Just a quick look at the new map, Sioux Falls is going to see a mild reconfiguration, with more districts, and a few clashes from the shuffling of the legislative deck.

District 2 – Belongs to Doug Barthel and Doug alone. He could potentially move up to an open Senate Seat, or sit comfortably in the House. 2 open seats for the claiming next November.

District 9 – Could be a problem for one person to move up as Wayne Steinhauer is in the Senate, and the Senate would be the only path forward for Mark Willadsen who is termed from House.  Bethany Soye and Rhonda Milstead would appear to be in the House together.

District 10 –Senator Maggie Sutton is in a District with House Democrat, Erin Healy. If Healy decides to jump up a chamber, here’s what could be a targeted District for the GOP for defense, as the Party makes sure it holds that seat. Otherwise, an open House seat is also available.

District 11 – Senator Jim Stalzer and Rep. Chris Karr are in this new District with an open seat.

District 12 – With Blake Curd termed out, fellow D12 resident Arch Beal is said to be running for the Senate, and State Rep. Greg Jamison is also in the House in this new District. There will be one currently unclaimed seat.

District 13 – Based on where they live, Rep’s Sue Peterson & Richard Thomason remain District-mates with Senator Jack Kolbeck.

District 14 – Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt is paired with an open House seat, with Sen. Larry Zikmund remaining in the Senate.

District 15 – No change. Democrat Rep’s Jamie Smith, Linda Duba and Sen. Reynold Nesiba would remain.

District 25 – Here’s one area where there could be a fight. Steve Haugaard is termed out of the House, and if he wants to remain (instead of trying to run for Governor) he would have to take on Marsha Symens for the State Senate.  There’s also the House – with currently a three-way contest between State Rep’s Randy Gross, Jon Hansen, and Tom Pischke for two legislative seats.

Did I miss anything?

As someone just texted me, “it only took 3 @#$%&!! Days.”

But after numerous attempts of members on both sides – primarily the House – to keep their existing Districts, Redistricting appears to be done after the House passed the Conference Committee Report, where people were still trying to keep a semblance of their current Districts.

Taffy Howard took some time for grandstanding, and tried to re-start all map-drawing negotiations, only to see that vote shot down on a vote of 39-29.

But when it came time for the main Conference Committee motion, which survived the hospitalization of one of the committee members, the end was inevitable.

And it has finally passed the House on a vote of 37-31.

Watch for maps and more coming your way once everything is signed, and the legislation is placed into law.

The “Sparrow” map currently being used for legislative redistricting negotiations is now out there and available for review:

This is definitely worth checking out, as this configuration seems to be the closest we’ve had to agreement between the House and the Senate.

I’ll dig into it further once (and if) we have approval, as once the lines are officially approved by both chambers is when the work begins.

Joe Kippley Announces Candidacy for Minnehaha County Commission

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Joe Kippley has filed to be a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Minnehaha County Commission. Kippley was born and raised in Brookings, SD. He has lived in Sioux Falls since 2016 and works at Sanford Health as an administrator within the Imagenetics program. Kippley is married to his wife, Amanda, and they have two children, Grace (3) and Rose (2).

Kippley’s campaign is pursuing one of three spots in the at-large Minnehaha County Republican Primary in June 2022. His campaign chair is former Minnehaha County Commissioner and former State Senator Tom Dempster. “Since Joe served as a legislative intern for the Republican Party in 2007, I have been impressed with his character, his work ethic, and his intelligence. I am happy he is answering the call to public service.” Dempster said.

Kippley’s campaign is focused on what a new generation of leadership can do to begin the work of Building for Tomorrow. This work requires a focus on key priorities such as:

• Building Community – Kippley believes that we must address the need for affordable housing, continue strong economic growth, and retain the character of our smaller communities as Minnehaha County uniquely provides the benefits of rural, suburban, and urban life in South Dakota.
• Building Trust – Through quality public service, Kippley believes we can restore faith in the key institutions that make our civic life so rich in our communities.
• Building Security – Kippley will make public safety and support for our law enforcement and judicial system a top priority.

“I look forward to the opportunity to meet and talk with many of my neighbors throughout the county. I am thankful for the support I have received thus far. It would be an honor to serve on the Minnehaha County Commission and help our county live up to its potential as we continue Building for Tomorrow,” Kippley said.

Please visit www.joekippley.com for more information.

During the Second Special Session of the week, there was an interesting vote from conservative corners of the State House against moving forward with the impeachment of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg:

HR 7001 – Establishing a select committee to investigate whether articles of impeachment should issue against Jason Ravnsborg, Attorney General of the State of South Dakota, and draft any resulting articles.

