This was not something I expected to hear about this afternoon. Readers have been sending me notes today regarding several billboards going up in Sioux Falls this weekend scolding impeachment committee members over foot-dragging in the matter of their review.

Billboards have been posted at the corner of 12th and Kiwanis at the Lewis drug parking lot and on east 10th street Sioux Falls next to Eastway Bowling Alley blasting Steve Haugaard, Spencer Gosch, Jon Hansen and Democrat Jamie Smith asking what they “are trying to hide,” and demanding that they “Impeach the Attorney General Now.”

The Billboards are paid for by the Dakota Institute for Legislative Solutions, which had sent out a press release earlier this week explaining how they were going to “educate citizens on how their representatives vote on critical issues, frame the debate to advance conservative principles, and generate support for Governor Noem’s agenda.”

And they are definitely framing the debate.

After the first 15 Districts, I had to take a break… mainly because I was hitting my work hours, and needed to actually do something.  But, now that I’m past the appointed hours of my toils, and I’m the most boring person in the world on Friday night, time to get back to the list, and who is running in the South Dakota State Legislative races as of March 11th.

 

District 16

Senate:

Jim Bolin (R)
Nancy Rasmussen (R)

House: 

Kevin Jensen (R)
Richard Vasgaard (R)
Karla Lems (R)

Count off another 2 primary elections here, with Bolin v Nancy, and the Jensen – Vasgaard – Lems race. BUT, there are also rumors of intrigue here. I’ve heard Bolin could drop out, and Jensen move up, leaving Vasgaard and Lems to the House. But they seem to be under some impression that Nancy Rasmussen does not know how to campaign. She does, and she’s pretty good at it. But, that’s all a lot of water cooler chatter at the moment.

 

District 17

Senate:

Sydney Davis (R)

House: 

Bill Shorma (R)
Chris Kassin (R)

There are rumors of a Democrat jumping in the Senate race, but until it happens, I’m not going to speculate for reasons that will become apparent if it happens. Whether it does or not, State Rep. Sydney Davis will beat the tar out of all comers.  In the House, there’a solid lineup of Republicans, who might be hard to beat. There’s rumor of a House primary, but they’d need to bring a pretty strong candidate to even have a shot at taking second place.

 

District 18

Senate:

Jean Hunhoff (R)

House: 

Ryan Cwach (D)
Mike Stevens (R)
Julie Auch (R)

There were and still are rumors that Ryan Cwach might run for Senate, but I think either scenario is not necessarily looking good for him. Jean Hunhoff is as strong as ever, and would walk all over him. With two Republicans in the House, he may find himself challenged just to stay in.

 

District 19

Senate:

Kyle Schoenfish (R)

House: 

Jessica Bahmuller (R)
Caleb Finck (R)
Drew Peterson (R)

Is Kyle going to get off this election with a safe ad unchallenged seat? Could be. Because the House is going to be a battle royale to watch with Caleb Finck, Drew Peterson, and Jessica Bahmuller.  I wouldn’t even try to pick a winner. All know how to campaign, and all will fight hard.

 

District 20

Senate:

Joshua Klumb (R)

House: 

Ben Krohmer (R)
Lance Koth (R)
Jeff Bathke (R)
Alex Borman (D)

Democrats might dig up a candidate at the last minute to run for the senate.. or maybe not. Here’s another seat where the incumbent could get off scott free.  Lance Koth is an incumbent, so he’s fine, the question is who will come in second.

 

District 21

Senate:

Erin Tobin (R)
Dan Andersson (D)

House: 

Marty Overweg (R)
Rocky Blare (R)

No action in the house, and… Oh.. is that the same Democrat whose rear-end Erin Tobin kicked by over 5600 votes in 2020?  Apparently there is no action in the Senate either.

 

District 22

Senate:

David Wheeler (R)

House: 

Roger Chase (R)
Lynn Schneider (R)

All is silent in D22. There were rumors that Lana Greenfield might run for Senate after being termed in the House, but I think those have faded.

 

District 23

Senate:

Bryan Breitling (R)

House: 

Spencer Gosch (R) – at the moment
JD Wangness (R)

As noted in an earlier story, there are rumors that Spencer Gosch might be considering a run for higher office. And, he’s refusing to say.  Supposedly, he is rumored to be carrying both petitions, one for the House and one for the Senate.   If he triggers a Senate primary, Bryan Breitling is sure to be well funded. If he remains in the House, given the lack of interest at the moment, he’s probably in a safe seat with Charlie Hoffman’s departure.

