Ben Kyte Seeks Election to Minnehaha County Auditor

Sioux Falls, SD – Ben Kyte, currently serving as Minnehaha County Auditor, announces his plans to seek election to the office in 2022. When Auditor Bob Litz announced his plans to retire in 2020, Kyte was unanimously selected by the Minnehaha County Commission to serve the remainder of the Litz’s term. Now, Kyte will seek election to a full term.

“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to serve the county. My experience in the financial industry has been valuable in guiding the office during the change in tenure and in modernizing the systems and procedures to create more efficiency,” said Kyte.

Kyte is a veteran of the financial management industry, having worked at Citibank for 37 years, overseeing finance and analytical processes for the large institution.

Kyte has been an active member of the community and is a member of the City of Sioux Falls Investment Advisory Board, City of Sioux Falls Employee Retirement System Board of Trustees, board member of Active Generations, and the First Lutheran Church Foundation. Kyte has also served on the boards of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, South Dakota DevelopmentCorporation, Downtown Economic Development Incentive Fund, University of South Dakota Foundation, and Investment Committee. Kyte has also served as a volunteer tax preparer with Tax-Aide, an AARP-supported organization, for 10+ years and is a 1999 graduate of Leadership Sioux Falls.

Kyte and his wife, Chris, have lived in Sioux Falls for 38 years and enjoy spending time with their two children and five grandchildren.

More information about Kyte is available on the website: votebenkyte.com or on the campaign’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BenKyteAuditor

Here’s an interesting letter to the editor that’s in the Rapid City Journal today. The source is a bit off the wall, but Janet is throwing out a few tidbits showing that the fringe is freaking out about a couple of possible challenges:

Jason for South Dakota, the Campaign Committee for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has filed their campaign finance report this afternoon:

Ravnsborg Campaign Finance Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

The committee reports that in 2021, Ravnsborg stepped back from campaigning, and only raised $1025, spending $14,998, yet still leaving him with $54,844 cash on hand to campaign in 2022.

*Insert spit take here*

I about fell out of my chair this afternoon. After 44 days of seemingly being frozen in place, it appears that the Steve Haugaard for Governor campaign actually did something that could be construed to be campaign activity.

In the Argus yesterday, Governor Noem took a hard shot at Haugaard for “misogyny for delaying anti-transgender sports bill,” and…

The Noem campaign specifically noted allegations levied against Haugaard during his time as House Speaker, including an instance when he attempted to restrict access to the House floor by a lobbyist who’d publicly disparaged House conservatives. Desilets statement also brought attention to media reports in 2019 that alleged Haugaard attempted to impose a dress code for female legislators.

Haugaard, however, vehemently denies the latter ever happened.

Read that here.

And in further response to the allegations, Team Haugaard woke from a month and a half of their apparent hibernation, and issued a press statement:

Steve Haugaard responds to the attack against his character that was issued today from Kristi Noem’s campaign team.

“There she goes again. Our gaslighter-in-chief, in a fit of textbook projection, is accusing me of holding up the girls’ sports bill currently being debated in the state legislature,” Haugaard said. “The truth is, as everyone knows, that she is the one who vetoed a better bill than this last year. She’s the one who left our daughters unprotected for the past year.”

“Last April, Tucker Carlson effectively ended Kristi Noem’s presidential aspirations when he called attention to the fact that she was not being truthful about the fact that she vetoed a bill that would have protected girls’ sports in South Dakota. She knows she made a huge mistake with that veto, when she caved to her corporate donors, siding with them against the people who voted for her. She’s desperate to fix that mistake.”

“Governor Noem has a history of having trouble telling the truth. In accusing me of having an ‘anti-women agenda,’ and blocking this bill, she is projecting, deflecting, and ultimately, lying. Moreover, she’s using the same tired rhetoric that Hillary Clinton used to smear Donald Trump.”

“We in the legislature are trying to make sure a good bill gets passed, just like it got passed last year. Hopefully, this time, she’ll actually sign it.”

Steve Haugaard is the state representative for House District 10 and former Speaker of the House. He is running to replace Kristi Noem as governor of the great state of South Dakota. More about Steve can be found at his website, www.stevehaugaard.com.

The Haugaard campaign posted the statement, trying to deflect impressions that some have regarding Haugaard’s tenure as speaker. Such as the time he went after Municipal League Lobbyist Yvonne Taylor, and the other time when it’s said he was requiring women to have sleeves, nylons, and skirts of a certain length.

Is this the start of regular campaign activity on the part of the Haugaard campaign? Will the campaign be emerging from its burrow on this day? Or will it go back into hibernation for 6 more weeks because it saw its shadow?

Stay tuned.

