The State Chamber of Commerce had their annual meeting today, and a reader in attendance was kind enough for forward me a snapshots of the big political contests in their unscientific plebiscite among attendees.

No specific information as to how many were in attendance, but Dusty Johnson won the congressional contest, and Marty Jackley won the Gubernatorial poll among those voting.

And the campaign rolls on!

UPDATE: My source did provide me a picture of the crowd:

Noem in Sioux Falls, Vermillion and Yankton Friday for Campaign Kickoff Tour

Sioux Falls, S.D. – Kristi Noem will be in Sioux Falls, Vermillion and Yankton on Friday, February 23, as part of her statewide campaign kickoff tour. During the tour, Noem will host events in rural Hamlin County, Pierre, Rapid City, Sturgis, Aberdeen, Sioux Falls, Yankton, Vermillion and Mitchell.

WHAT: Noem to Open Sioux Falls Campaign Headquarters
WHEN: Friday, February 21 at 9:45AM (CT)
WHERE: Sioux Falls Campaign Headquarters (3300 S. Holly Avenue, Sioux Falls)

WHAT: Noem to Meet with USD College Republicans
WHEN: Friday, February 23 – 12:00PM (CT)
WHERE: Muenster University Center (414 E. Clark Street, Vermillion)

WHAT: Noem to Hold Listening Session on Housing Challenges
WHEN: Friday, February 23 – 1:30PM (CT)
WHERE: Chamber of Commerce (116 Market Street, Vermillion)

WHAT: Noem to Hold Listening Session on Vocational Training
WHEN: Friday, February 23 – 3:30PM (CT)
WHERE: Kolberg Pioneer Trading Center (700 W 21st Street, Yankton)

Innovative Systems CEO Endorses Jackley for Governor in New Ad

MITCHELL, SD: Roger Musick, CEO of Innovative Systems in Davison County, has endorsed Marty Jackley for governor in a new ad following the launch of the attorney general’s Hometown South Dakota Initiative.

“Marty’s first degree is in engineering, and that experience has helped him connect with companies like ours which are focused on advancing South Dakota in the technological space,” Musick said. “His Hometown Initiative is just the latest example of his leadership. It’s been very well received by folks here in Mitchell, and I’m especially glad to see he emphasized the need to modernize broadband in South Dakota.”

For 20 years Musick has led a team of nearly 200 professionals who provide expertise in the areas of telecommunications, electrical engineering, embedded systems design, software engineering and marketing.

“To have the endorsement of a job creator, community leader and pioneer in the field of telecommunications is truly humbling,” Jackley said. “Business owners like Roger helped shape our Hometown Initiative, and we’re going to continue to hold economic roundtables across the state.”

Jackley’s first economic roundtable in Harrisburg included mayors, commissioners and business leaders, and one of the Hometown Initiative’s planks is a commitment to annual meetings with each of these groups to discuss economic issues.

“The people of South Dakota don’t want platitudes in this campaign,” Jackley said. “They want policy, substance and fresh ideas, and we’re going to give it to them.”

Jackley’s Hometown Initiative can be viewed here: https://www.martyjackley.com/hometown-south-dakota-initiative/

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I’m not sure what exactly to say about this. Except, quite possibly, David Zokaites has defeated Lora Hubbel in the contest for the most bizarre campaign advertising ever.

Noem Opens West River Campaign Headquarters

Rapid City, S.D. – Kristi Noem opened her West River Campaign Headquarters Wednesday in Rapid City. The office will serve as a volunteer outreach center, where South Dakotans can find information about Noem’s vision for South Dakota as well as collect signs, bumper stickers and other Team Noem materials. The office is located at 1739 W Main Street in Rapid City.

“West River has always fought for me, and whether it was securing a strong livestock disaster program in the last Farm Bill, fighting to save the Hot Springs VA, or increasing support for the Ellsworth Air Force Base, I made a commitment to fight for them too,” said Noem. “I was blown away by those who came out to celebrate the grand opening of our new West River Campaign Headquarters and incredibly grateful for their support and their willingness to recruit others to Team Noem too.”

Not a lot of takeaways from the Hughes County Lincoln Day Dinner. Nothing earthshaking. No new announcements.

Although, one of the few things pointed out to me that got people’s attention was the campaign handout from Lora Hubbel with bare-chested women.  When I first heard that, it was almost a spit-take moment, and I had to pause and ask “What did you say?”

My vast network of spies (or at least one of the dinner attendees) managed to get a copy sent over to me today, and we found out what she was passing around to entice people to vote for her:

As far as the nudity goes, it’s fairly PG-13 rated, given that the people in the State Capitol live and work underneath these classically painted State Capitol murals every day.  But weirdly, Lora used this piece to tie into her speech to the dinner crowd, and in addition to her ‘air-Uber’ proposal, it came off as one of the bizarro moments in her prepared remarks.

If you go to about 40 minutes into this video, you can listen to where Lora spoke.

When she brought up this campaign handout, she noted “We are a Christian nation, and that is how we solve our problems.” Then she cited the artwork in the Capitol as containing Christian bibles, the doorknobs as noting “under God the people rule,” and that as Governor she will “take that sheetrock off of that painting and display that in the Governor’s office….”  And kind of ended there.

She didn’t really have a point to make, as much as the disconnected phrases were uttered forth from her mouth.

Ooookay. Another day on the campaign trail.

Looks like someone didn’t lose by enough last time. After taking a class on how to win an election from Ann Tornberg a week ago…

..the word tonight is that Cory Heidelberger is now full of confidence (or full of something) and getting up on that horse again as he prepares to take another electoral defeat at the hands of Al Novstrup in the District 3 State Senate Race.

This should be entertaining.

From the Brookings Register comes the announcement of another great Republican candidate for the State Legislature :

 V.J. Smith of Brookings has announced his candidacy for the South Dakota State Senate seat from District 7.

and..

“I had two majors: history and political science. Ever since I was young, I’ve had an interest in politics. I felt one day, when the timing was right, I would venture into the arena,” Smith said.

He returned to SDSU in 1990 to serve as assistant to the athletic director. In 1996, he was named the executive director of the SDSU Alumni Association and held that position for 10 years. For the past 12 years, he has been a full-time professional speaker and travels throughout the United States. He is also a published author.

He feels the time is right for him to step into the arena.

“Frankly, the tone of politics right now isn’t what it should be,” Smith said. “Studies have shown we are quite divided, and the reason why we’re divided is because we’re not doing a very good job of listening to each other.”

Read it all here.

This is interesting..  If you recall some time ago I noted lorahubbel.com was for sale on the Internet for the low, low price of $795.00, but it was too rich for my blood (more than $10-20).

In the last week or so, it looks like Lora (or one of her supporters) actually made that deep dive into their pocketbooks:

Yep. Looks like Lora has it back. For nearly 8 times the amount of money that she reported raising in all of 2017.  Despite the fact she already has a website set up.

I think if I had only been able to raise $100 in the previous year, spending that much money on a web domain I didn’t need might not be my first priority.

But that’s just me.

Noem Statement on Passing of Rev. Billy Graham

SIOUX FALLS, SD — Kristi Noem today released the following statement following the passing of Rev. Billy Graham:

“Rev. Billy Graham inspired world leaders, American heroes, and families across this nation for decades. He helped shape our nation around the idea that in God we trust. Today, I’m confident the Lord called him home with the message: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.'”