 

District 24

Senate:

Mary Duvall (R)
Jim Mehlhaff (R)

House: 

Will Mortenson (R)
Mike Weisgram (R)
Mary Beth Weinheimer (R)

Pierre and it’s neighboring area became a hotbed of primary challengers this year. In the Senate, Mary Duvall only came in second once – in her first House race in 2012, when her opponent had the Rounds last name, and they both beat incumbent Mark Venner.  Ever since, she’s been the first place finisher.  Facing conservative challenger Jim Mehlhaff, a Pierre City Commissioner, this will be a hard fought primary, but I think Duvall has the edge. The District has added Haakon County and she has a strong ag background. Keep watching this one.

And in the House, Mary Beth Weinheimer is jumping in to challenge incumbent House members Will Mortenson and Mike Weisgram. My biggest question would be, “Why?” Both are strong incumbents, they are very, very good campaigners, and there’s no constituency that would be mad at them. This challenge seems more about ambition, and claiming be be more conservative than the conservatives that are already there.  I don’t think this goes anywhere.

 

District 25

Senate:

Marsha Symens (R)
Kevin Crisp (R)
Lisa Rave (R)

House: 

Randy Gross (R)
Jon Hansen (R)
Tom Pischke (R)

Here’s another hotbed and focus of palace intrigue and rumors. In the Senate, Lisa Rave is challenging to run for the Senate seat she was denied when Kris Langer dropped out the race in 2020 and was replaced by Symens by precinct people. Lisa will run hard, and raise a lot of money, and has a lot of knowledge behind her.

However, it is rumored that Symens may drop out, and Tom Pischke may withdraw from the House race, and run for the Senate, which would leave just two running for the House. BUT.. Jon Hansen’s petition isn’t in yet. I’ve also heard speculation he may run skip running for the legislature for a constitutional office.  Any way you slice it, I think there might be changes to come in this lineup.

 

District 26

Senate:

Joel Koskan (R)
Shawn Bordeaux (D)

House: 

Rebecca Reimer (R – 26B)

First there was a primary with Christian Skunk & Joel Koskan in the Senate. Then there wasn’t, leaving Joel Koskan to run against Democrat Shawn Bordeaux. This district might be better for Republicans than in the past, which would be a plus for Koskan, who has run twice before and came within less than 500 votes at his closest.

Reimer is safe in the House, and the slate in 26A is yet to be set, so not much to say about the House race at this time.

 

District 27

Senate:

Foster Red Dawn (D)
Florence Thompson (R)
David Jones (R)

House: 

Liz May (R)
Peri Pourier (D)

Again, this District is said to be better than before for the GOP, and recruiting is still afoot, so watch for that House race to change.  But the Senate contest… David Jones should destroy “Flossie” a.k.a. Florence Thompson, who was a terrible candidate in her first outing in 2012.. But she came uncomfortably close in 2020, coming in third by 46 votes.  I’d better call David Jones and offer him any support I can give.

 

District 28

Senate:

Ryan Maher (R)

House: 

Oren Lesmeister (D – 28A)
Neal Pinnow (R – 28B)

Ryan Maher wins elections, and he will continue to do so, that is, if he’s even challenged at all.  Otherwise, unless Republicans can recruit in 28A, and Democrats in 28B, this is likely to be the outcome in the fall.

 

District 29

Senate:

Dean Wink (R)

House: 

Kirk Chaffee (R)
Gary Cammack (R)
Roger Gallimore (R)
Kathy Rice (R)

There’s chatter that former legislator Tom Brunner might jump in one of the races, but I think Wink is pretty solid in the Senate. If anyone is foolish enough to take him on, the former Philadelphia Eagles Left Defensive Tackle is not going to be out-campaigned.  In the House, it should be former Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack, and incumbent Kirk Chaffee. There might be some mud thrown by challengers, but I don’t think this configuration is going to change.

