Hearing early rumors that the House of Representatives took a hard right turn at today’s caucus elections, with Jon Hansen as Speaker, Karla Lems as Speaker Pro Tem, Scott Odenbach as Majority Leader, and Marty Overweg as Assistant Majority Leader.

I’m waiting for more info as it comes out. It sounds as if there was a “caucus before the caucus” to influence how some GOP House members should vote.

At the very least, this next session will provide those who cover politics in South Dakota plenty to write about.

(7pm.. they’re just starting to vote on whips).

Hearing that whips are Soye, Jamison, Les Heinemann and Jessica Bahmuller. And Brandei Schefbauer picked up the last spot.

And there you go.

Meade County Republican Ezra Hayes, who ran the “No on H” campaign sent out a text blast a short time ago announcing his intention to run for Chair of the South Dakota Republican Party:

The ballot measure group he led raised around $71,500 from individuals, but $50,000 of that came from a single source, James Koehler of Aberdeen, along with nearly another 10k coming from his vice chair, Juliann Perrigo Talkington. So, in reality, except for those two people, over the course of 4 months, he raised about $12K from individuals.

Vote_No_OnH by Pat Powers on Scribd

Even though the measure was the sole ballot measure officially opposed by the Republican Party, only 8 County Republican organizations supported the effort monetarily.

Of particular interest to the rank and file of the GOP was that Hays had the support of former Minnehaha County GOP Chair/former NDGOP Exec. Director Dave Roetman, who had donated to No on H both personally and from his Ripple Effect PAC.

I had heard from early on rumors to the effect that Ezra had Roetman involved behind the scenes in the No on H campaign. Which might mean that Hays could bring Roetman in to fill the SDGOP’s Executive Director role if he were to win the chairmanship of the party in early 2025.

I’m sure that will all go well. 

Keep watching the sky for jet contrails.. I’m sure we’ll have lots more to talk about in the coming days and weeks.

Yesterday, one of South Dakota’s attorneys were noting the situation they observed over at the Minnehaha County Auditor’s office, regarding Leah Anderson’s mess and offered some gentle comments about it.

Of course, the election wackos challenged it, because Leah Anderson is their girl, and they made the mistake of asking South Dakota lobbyist Drew Duncan what he knows about elections?

As anyone who has been in politics more than 45 minutes is aware, this former member of the South Dakota State Board of Elections actually knows quite a bit:

I’m guessing it didn’t go for SD Canvassing the way they thought it would..

Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on a great victory on Election Night. The American people have spoken, choosing a path that puts America first, President Donald Trump in the White House, and Republicans in control of the United…

— Mike Rounds (@RoundsforSenate) November 6, 2024

Thank you to the voters of Lawrence County for voting for me. Thank you for putting your trust in me, I won’t let you down. pic.twitter.com/qM7DrKPkEN

— Representative Mary Fitzgerald District 31 House (@mjfitzyy) November 6, 2024

Johnson Congratulates President Trump

 Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) released the following statement:

“Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his return to the White House. I’m excited for an opportunity to secure the border, grow our economy, and improve the lives of South Dakotans. It’s time to leave behind the burdensome policies of the Biden Administration. I look forward to partnering with Trump and Congress to get America back on track. Let’s get to work.”

Congratulations @realDonaldTrump on your return to the White House. I look forward to working with you to deliver wins for the American people. pic.twitter.com/vdIzJSXqjm

— Rep. Dusty Johnson (@RepDustyJohnson) November 6, 2024

The Dakotas are happy to celebrate the 47th President of United States, Donald J. Trump! @DougBurgum pic.twitter.com/G1V69WitIM

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) November 6, 2024

There’s massive speculation this morning what Governor Kristi Noem is going to do with President Trump once again becoming President-elect Trump, since she has been a close associate of his.

Will Kristi go to Washington with the new administration?  And if so, with the likable Lt Governor Larry Rhoden slated to move into that position if she departs, it brings up a question of “who would he pick to serve in his position as his own Lt. Governor and preside over the State Senate?”

Anyone care to offer a suggestion?

*Update* 

Here’s the provision that would be used – and that new Lt. Gov would be voted on by BOTH houses of the Legislature.

 § 6.   Succession of executive power. When the office of Governor shall become vacant through death, resignation, failure to qualify, conviction after impeachment or permanent disability of the Governor, the lieutenant governor shall succeed to the office and powers of the Governor. When the Governor is unable to serve by reason of continuous absence from the state, or other temporary disability, the executive power shall devolve upon the lieutenant governor for the residue of the term or until the disability is removed.

It’s embarrassing that the State of Florida has 98% of its vote counted and we have practically nothing from Minnehaha County. We need to fix this.

