There’s a candidate for governor who has some explaining to do.

No, not the Democrat candidate for Governor. They don’t have one.  Independent Candidate for Governor Lora Hubbel. Because she seems to have omitted a lot of information from her campaign finance report:

Lora Hubbel Campaign Finance Disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

Not surprisingly, Hubbel reported raising a whopping $55 in her race. She should never be elected to anything, so being unable to raise a tank of gas is not a stretch. But then there’s the rest of it. Hubbel claims she donated $1000 to her campaign out of her own pocket. And then has this expenditure..

What’s the story with this?  Well, according to the FCC’s federal file..

Lora Hubbel for Governor Advertising Agreement Sept 7 2021 20210907 155025224 PDF by Pat Powers on Scribd

Lora Hubbel for Governor Advertising Agreement 11-22-11 28 Nov 16 2021 20211116 192232905 PDF by Pat Powers on Scribd

Lora signed agreements for radio advertising in September and November on behalf of Lora for Governor. And according to the same file, it was cash up front for her first ad, totaling $580 on 9/7.

Kelo Am Lora Hubbel for Governor Invoice 498375 1 20210913 161140985 PDF by Pat Powers on Scribd

And she pre-paid $1000 on November 16..

kelo-am-lora-hubbel-for-gov… by Pat Powers

Aside from the fact that Lora skipped over reporting her September advertising buy completely, there’s that portion of the campaign finance report that she seems to have ignored right over the part where she reported spending $1000:

SDCL 12-27-1 (11) – “Independent communication expenditure,” an expenditure, including the payment of money or exchange of other valuable consideration or promise, made by a person, entity, or political committee for a communication concerning a candidate or a ballot question which is not made to, controlled by, coordinated with, requested by, or made upon consultation with that candidate, political committee, or agent of a candidate or political committee.

They even underlined “which is not” on the form right above the part where she reported spending the money. Despite the fact that Lora requested the advertising on behalf of the committee, and signed the form herself.

I hate to break it to Lora, but an independent communication expenditure is not an expenditure by an independent candidate.

When a candidate running for the same office for the third time is challenged by just following the instructions in front of her nose, this might be a good sign that at this point she should probably just hang it up.

A couple of new filings are out there since last report.

Ben Krohmer from Mitchell has filed a Statement of Organization for a committee with the intention of running for District 20 House. As far as I can tell, he’s affiliated with Krohmer plumbing.  Word is there’s at least one open seat for that Mitchell District, so this could grow into a larger race.

And Representative Dean Wink has filed petitions today to run for District 29 State Senate, seeking the seat being vacated by Gary Cammack who is termed out of office.

Stand by for updates..

And this evening, it looks like we picked up another candidate, and another Primary. Lawrence County Commissioner Randy Deibert has fied for District 31 Senate, setting up a primary between he and previously announced Ron Moeller for the Senate seat being vacated by Tim Johns.

If you’re a new candidate, and you missed the event in Sioux Falls, here’s another chance to learn some of the basics of campaigning on February 12th in Deadwood:

Gov. Noem Makes Statement on Ravnsborg Investigative File

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement in response to multiple news agencies requesting that she release the investigative file into the fatal crash involving Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and the late Mr. Joseph Boever.

“I have seen the entire investigative file, and the public deserves to see it so that they can learn the truth of what happened. The House has the sole constitutional power of impeachment, and they have the responsibility to see this process through in a timely manner.

“Here, you will find the letter that my Secretary of Public Safety sent to House Speaker Spencer Gosch in September, handing the file over to him. The House impeachment resolution states that ‘all members of the House of Representatives shall have nonpublic access to all information gathered by the select committee.’”

###

Add another primary to the list. And it’s an important one. Because as of this afternoon, for the 5th(?) 6th(?) election in a row, I have once again been primaried for my precinct committeeman job.

I thought for a moment I was going to get off easy, but, apparently not. Probably need to dust off the old materials..

Now if I can only find a place for my 4×8.

Update..

I found the figures for the last few elections. It looks like I’ve got some work to do if I want to move some numbers.

Election Year
	Powers		Pesall
2020	220	64%	125	36%
2018	219	67%	109	33%
2016	163	64%	90	36%
2014	141	61%	91	39%
2012	48	61%	31	39%
2010	160	57%	122	43%
	AVG	62%		38%

I picked up a vote.. but my overall percentage is down.

After a high point in 2018, it looks like I’m slipping a bit to my 2016 vote totals. It must have been COVID keeping my voters home. (I wonder if they can do facebook geofencing down to a precinct level?)

State Secures New Plane, Reverts Savings to General Fund

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that the state has taken possession of a 2015 King Air 350 after an extensive, nationwide search. Combined with the sale of two state-owned planes in 2021, the deal saved the State of South Dakota $3.31 million compared to what had been budgeted. The savings will be reverted to the State General Fund.

“It’s our duty to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, so my goal from the beginning was to purchase the best plane for the state’s needs at the most affordable cost. We achieved that,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “This plane is newer, safer, and will save the taxpayers money in the long run in maintenance costs.”

In 2021, the legislature appropriated $5 million, plus the proceeds from the sales of the King Air 200 and one King Air 90, for the purchase of a new plane. The State retained the services of aircraft broker Verity Jet for $195,000. The net proceeds from the two planes were as follows:

• King Air 200: $1.81 million (appraised for $1.73 million)
• King Air 90: $1.24 million (appraised for $1.12 million)

Despite having nearly $8 million available for the purchase of a new plane, the Department of Transportation secured a much newer King Air 350, including all upgrades for just $4.7 million, and the state took possession of that plane last week.