 

District 30

Senate:

Julie Frye-Mueller (R)
Tim Goodwin (R)

House: 

Trish Ladner (R)
Lisa Gennaro (R)
Dennis Krull (R)
Patrick Baumann (R)
Gerrold “JR” Herrick (R)

In the House, that’s a big primary with lots of candidates.  Incumbent Trish Ladner should have some additional traction, but in a 5-way primary, who knows. Victory will go to the best campaigner.

In the Senate, please send your donations to Tim Goodwin at 12870 J Pine Road, Rapid City, SD 57702. Because Julie Frye Mueller is just awful. And I can tell you he will run a strong race against Mueller, whom hopefully we have seen the last of.

 

District 31

Senate:

Ron Moeller (R)
Randy Deibert (R)

House: 

Mary Fitzgerald (R)
Scott Odenbach (R)

With Tim Johns out, anything goes in the Senate Race, and it will be up to the best campaigner. Ron Moeller has been working it, and Randy Deibert comes from the County Commission, so people will have seen his name on the ballot before. Otherwise, likely no change in the House at this time.

 

District 32

Senate:

Helene Duhamel (R)

House: 

Becky Drury (R)
Steve Duffy (R)
Christine Stephenson (D)

Senator Helene Duhamel is in a safe seat at the moment.. and her husband happens to have also filed papers with the Secretary of State, specifically a statement of organization yesterday to run for District 32 House. Rounding out the GOP ticket is Becky Drury.  Word is that there are more Dems coming to the race, but for all the bluster of the local right wingers, they aren’t putting anyone up at this time, so this GOP ticket may stand.

 

District 33

Senate:

David Johnson (R)

House: 

Phil Jensen (R)
Dean Aurand (R)
Curt Massie (R)
Vince Vidal (D)

Is David Johnson going to get a bye? Unless Democrat Ryan Ryder who ran against him before wants to give him another go after his withdrawal from the Congressional race, it just may be. In the GOP House Primary, Aurand and Massie stand a good chance of the legislature finally getting rid of Phil Jensen, but he’s had tough races before and snuck back in.

 

District 34

Senate:

Michael Diedrich (R)

House: 

Mike Derby (R)
Jess Olson (R)
Christopher Twiggs (D)
Darla Drew (D)

I’m not sure why I’m bothering writing anything. Diedrich in the Senate, Derby & Olson in the House. There. Done. The Democrats are immaterial to the election in this District.

 

District 35

Senate:

Jessica Castleberry (R)

House: 

Tina Mulally (R)
Tony Randolph (R)
David Hubbard (D)

Jessica Castleberry might be one of the hardest campaigners in the Rapid City area, and she was tested within a few months of her appointment to the office in January of 2020. So far, nobody wants any of that.

Not Kevin Quick (a.k.a., Kevin the felon) who ran against her in the primary and lost 72% to 28%, or the weird Brian Gentry who took her on as an independent in the general and got House members Tina Mulally and Tony Randolph to become traitors to the GOP and endorse him in that race.   It didn’t matter, as Jessica dispatched Gentry definitively by 2300 votes, 62% – 38%.

Speaking of the GOP’s quisling D35 House members Mulally & Randolph, the word is that there could be more Republicans entering this contest.  We can hope. (If anyone in D35 is interested, drop me a note).

And that’s where the races site as of March 11th, 2020. The deadline is March 29th at 5pm, so hang on to your seats –  it’s going to get bumpier!

I can almost hear the harrumphs from here.

Political reporters Joe Sneve from the Argus Leader and Austin Goss of Dakota News Now put on a roundtable with outgoing Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch and House Appropriations Chair Chris Karr in what was largely a rebuttal of Governor Kristi Noem’s criticisms of how the House handled the budget process this year, as well as the legislation that which may have them coming back to Pierre again and again to authorize expenditures of federal funds.

There’s no embed code, but you can click here, or on the image to watch the video on facebook.

We did find out that Karr is planning on running again for the House, but with a little more than 2 weeks to go until the deadline, Gosch won’t commit to running for the House, or whether he’s going to attempt to run for the State Senate.

Give it a watch for yourself, and let us know what you think.

During my first State of the State address, I announced I wanted South Dakota to lead the nation, raising the bar in everything we do. We immediately got to work on that, earning big wins like Constitutional Carry and the Second Century Initiative to grow pheasant and wildlife habitat. Now, South Dakota will raise the bar in economic development.