— Tony Venhuizen (@Tony_Venhuizen) November 6, 2024

Dusty Johnson Secures Landslide Victory!

Sioux Falls, S.D. – Tonight, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) secured a fourth term for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“South Dakotans recognize I work hard and get things done,” said Johnson. “I’m proud of the accomplishments we’ve had the past six years, but we can’t take our foot off the gas. We must continue to work on strengthening our border, getting our nation’s fiscal house in order, and standing up to China. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and take this workhorse mentality back to Washington.”

During his time in Congress, Johnson has:

• Voted 90 times for strong border security policies.

• Received an A+ rating from the NRA and has a 100% score from the National Right to Life.

• Championed 19 bills that have been signed into law.

• Voted against more than $13 trillion in wasteful spending since 2021.

• Been named the most effective House Republican on agriculture issues and was named the 14th most effective lawmaker overall out of 222 House Republicans.

• Received the Congressional Management Foundation’s Democracy Award for Transparency and Accountability (2021) and Outstanding Constituent Service (2023).

###

In looking at last night’s elections, we can only make it a partial review, because Minnehaha County Leah Anderson is still fumbling around, and we don’t know finals in that county yet.  But looking at what we do know, we can draw some conclusions.

•  A Red Wave swept across South Dakota, only tempered by purple urban firewalls. 

  The Good News? There was a red wave that swept across the state that was not going to be stopped, even by Republican Party disunity. In District 1, Republicans took both House seats in a tough race. Deep in Native American Country, Republican Tamara Grove knocked out Shawn Bordeaux in a race that has traditionally been impossible for many Republicans, In D27, Anthony Kathol with his awful campaign came within a stone’s throw of taking out incumbent Red Dawn Foster (w/in 300 votes), and Hillary Clinton Donor Liz May also squeaked out a win in the House. The GOP swept several seats that many saw as challenging or might have viewed as impossible. And in a move that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, the Democrat Party Machine seems to have retreated from the reservation making those seats now achievable by Republicans.

  The Bad News? While the State Democrat Party seems to have retreated, urban Democrats seem to be consolidating their grip. In Sioux Falls, Democrats completely swept Districts 10 (* this is fluid at moment, as results come in) and 15 – with 15 having stronger numbers than last election as those results are coming in. And we’re still holding our breath that Republicans can keep our numbers as we watch the Minnehaha numbers still come in for D14 Senate.  And for the first time in nearly 20 years a Democrat has captured a Rapid City Legislative seat in District 32, as Nicole Uhre-Balk, niece to former Republican Lt. Governor Carole Hillard, picked up a seat in the House.  This should not be lost on the Republican hierarchy. There’s trouble brewing in our cities, and it starts with “D.” Leaving cities to foppish Republican organizations who care for little else but their own fiefdom, and not candidates is going to cost you dearly at some point. Because those cities are purpling up.

 

• Republicans should quit flirting with independent candidates. It never works out, and just tarnishes reputations.

  For some reason, certain members of  the hard-core right floated indy candidates against Republican nominees  because they didn’t believe someone to be of sufficiently pure ideology.  They did it in 2020 with weird Brian Gentry running in D35. And they tried it again times two with Shana McVickers in D31 and Karen McNeal in D32 this year.  Guess what?  They both got completely smashed.  McVickers was curb-stomped by more than 2-1, despite local maladjusted Republicans promoting her against GOP Vice Chair Mary Fitzgerald.  The one that might sting harder was Karen McNeal showing that no one likes a Karen, as Helene Duhamel took her to school and crushed her on a 60-40 basis, defeating her by more than 1700 votes, despite certain Republicans propping up her effort.  With Scott Odenbach’s Liberty Tree PAC tying for being McNeal’s single largest donor, it may end up being more of a dent in his effort to become the next House Majority Leader.

 

• Who took the biggest hit this election? Rick Weiland.

  Are Rick Weiland’s ballot measure days drawing to a close? Because he took a beating last night.   His poorly written Amendment G to put abortion in the constitution is sitting down 40% to the 60% against it, after he was unable to get NARAL or Planned Parenthood to support it.   His poorly written measure against the food tax that would have bankrupted cities was defeated by an even bigger margin. 70%-30%.  Not sure who is going to hire Rick to run their ballot measures in the coming few years, but they should check out his track record before they start writing checks.

 

We still have a number of results hanging out there and dribbling in slowly, courtesy of Minnehaha County’s auditor Leah Anderson.  I had started to pull numbers, but I saw Bobbi Andera pull ahead in D10. So, we’ll revisit them when we know more. Maybe tomorrow.