Republican Patrick Baumann to run for District 30 House of Representatives

Our State Motto, “Under God, the people rule”, is the foundation of our South Dakota heritage.  With that in mind, my wife and I traveled to Washington DC to pray for our nation on January 6, 2021.  We witnessed something that the major networks refuse to cover, a great awakening.  Standing shoulder to shoulder with an estimated million other concerned Americans, we joined in a resolve to take a stand for truth and freedom.  Today, this great awakening is spreading across our nation like a bright light for all to see.  Millions are now pushing back at the darkness that is creeping into our government.

Hello, I’m Pat Baumann and I’m honored to announce my Republican candidacy for the South Dakota House of Representatives, District 30.

I am not a career politician but, a Christian patriot who has been called to stand up for the freedoms guaranteed by our state and national constitutions.  South Dakotans have found themselves in a political climate that is chipping away at their personal, business and family rights.  We are seeing attempts by government to stop worship, restrict speech and limit assembly.  Unconstitutional laws are being proposed which would take over our state election processes, tell parents how to raise their children and determine which businesses should stand or fall.  I have been called to push back at any attempts of government overreach and to protect the rights of all South Dakotans, especially the unborn.

South Dakota is one of the leading states in our nation.  However, we must not be lulled into a false sense of security.  My wife, Ginger, and I have enjoyed the blessing of freedom all of our lives.  We stand firm to pass this blessing on to our wonderful family, our children, our grandchildren and beyond.  As Ronald Reagan so aptly put it, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they, in their lifetime, must do the same.”

I’m a retired, third generation Custer County resident.  After spending all of my life living in South Dakota and Wyoming, I’ve come to hold our South Dakota heritage and our values very dear.  I pledge to District 30, and to all South Dakotans, to actively carry the bright light of freedom into our state legislature and to uphold our constitution.  I also pledge to act in the best interest of South Dakotans, who are “the people” that rule our great state, under God.

Please feel free to contact me at baumannsdhouse@gmail.com or visit baumannsdhouse.org

Financial support is much appreciated:  Visit winred.com – then click State House, South Dakota, Baumann for SD House.

Campaign finance forms are in for the Ripple Effect group that formed this last year to recruit candidates and was said to be trying to take over the GOP.  And God help us if they ever end up in charge, because unfortunately for them, they don’t seem to be ending 2021 very strongly:

Ripple Effect Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

The group which has been attempting to recruit candidates raised a little from it’s founders Adam Broin and Dave Roetman. But after their anti-vax rally in Pierre during the special session, they find themselves coming into 2022 with about $600 in their pocket ($606.44 to be exact).

Not exactly the stuff of a political revolution.

Historic fundraising: Governor Noem announces over $11.8 million raised cycle-to-date heading into her re-election year

Governor Noem reported $8.5 million raised across all committees in the most recent reporting period

PRESS RELEASE
JANUARY 28, 2022

Pierre, SD – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that her campaign raised over $11.8 million cycle-to-date across all committees. This total includes over $8.5 million raised across all committees in the 2021 Year-End Reports. Governor Noem has over $7.3 million cash on hand across all committees.

The total amount raised and cash on hand is the largest ever by any South Dakota gubernatorial candidate, incumbent or challenger, heading into an election year.

“I’m humbled and grateful by the support that Lt. Governor Rhoden and I have gotten for our re-election campaign. We’ll continue to work hard for the people of South Dakota and campaign hard over the next ten months to earn their trust for another four years,” Governor Noem said.

The year-end filings from the competing candidates for the office of School & Lands show not entirely dissimilar fundraising results from both candidates. Both put in seed money in the form of personal loans, raised a little, and had front end expenses for their campaigns.

Here are the filings for your own review. First Greenfield:

Greenfield Campaign Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

Brock started with $11,526.41, and added $3,200.00, plus a $3,000 loan, and a $500 contribution.  He spent $8,182.55, and ended with $10,047.41

and Youngberg:

Jordan Youngberg Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

Jordan didn’t transfer any cash from his Senate account yet (sitting on $2,500 last I looked), raised $1,600 ($1,000 from himself) and loaned himself $6,358.73. Against that, he spent $6,358.73, leaving himself a balance of $1,600.

In these races, these aren’t huge amounts of money they’re dealing with, and neither has raised enough to be considered dominant, so I’m not sure how much difference it makes on the campaign trail, as their largest expenses are going to be gasoline until we get past knowing who the convention delegates are.

Marty Jackley seems pretty serious about wanting his former job back. Because he’s done a pretty good job of raising money over the course of the last year.

Marty Jackley for AG 2021 Filing by Pat Powers on Scribd

In a filing made yesterday/this morning, the Marty Jackley for Attorney General campaign reports that they raised $272,055.00, with $20,492.00 of expenses/contributions.

Lots of interesting people on the list, including former Attorneys General Mark Barnett & Larry Long, legislators including Arch Beal, Gary Cammack, and Mike Weisgram, and Sioux Falls City Councilors Greg Neitzert, Christine Erickson and Mayor Paul Ten Haken.  Also donating to the Jackley campaign are two former first ladies, Pat Miller and Mary Dean Janklow.