Earlier this month, Site Selection magazine released the rankings for its 2021 Governor’s Cup. Site Selection presents this award to the states with the most business development projects in a calendar year.

The result from those rankings sends a clear message: South Dakota competes with some of the largest states in the nation for big business projects. Our state ranked second overall for per-capita projects, with Kansas narrowly claiming the Cup.

But that is not the big news.

From 2019 to 2021, our ranking jumped from 37^th to 2^nd in projects per capita. The 2021 criteria focused on projects with an investment of $1 million or more. The total investment in South Dakota — just counting eligible Site Selection projects — amounted to an astounding $1.2 billion, adding 2.8 million square feet of production space and an expected increase of 2,600 jobs around the state.

Some of those projects have North Sioux City’s metro area and Sioux Falls claiming the number 1 and 2 spots in Site Selection’s metropolitan-area rankings, respectively, for per-capita projects.

Our “Open for Business” message has captured the attention of big companies around the country and driven this phenomenal growth. The Site Selection data understates the total tangible business growth in South Dakota—my Office of Economic Development in 2021 facilitated $1.7 billion in total investment, for an overall increase of 3,700 jobs around the state.

The path I chose for South Dakota during the pandemic attracted businesses to our state. But we also are a business-friendly, low-tax, affordable state to start and own a business. We have worked for years to develop a business climate that is welcoming to innovators and industry leaders.

We brought in the Aesir Technology battery manufacturing facility in Rapid City, which Site Selection highlighted in their 2021 analysis. This project will add 400 skilled jobs for producing the batteries that service data centers and 5G cell phone networks.

Amazon’s new fulfillment center in Sioux Falls adds 3 million square feet of factory floor, welcoming 1,000 new full-time jobs this year. CJ Foods, which specializes in producing Asian food, will build a state-of-the-art facility – the largest of its kind – in Sioux Falls. The project is estimated to be $500 million in construction for a new 700,000 square-foot building with 600 new jobs by 2025.

But companies did not only invest in our big cities. We saw new developments in Canton, Belle Fourche, and other smaller communities around the state.

We have come a long way in the last three years.  From our business development growth to expanding high-speed internet statewide, we have ushered in a new era of innovation. And we show no signs of slowing down.

Just this week, the legislature overwhelmingly approved my recommendation to fund a $30 million investment in the cyber research program at Dakota State University. This investment will help double the number of students who will graduate with the skills to land six-figure jobs out of college.

South Dakota: the state for business today, tomorrow, and into the future.

###

Huge post here as the state legislative races have largely shaped up.. but could be subject to some shifting and jostling as we found out in Brookings yesterday with the withdrawal of VJ Smith and entrance of Tim Reed into the D7 State Senate race.

Make no mistake, there are changes coming and some shifting around the margins. But 90% of the races are well into launch sequence.

So, what should you look for?  Here’s my scorecard as we start a mad sprint to March 29th.  I’m counting 19 House Primaries, and 11 Senate primaries as of today. And that’s a VERY fluid number. I’d look for it to grow as opposed to shrinking.

And here’s what I have for legislative races – Part 1:

District 1

Senate:

Michael Rohl (R)
Unknown (D)?

House: 

Logan Manhart (R)
Tamara St. John (R)
And mmaaybe Jennifer Keintz (D)?

Is this the same District 1 that I remember? Used to be that we could not get a Republican elected there to save our lives until Tamara St. John and Michael Rohl. Now, so far in 2022, No Democrat has stepped forward against the two very strong Republicans, and the existing Dem Jennifer Keintz is rumored to not be running.

District 2

Senate:

Spencer Wrightsman (R)
Steve Kolbeck (R)

House:

Dan Sjaarda (R)
Jacob Schoenbeck (R)
David Kull (R)
Jeff Shawd (R)
Gary Leighton (D)

And here we have our first two Legislative primary races, and they will both be contests. Young Republican and Minnehaha GOP Activist Spencer Wrightsman versus former PUC Commissioner and Brandon City Councilman Steve Kolbeck for the Senate. And a plethora of candidates for the House. Former police chief and current council member David Kull and the politically experienced Jake Schoenbeck are the early favorites, but lots of time between now and June 7th.

