From Dakota News Now, comes a story on how the South Dakota Democrat Party is “rebuilding:”

Despite financial issues and more lost legislative candidates, the South Dakota Democratic Party is looking for improvements next year.

Seiler tells Dakota Radio Group the organization has solved most of its financial problems, and that they have a blueprint to rebuild the party.

Read that all here.

Hmm. That’s odd. I have this strange sense of deja vu.

I can’t help but think I’ve heard about this South Dakota Democrat Party rebuilding concept somewhere before. From WNAX at the end of 2019:

The South Dakota Democratic Party is rebuilding and pointing toward next year’s election.

Party Chairman Randy Seiler says they plan to build from the county level up….

Seiler says they will focus on legislative races next fall…

Read and listen to the entire story from a year ago here.

If South Dakota Democrat’s new 2021 ‘rebuilding’ plans are anything like their prior ‘rebuilding’ plans where they were going to “focus on legislative races” and ended up experiencing historic losses – I can’t wait!

One of Governor Kristi Noem’s themes for South Dakota has been that we’re open for business. And we’ve seen that evidenced by at least two groups that would have normally gone elsewhere coming to South Dakota for their events.

Due to our more liberal neighbor to the east being closed for many gatherings, the Minnesota Republican Party recently announced that they’re coming to Deadwood for their annual Winter retreat:

NEW: Rather than host its event in Minnesota and deal w/ any COVID-19 restrictions, the @mngop is heading to South Dakota for its winter retreat: “MN GOP is excited to hit the road and head to our friendly neighbors to the west in a beautiful, free and open part of the country.” pic.twitter.com/y9DLYgLFFU

— Ricardo Lopez (@rljourno) December 14, 2020

The Minnesota Republican Party has decided to hold its annual winter retreat in Deadwood, South Dakota.

On its invitation to members, party officials say they’re excited to hit the road and head to our “friendly neighbors to the west in a beautiful, free and open part of the country.”

and..

On her Twitter page back in October, Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan said, “There’s a reason (South Dakota Governor) Kristi Noem is loved by many.

She’s authentic, genuine, kind, caring, smart, and an exceptional Gov. I learned a lot from her over the past two days. Our state should aspire for better leadership & Governor Tim Walz would be wise to learn from peers like her!”

Read the entire story here.

The retreat is not going to be the only action the Black Hills is luring away from out of state. After moving from their previously announced venue of Las Vegas, FreedomFest 2021 will be held at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City from July 21-24:

The Ultimate Summit for the Liberty Movement

FreedomFest is an intense three and a half days, and it’s different from any conference you have ever attended. Where else can you attend yoga in the morning, listen to world-renowned speakers on finance or geo-politics after breakfast, choose from among a dozen breakout sessions with the world’s brightest thought leaders in the afternoon, watch a movie (and meet the director) throughout the day, judge the contestants in an entrepreneurs’ Pitch Tank, and end the day with karaoke? Plus, this year, you can choose to join a number of official excursions to world-famous destinations of Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Deadwood with other FreedomFesters.

Read about it here.

Announced Speakers include Columnist Cal Thomas, Media Personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, and South Dakota’s own Governor Kristi Noem.

By all appearances, South Dakota’s openness has been a boon for the tourism industry, and will deliver further benefits for months to come.