points out the fact he has the support of Governor Kristi Noem, and how they will work together.

Thanks Gov. @KristiNoem! pic.twitter.com/tmQRpd9luG

— Jake Schoenbeck (@JakeSchoenbeck) May 17, 2022

Didn’t take him 5 pages to communicate it, either.

As soon as I posted the bat-sh*t crazy letter from the Rapid City School Board candidate, a correspondent dropped me a text and said “I got a letter that looks almost identical to this (style wise). I’m assuming they’re both Jordan Mason guys?” Well, yeah. I would venture a guess that they are.

And this letter from District 2 House Candidate John Sjaarda is equally full of grammatical errors and cringe-worthy passages as the prior letter as it declares he “knows that the liberal “woke” curriculum is injecting racial hatred, lewd and obscene ides of sexuality, gender identity and even an out-and-out right hatred of America.”

Did anyone even bother to Google “out-and-out right” before they sent this out in a mailer? Because that’s not a word, or even a slang phrase. It would be “out-and-out.” Or “outright.”  Not both rammed together in a faux Yogi Berra-like quote. Seriously.

There are a lot of other parts that are equally mired in awfulness.  But you can read and judge for yourself.

Awful Sjaarda Letter by Pat Powers on Scribd

I feel bad for the candidates that are snookered into thinking this is a worthwhile expenditure of their money. Because it’s not.

Candidates, seriously. Don’t send 5 cringe-worthy pages of blathering nonsense and sloganeering to voters. It doesn’t help your case.

Be honest and be authentic.  It works so much better than this tripe.

And people wonder why Administrators, Teachers, etc., are abandoning ship at the Rapid City School District at a record pace? Rapid City School Board candidate Janyce Hockenbary seems to be a couple of syllables away from demanding that people burn the witches.

Letter from one of the wingnut RC school board candidates backed by the Pennington County Republicans group. Pretty sure she typed this on an actual typewriter.

For context- her opponent, Jamie Clapham, is a parent volunteer in the school district and PTA president. pic.twitter.com/xOXI5ayLoq

— Galen Hoogestraat (@HoogyGalen) May 17, 2022

If that letter doesn’t motivate Rapid City residents to vote against the wave of batsh*t crazy that the Rapid City school board seems gripped by, I’m not sure what will.

**UPDATE**

The bus wheels are rolling. Just got a report that at the candidate forum tonight with Elevate Rapid City, Janyce Hockenbary may be claiming that she did not write the letter! Despite it saying paid for by Janyce Hockenbary.

And there’s that other part…

Had a correspondent reach out today, and noted something that we had all missed, as the SOS had to create a separate list for the people whose candidacies became official after the primary cutoff date, because of creating the primary ballot, etc.

First off, they have the complete list of Libertarian candidates running, in case you were wondering. Not that any of them are going to win. Or run anything resembling a competent campaign.

But then we have the independents, and a couple of fairly familiar names.

On the Democrat side, you have Susan Wismer, who might be the Democrats’ version of Lora Hubbel running for Senate in District 1. And then we have the actual Lora Hubbel, formerly of the Governor’s race, who is running for State Senate in District 13. Just like the last time she said she was going to run for Governor, and as now, opted for less lofty ambitions.

Well, at least now Jack Kolbeck has a foil to use to raise money for the District 13 Senate campaign.