District 3

Senate:

Al Novstrup (R)
Rachel Dix (R)

House:

Kaleb Weis (R)
Carl Perry (R)
Rick Rylance (R)
Brandei Schaefbauer (R)

Again, 2 more primaries. Long-time legislator Al Novstrup is being challenged by newcomer Rachel Dix. What’s interesting is that Rachel is receiving support from factions of the local GOP organization, and has a number of business connections as the local homebuilders director.  Al very well may have his hands full, as this is expected to be a battle.

4 people in the House primary, and I believe more to come. Weis and Perry are the incumbents, but aren’t necessarily viewed as strong retail campaigners. And into the race came former Dacotah bank executive Rick Rylance who is viewed as the 800lb gorilla with his community connections and ability to fundraise. Brandei Schaefbauer is a new entrant into the race, seemingly with a hard-right and anti-vax agenda, if you look at her twitter account.  I’d watch for this race to possibly grow another candidate or two.

District 4

Senate:

John Wiik (R)

House:

Fred Deutsch (R)
Adam Grimm (R)
Val Rausch (R)
Stephanie Sauder (R)

District 4 Senate might not even see a challenge for John Wiik, who has been a stable influence in the Senate.  He might pick up a dem, but I would be equally unsurprised if he doesn’t, and gets a bye this election.   The House provides us yet another packed primary.  Fred Deutsch is the at times controversial  incumbent, but he is the incumbent in this 4-way contest. Former House Speaker Val Rausch is running to return. And we also have the owner of the Hamlin County newspaper, Stephanie Sauder. I’d expect all three to run strong. Conservative artist Adam Grimm is also part of the pack.

District 5

Senate:

Lee Schoenbeck (R)

House:

Hugh Bartels (R)
Byron Callies (R)
Kahden Mooney (D)

First there was going to be a Republican primary in the House, but after filing papers, and a lot of smack talk, Lucas Kobat proved to be a lot of smoke, and went away.  There could be a primary in the Senate, as some of the antivaxxers and others would like to challenge Lee Schoenbeck, and they can try, but he’d view it as a happy opportunity to campaign more.

District 6

Senate:

Herman Otten (R)

House:

Aaron Aylward (R)
Ernie Otten (R)

I’m told there might be more entering the House race, but D6 is pretty quiet at the moment. Talk to me in 2 weeks.

District 7

Senate:

Tim Reed (R)
Julie Erickson (R)?

House:

Mellissa Heerman (R)
Matt Doyle (R)
Doug Post (R)

District 7 got crazy overnight. VJ Smith left the Senate Race, and House member Tim Reed jumped in. Then, I’m told a Julie Erickson, who I never heard of, has petitions out for Senate as well.  We’ll see if they come in, but this is a name ID race, and the former Mayor and House member is going to win this.  In the House, Mellissa Heerman from the School Board is the strongest contender for one of the two seats, followed by former State Rep Doug Post and Matt Doyle. I have heard another might jump in, a heavy hitter.

So, add 2 more primary elections to the total.

District 8

Senate:

Casey Crabtree (R)

House:

John Mills (R)
Marli Wiese (R)
Tim Reisch (R)

Crabtree resides in a safe seat, which just got safer as he added Kingsbury county – his hometown – to his district in redistricting.  And that House race went from boring to a hard fight over the course of the last week. Mills and Wiese were sure to be the candidates until former Sheriff, former Adjutant General, and former Corrections Secretary Tim Reisch was motivated to get in the race.  He will be running with intent.

District 9

Senate:

Mark Willadsen (R)
Brent Hoffman (R)
and maybe Rhonda Milstead (R)..?

House:

Bethany Soye (R)
Jesse Fonkert (R)

District 9 brings us another Senate Primary with House member Mark Willadsen running, former Iowa now South Dakota politico Brent Hoffman in the Senate race. And no one really knows what Rhonda Milstead is doing, but it’s expected she could be a third entrant into the contest. Right now incumbent House member Bethany Soye is being joined by Hartford development executive Jesse Fonkert in the House race. No primary there. Yet..