Additionally, purchasing a newer plane saved the state at least $1.5 million in pending maintenance costs on the two planes that have been sold.

A photo of the King Air 350 can be found here.

###

A few weeks back I had pointed out that former Secretary of State employee Monae Johnson had filed paperwork to start a committee to run against current Secretary of State Steve Barnett.

Not much information was out there at the time, but in the past week or so, a placeholder image has been put up on a website which speaks volumes about her campaign platform:

At least from the image, it appears that Johnson is running on the issue of “election integrity.”  Which is an issue we’ve heard much about in the last year. The bigger question is how this challenger for the office will be defining it?

Will it take on a benign form, such as voter ID?  Or will we be going full pillow guy goofy, as some candidates are?

I guess we’ll find out.

From the Noem for Governor campaign (you know, the one that actually sends out press releases and informational items):

Dear Fellow American,

BIG News!

Governor Noem received Safari Club International’s “Courage Under Fire” Award at their 50th Annual Convention on January 20th in Las Vegas.

Governor Noem, the number one defender of the 2nd Amendment in the country, is recognized as a leader in promoting hunting, public access and conservation. “Less COVID, More Hunting” is her famed slogan as she leads our state in conservation heritage and against government overreach.

In her State of the State address, Governor Noem proposed the elimination of all fees for concealed carry permits. South Dakota will also pay the cost for the federal background check. Under her proposal it won’t cost a penny to exercise 2nd Amendment rights in South Dakota.

In announcing the award, Safari International CEO W. Laird Hamberlin said, “No Governor has fought more to protect our hunting traditions, and we cannot wait to recognize Governor Noem as we celebrate SCI’s 50 Years Of Freedom.”

Congratulations Governor Noem!

READ THE FULL RELEASE HERE:

 

Just over 60 days out, March 29th is a big day coming up in the South Dakota political world. This is the deadline under which partisan political candidates are operating to turn in petitions for office. It’s a scramble that’s begun in pursuit of the highest offices in the state where many are collecting petition signatures.

But for two of the highest offices, Congress and Governor, there is nothing but an endless void. Democrats have yet to announce a candidate, and they are literally running out of time for their people to collect the nearly 1800 signatures needed to place their person on the ballot:

Signature Requirements for Statewide Offices on Petitions Filed for the 2022 Election

U.S. SENATOR, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE & GOVERNOR
Republican: 1,730 signatures (1% of the vote for the 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate – 172,912)
Democrat: 1,615 signatures (1% of the vote for the 2018 democratic gubernatorial candidate – 161,454)
Libertarian: 50 signatures
Independent: 3,393 signatures (1% of the total vote for governor in 2018 – 339,214)
New Political Party: 250

Read that here.

As the calendar pages turn, lacking a person willing to run for office on the Democrat ticket, it makes it far more challenging to organize volunteers to get out to collect signatures.

Remember last election when they had two congressional hopefuls? They had willing and running candidates much earlier in the process, and they still lacked the ability to collect the signatures to get on the ballot. Now with the time to collect 1/3 of the way gone, even if they can find someone, it’s just that much more challenging to get the job done.

This means that Congressman Dusty Johnson could get a historic second bye in the race for Congress, once he handily disposes of Taffy Howard in the primary.  And even more shockingly, Democrats seem currently on track to give Republican Governor Kristi Noem an unobstructed path to a second term as Governor, once she bypasses the Haugaard for Governor primary campaign.

If Democrats did not have former Independent Brian Bengs switch parties to run as a Democrat, they would likely be including US Senate in the number of top of the ticket races they’re seemingly abandoning for lack of a candidate.

The clock is ticking. And for Democrats, time is nearly up.

A few new candidates popped up this last week, and I’m sure we’re going to be adding a number more in the morning. But, until we see those filings..

In District 2, Republican Jeff Shawd entered the ever-growing primary for State House, bringing that number up to 4 running for 2 seats. Nice guy, VP of Mid States Audio. Former association with Oath Keepers (which ended in 2016) might be troublesome. He’s currently associated with the Prairie Patriots group.

In District 7, Republican Mellissa Heermann announced she is running for District 7 House, bringing that race up to 3 people (Rep. Tim Reed & Matt Doyle) Heerman is coming off of the School Board to run, and she’s been the mayor of Estelline, so she’s not unfamiliar to campaigning.

In District 14, Republican Gina Schiferl filed a statement of organization to run against Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt and Senator Mike Rounds staffer Tyler Tordsen. I don’t think this will end well for Schiferl, but it’s a free country.

In District 17, Republican Chris Kassin filed a statement of organization to run for the open House seat. He and previously announced Bill Shorma will be the people to beat in this race. Kassin is VP for External Relations at the USD Foundation, and a former Assistant Coach for men’s basketball for USD.

In District 29, Senator Gary Cammack filed petitions for the House, after term limits took him out of the Senate.

In District 30, Pat Baumann filed a statement of organization, and announced he’s a candidate for a growing District 30 House field with Trish Ladner, Lisa Gennaro, Dennis Krull, and whoever else might be running for the two House seats in that District.

Have I missed anyone since last Monday?

Stay tuned for more, because it’s already crazy with primary elections.