The question being “Shall HR 7001 pass as amended?”
And the roll being called:

Yeas 58, Nays 10, Excused 2, Absent 0

Yeas:

Anderson, Aylward, Bartels, Barthel, Beal, Blare, Bordeaux, Chaffee, Chase, Cwach, Davis, Dennert, Derby, Deutsch, Drury, Duba, Finck, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Lana Greenfield, Hansen, Healy, Hoffman, Jamison, Kevin Jensen, Chris Johnson, Keintz, Koth, Ladner, Lesmeister, May, Milstead, Miskimins, Mortenson, Mulally, Olson, Ernie Otten, Perry, Kent Peterson, Pischke, Randolph, Reed, Rehfeldt, Reimer, Schneider, Jamie Smith, St. John, Stevens, Thomason, Tidemann, Vasgaard, Weis, Weisgram, Wiese, Willadsen, Wink, York, and Speaker Gosch

Nays:

Gross, Haugaard, Howard, Phil Jensen, Karr, Marty, Mills, Odenbach, Overweg, and Soye

Excused:

Sue Peterson and Pourier

Read that here.

There were 10 “NAY” votes, mainly from strongly conservative quarters, with three of them Attorneys, and one outsider Congressional challenger in Taffy Howard.

What brought those Legislators to vote no on establishing a committee to review whether impeachment is warranted? A recent newspaper column from State Rep. Steve Haugaard in the Brandon Newspaper may shed some light on it:

What seems to be missing in all of this is any indication that there was any action on the part of the Attorney General that rises to the level of maliciousness, recklessness or even carelessness. That is why the ‘careless’ charge was dismissed in an effort to resolve the case. Anyone who has operated a motor vehicle knows that there are very brief moments when our eyes are not focused on the road ahead or something suddenly comes at us from the side, and that is apparently what happened that tragic night. If that happened to anyone else it would be found as tragic and the matter would be at an end.

Certainly, we should hold our elected leaders to a higher standard, but should one be forced to resign based upon an absolute accident? No one can seriously believe that the Attorney General sought to cause a death, or now, based upon the evidence, that the Attorney General was ‘reckless’ or even ‘careless?’ After an exhaustive review of the actual evidence, the State’s Attorney could not find ‘reckless’ behavior and willingly dismissed the ‘careless’ charge apparently due to the fact that the evidence would not ultimately be found sufficient.

When anyone reviews the work of AG Ravnsborg since his election, and especially since last September, it will be apparent that he has done an excellent job overseeing the Attorney General’s office and that he has continued to do his job, serve the state, accomplish victories for the State and developed relationships with the tribes that create a pathway for ongoing success.

Read the entire column here.

Rep. Haugaard seems to tip his hand in the article, and gives the impression that he will be one of the chief forces arguing against impeachment of the Attorney General.

With popular opinion for impeachment inflamed by media coverage versus the minimal traffic violations the AG pled ‘No Contest’ to, it is interesting to see the degree of pushback on impeachment as well as where it’s originating from.

It was paused after House Republican Leader Kent Peterson had a medical incident and was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. House Speaker believes Peterson will be back in the morning.

— Austin Goss (@AustinGossSD) November 10, 2021

Please keep the majority leader in your prayers tonight. Kent is a good guy.

While I’m not finding it online, Joe Sneve of the Argus seems to have gotten ahold of a copy of the latest redistricting map..

Here’s the new compromise map that will be considered tonight. House republicans will caucus in about an hour before any formal action can be taken. pic.twitter.com/yVbCUTJGHx

— Joe Sneve (@Argus_Joe) November 9, 2021

Reporters present in Pierre are noting that a deal may be struck which would means they would complete redistricting today, and not send it to the State Supreme Court.

I’m being told that a contingent of senators and representatives from northeast SD are working on a compromise redistricting map behind the scenes and are nearing agreement. Those negotiations are why House State Affairs hasn’t yet reconvened yet.

— Joe Sneve (@Argus_Joe) November 9, 2021

State lawmakers from northeastern SD are close to a deal that would push redistricting across the finish line. Would split Brown County into three districts.

— Austin Goss (@AustinGossSD) November 9, 2021

Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Maybe Republicans can get along with each other.

South Dakotans Decide Healthcare Filed to Put Medicaid Expansion to South Dakota Voters

South Dakotans Decide Healthcare, a broad coalition of patient advocates, nurses, healthcare providers, farmers, faith leaders,  educators and more, filed paperwork with the Secretary of State yesterday morning to place Medicaid Expansion on the November 2022 ballot and let the voters of South Dakota decide the issue.

Following the filing there was a conference call with supporters which can be viewed here. Medicaid Expansion supporters discussed how expansion will benefit South Dakota and benefit South Dakotans.