District 10

Senate:

Maggie Sutton (R)
Liz Larson (D)

House:

Erin Healy (D)
Kameron Nelson (D)
R’s yet to be determined

D10 will have one of the big Senate battles for the fall between Maggie Sutton and Liz Larson in what may prove to be a tough district for the GOP. Right now in the House, Incumbent Dem Erin Healy and newbie Dem Kameron Nelson are the only ones running as of today, but the GOP is not likely to give them a bye.

District 11

Senate:

Jim Stalzer (R)
Sheryl Johnson (D)

House: 

Chris Karr (R)
Brian Mulder (R)
Tyler Bonynge (R)
Roger Russell (R)

I’m guessing Sheryl Johnson will be easily dispatched by the GOP, again. No Dems in the House race, but an ever growing field, with House Appropriations Chair Chris Karr as the incumbent. I’d watch to see how big the donations are in this race get after the ending of this disastrous legislative session, where House Approps spent most of their time killing major economic development projects.

District 12

Senate:

Arch Beal (R)
Jessica Myers (D)

House: 

Cole Heisey (R)
Greg Jamison (R)
Gary BA Schuster (R)
Amber Arlint (R)
Kerry Loudenslager (R)
Erin Royer (D)

Arch Beal moves over to the Senate, and while there were rumors of a possible primary, they haven’t filed anything yet, so his race will be into the fall. Jessica Myers might try to give it a spirited run, but Arch Beal will swamp her with signs and advertising she can’t keep pace with.

And as for the House, who isn’t running?  Incumbent Greg Jamison is the early favorite, and I’d give the advantage to Amber Arlint, an insurance agent who comes from the “Stern Oil” Sterns.  Young Republican and 2020 D15 Candidate Cole Heisey may find himself challenged by his time spent helping the Proud Boys with their rally after the last election, as well as some statements he’s made regarding women.  Otherwise, the big chore for any challenger in this race will be to pull away from the pack.

District 13

Senate:

Jack Kolbeck (R)

House: 

Sue Peterson (R)
Richard Thomason (R)
Penny BayBridge (R)
Tony Venhuizen (R)

Here’s another case of boring Senate race (at the moment), and crazy House Primary.  Jack Kolbeck might be able to rest comfortably until he has to return to Pierre. For House members, Sue Peterson and Richard Thomason, they find themselves thrown into what might be the most competitive House primary in South Dakota as it is joined by Penny BayBridge, who nobody knows, except they say she wears a “Liberty” t-shirt up at session.

There’s also former Gubernatorial Chief of Staff, Regent, and attorney Tony Venhuizen. Tony brings a wealth of political experience to the race. And in terms of political and business connections, it doesn’t hurt when your father-in-law is former Governor Dennis Daugaard.

I can’t even fathom to pick the two who will come out of this. Except, probably not Penny.

District 14

Senate:

Larry Zikmund (R)
Matt Tysdal (D)

House: 

Taylor Rehfeldt (R)
Tyler Tordsen (R)
Gina Schiferl (R)
Wendy Jo Mamer (D)
Mike Huber (D)

Democrat Attorney Matt Tysdal is challenging Larry Zikmund, who should remain strong in the race. As for the House, another day, another primary.  Incumbent Taylor Rehfeldt and Tyler Tordsen are two extremely strong contenders. Newcomer Gina Schiferl is said to be a candidate coming from the Prairie Ripple group’s coterie of candidates. I just don’t see any scenario where it’s going to be anyone other than Taylor & Tyler emerging from the contest.  And the Democrats will be smoked like a kielbasa in the fall.

District 15

Senate:

Reynold Nesiba (D)
Dane Wagner (R)
Matt Rosburg (R)
Alan Spencer (R)

House: 

Linda Duba (D)
Kadyn Wittmann (D)
Joni Tschetter (R)

Here’s a crazy scenario. District 15, which has been Republican No man’s land for decades has a Senate Primary brewing. Dane Wagner, Matt Rosburg and Alan Spencer are said to be competing to run against Reynold Nesiba in the fall. Rosburg gave the House primary a run last year, so he has that experience under his belt. But Spencer has emerged as a strong business-connected candidate. A primary will be a good thing here for the Republican who emerges from the contest.

In the House, Republican Joni Tschetter has filed campaign committee paperwork in the last couple of days to run. If it’s the Joni I believe it is, she’s a nice lady. Also have word of a heavy hitter in the non-profit world running an an indy, but the name isn’t filed yet, so I’ll keep it to myself.  The GOP or the Indy could pick up one of the seats, diminishing Democrats by yet another seat.

