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.

Thune Congratulates President Trump and Senator Vance

“The incoming Senate Republican majority will work hand-in-hand with the Trump-Vance administration to lower costs for families, secure our southern border, and renew America’s energy dominance.”

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement:

“Congratulations to President Trump and Senator Vance on their hard-fought victory. The American people have chosen to turn the page on the Biden-Harris administration’s failed policies of high prices and open borders and instead chart a new course for our country. The incoming Senate Republican majority will work hand-in-hand with the Trump-Vance administration to lower costs for families, secure our southern border, and renew America’s energy dominance. The work begins now.”

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From Summit Carbon Solutions comes a statement with regards to last night’s election:

“Summit Carbon Solutions will apply for a permit in South Dakota on November 19, 2024. Our focus continues to be on working with landowners and ensuring the long-term viability of ethanol and agriculture in the state. Projects like ours have successfully navigated South Dakota’s existing regulatory landscape in the past. We will continue to operate within the current framework, knowing that the future of ethanol and agriculture is vital to our shared success.”

Thune Statement on Republicans Reclaiming Senate Majority

“Tonight, with Republicans reclaiming majority control of the U.S. Senate, we can begin to turn the page on this expensive and reckless chapter of American history.”

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement:

“The Biden-Harris administration has forced the American people to endure four years of high prices, open borders, and chaos on the world stage. Tonight, with Republicans reclaiming majority control of the U.S. Senate, we can begin to turn the page on this expensive and reckless chapter of American history. As we wait for additional results, I am optimistic that President Trump will be successful, our majority will grow stronger, and we can continue our work together to create a safer and more secure country for every American.”

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South Dakotans Reject Pro-Abortion Amendment G

Pierre, S.D. – SBA Pro-Life America this evening released the following statement in response to the pro-life victory over Amendment G in South Dakota.

“The demise of pro-abortion Amendment G is an enormous victory for life,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “When we wake up tomorrow, unborn children will still be protected in the great state of South Dakota thanks to leadership from Sen. John Thune, Rep. Dusty Johnson and Gov. Kristi Noem. Precious boys and girls will live as a result of this vote, and the state will be immensely better off as they grow to fulfill their God-given purposes Voters have rejected placing late-term abortion in the constitution in favor of South Dakota’s life at conception law that protects the lives of women and unborn babies at every point..

“South Dakota is a beacon for how the pro-life movement can win future ballot measure fights. When the pro-life leaders speak up and expose the lies of the abortion industry, life wins.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders. 

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From KELO:

As of 11:00 p.m., Minnehaha County remains at less than 5% of votes reported, with just 5,907 ballots tallied four hours after polls closed.

read that here.

Has Leah Anderson called out for Rick Weible and his finger counters yet?  (Where’s Bob Litz when we need him?)

Just remember this two years from now when Leah is trying to run for Secretary of State.

Proud to Have Given SD Voters an Opportunity for Better Government

Joe Kirby, Chairman of South Dakota Open Primaries, said, “We are disappointed in the vote tonight but are proud of our effort and our team. We gave South Dakota voters an opportunity to address some fundamental problems in the state’s government.”

“Open primaries would have improved low voter turnout in the primary elections, empowered 155,000 independent South Dakota voters to fully participate in the primaries, brought competition to our elections and motivated politicians to address the concerns of all voters, not just their party bosses.”

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I had a note dropped to me that there’s chatter going around to the effect of “Word from Minnehaha County that only halfway through even opening Absentee Ballots. Auditor put out a call for emergency help.”

Don’t know if that’s true or not, but we’re not seeing much in terms of results from the state’s largest county at a few minutes to 10pm.  This might be a performance check of Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson that it will be hard for her County Commission to ignore.

Of course, this is also coming as I’m told Leah is reportedly telling anyone who will listen that she’s running for SOS in 2026.

All but one of the Trump voters I talked to today also voted for pot. One of them said Trump and weed “go hand in hand, don’t they?” A of them few voted for abortion, as well, because freedom.
No clue if that signals a single thing abt the actual results, but I was surprised.

— John Hult (@JohnEHult) November 5, 2024

Had an e-mail blast come across my desk for a high school activity my wife pinged me on to send our son to get signed up for. The new Brookings High School eSports League:

This should not come as a surprise to South Dakotans, as it was piloted last year in a number of schools:

The activities association began exploring the addition of esports about four years ago because of popular demand, Swartos said. Nationally, more states have sanctioned the sport. Colleges also offer esports scholarships and have their own competitive teams. It has become a multibillion-dollar business with an estimated 3.26 billion people worldwide playing video games.

The popularity of gaming continues to grow, and the SDHSAA saw an opportunity to engage more students in school activities.

and..

The esports pilot started with four competitive titles: Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., League of Legends and chess. Rocket League is a soccer-type game with cars rather than people playing the sport. Super Smash Bros. uses characters from Nintendo games who fight to knock each other out of the arena. In League of Legends, two teams of five players battle to destroy the opposing team’s base. Besides Super Smash Bros., all the other games are played on PCs.

Read that all here.

It’s not a terrible idea.. but a few of the games seem to be a bit dated and geared towards a younger crowd (Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros).  Regardless, dust off that game controller for your kids, as they prepare to participate in South Dakota’s newest high school sporting teams.