And we will pause it here, and break up the text a bit, as I work on part two.

The citizens of Philip, South Dakota are on the record today on Fox News expressing their extreme dislike for the president and his policies that killed the Keystone XL pipeline:

“Biden and his administration ran on Build Back Better, and, that is, from where I’m standing, a load of crap,” West Central Electric Cooperative CEO Jeff Birkeland told Fox News. “I think his new slogan should be ‘butchering booming business.'”

Read it all here.

Now that the main run of session is over, except for the vetoes, the State House of Representatives has finally made a decision on whether or not grounds exist for impeachment of the South Dakota Attorney General.

Except that decision was to tell the Governor to quit picking on them.

However, House Speaker Spencer Gosch, the Glenham Republican who’s presided over the months-long process of vetting the attorney general’s conduct related to a fatal crash in September 2020, said no decision has yet been made by the committee about any such recommendations.

And..

And Gosch said Thursday a cease and desist order will be issued in the coming days in an attempt to compel the Noem administration to stop making public statements and press releases related to Boever’s death and the attorney general.

Read it here.

So the biggest decision they’ve made is to try to squelch the Governor’s freedom of speech to pressure them to figure out what they’re doing?

When I asked yesterday if we will “know if there is sufficient evidence to move forward with impeachment before the parties select candidates?” I thought I was being facetious.

Apparently it might not have been an entirely flippant question.

Secretary of State Steve Barnett was in Aberdeen today where he formally announced his Candidacy for reelection at today’s Brown County Republican, March Reagan lunch!

Barnett has been serving as South Dakota’s Secretary of State for the past 4 years, and had also served two terms as South Dakota State Auditor (2010 and 2014).

Steve is a graduate of Roncalli High School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Dakota. He later earned his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Sioux Falls. Steve has held positions within the South Dakota Republican Party, Wells Fargo, and United States Senator John Thune’s office.

REED SEEKS ELECTION TO DISTRICT 7 SENATE SEAT

Tim Reed announced today his intention to seek election to the South Dakota Senate in Legislative District 7.

Senator V.J. Smith has withdrawn his candidacy for the District 7 Senate seat. The District was well served by Senator Smith. Reed commented: “V.J. was a great legislative partner, he was proud of Brookings and advocated for the citizens of South Dakota every day, I will miss working with him.”

Reed stated: “It has been an honor to serve District 7 in the South Dakota House of Representatives. I want to continue advocating for the citizens of District 7 as a member of the State Senate. I will continue my work to positively affect policies for all citizens of South Dakota.”

Representative Reed is completing his third term in the House of Representatives. During those six years he has served on multiple standing committees including Judiciary, Taxation, Energy and Commerce, and Local Government.

Reed is a member of the Drug Court Advisory Council. He also serves on the Criminal Justice System Response to Mental Health Oversight Council for the Unified Judicial System. In 2019, he was appointed to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Legislative Advisory Committee. Over the past two years Tim has served as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment.

Reed represents South Dakota on the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board and is currently serving as the Vice President. The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board works with members of the business community, state legislatures, and tax administrators to simplify and modernize the sales and use tax systems throughout the country to help make the collection of remote taxes as simple and burden-free as possible, while at the same time protecting state sovereignty.

Read commented: “During the past six years in the legislature I’ve been able to effectively serve District 7 and South Dakota through pragmatic legislative activity and serving on governing boards, study committees, task forces, and advisory committees.”

Representative Reed was active with city and county government, South Dakota State University, economic development, mental healthcare, sex trafficking, and sexual assault victim assistance bills. He sponsored and successfully passed bills modifying courtroom practices to help child victims face their abuser, allowing school, city and county governing boards to go into executive session to discuss security plans, funding for a bio-products institute at the Research Park at SDSU, and publishing public notices on the internet.

Reed, a Republican, has served District 7 for six legislative sessions. Before serving in the legislature, he served in Brookings City Government for 13 years including three terms as Mayor. He is a graduate of SDSU with a degree in Commercial Economics. After graduation, Tim worked in Supply Chain Planning, Information Technology, and College Development. Tim currently serves as the CEO for the Brookings Economic Development Company.

-30-