How do the numbers stack up in the contest of Congresswoman Kristi Noem versus Attorney General Marty Jackley as each pursue the Governor’s chair?  Here’s a simple head to head of their main campaign committee’s efforts in the latest campaign finance filing:

	Kristi Noem	Marty Jackley
Starting Balance	$1,807,135.40	$1,000,922.28
INCOME
Unitemized Contributions	$58,656.51	$30,340.18
Itemized Contributions	$695,659.41	$812,002.74
Loans Made to this Committee	$0.00	$0.00
Contributions from Entities	$0.00	$8,000.00
Contributions from Political Parties	$0.00	$0.00
Contributions from In-State Political  Action Committees	$0.00	$30,500.00
Contributions from Ballot Question Committees	$0.00	$0.00
Contributions from Out-of-State or Federal Political Action Committees	$75,500.00	$36,000.00
Contributions from Candidate Committees	$68,500.00	$2,590.00
Other Income	$2,436.05	$584.07
TOTAL INCOME	$900,751.97	$920,016.99
EXPENSES
Operational Expenditures	$565,192.56	$366,994.85
Contributions to Candidates and/or Committees	$1,000.00	$1,000.00
Independent Communication Expenditures	$0.00	$0.00
Ending Balance	$2,141,694.81	$1,552,944.42

There’s also the matter of the candidates’ other committees to take into account. Marty Jackley has a Political Action Committee which is raising money which will likely go towards the campaign, and Kristi has her Federal Account, which she uses for her Congressional activity… which could contribute towards her Gubernatorial effort.

But as it sits, both of these candidates are competing hard. And it doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that it’s going to get intense.

The Year End report for Kristi Noem for Governor is finally posted, and it appears that this race is going to be the challenge everyone expected.

Kristi Noem for Governor 2017 Year End Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

In the race for Governor, Congresswoman Noem (who I ran into at the Sioux Falls Airport this AM), has posted that in 2017, she raised $900,75.97, Spent $566,192.56, and ended the year with $2,141,694.81 Cash on Hand.

More to come…

Here’s one of the two Campaign Finance Reports that everyone is looking for. Here’s Marty Jackley for Governor’s Year End Report for 2017:

Jackley for Governor 2017 Year End Campaign Finance Filing by Pat Powers on Scribd

Jackley for Governor raised $920,016 during the 2017 reporting period, with $367,994.95 spent, leaving him $1,552,944.42 Cash on Hand for the 2018 Election year.

Stay tuned for Kristi Noem’s Report!

I swear you can’t make this stuff up.

South Dakota’s Queen Bee of legalizing pot, Melissa Mentele, just announced she’s running for District 19 State House as “Your Pro-Life, 2nd Amendment Supporting Conservative Democratic Candidate.” She notes in her announcement:

I have decided against switching and will be running as a Democratic candidate. I feel that switching parties would have been dishonest and would start a relationship with voters that was tainted by a lie. That goes against everything I believe in. Honesty and Transparency are the key to the start of any good relationship.

I pride myself on being an honest and trustworthy person. I hope you will take the time to get to know me and my values before you write me off because of a D behind my name.

It is going to be fun getting to know each other.

Sincerely,

Melissa Mentele

Your Pro-Life, 2nd Amendment Supporting Conservative Democratic Candidate

I think you are going to like me.

Read that here.

Now I can’t say I have any insight as to her position on the Second Amendment. But I do feel fairly safe in pointing out if you were one of the prime people behind trying to put a measure on the ballot to legalize killing grandma via assisted suicide, then by no stretch of the imagination can you consider yourself pro-life. It would be the opposite. You would be pro-death. I would almost guarantee groups such as South Dakota Right to Life might take some offense at her trying to paint herself otherwise.

But that might have been too honest a statement for the not-so-conservative Democrat.

Update… just because I had to check, here’s some further information on Mentele’s position on being “pro-life” from the 2016 South Dakota Right to Life Voter’s Guide:

So… I’m not sure where promoting Grandma Killing, and declaring that she’s “pro having the choice” exactly qualifies for calling yourself pro-life?

Tapio Announces Entrance into Congressional Race

With events in Watertown, Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen Tuesday, Republican State Senator and Donald Trump State Campaign Director, Neal Tapio of Watertown officially enters the 2018 South Dakota congressional race, promising to expose the hypocrisy of establishment politicians rushing furiously to cast themselves as Trump populists. Tapio says his run for Congress is not a product of political ambition, but of a national need for real people to answer the call to public service and usher in what he sees as a potential American ‘Golden Age,’ of economic, social and cultural rebirth that has been jumpstarted by President Trump’s economic policies and ‘America First,’ platform.

“This campaign will be about faith, family, freedom and free enterprise,” Tapio said. “And about defending both the traditional values of this nation and the economic opportunities and rewards for hard work that made America the greatest nation on earth.”

“I’m not a career politician,” Tapio said. “But in the real world of business and corporate enterprise, I’ve been preparing for this moment my entire life, by experiencing at a very high level the way business really works and the way our government has increasingly blocked and hampered the ability for normal people to experience the American Dream. Through taxes and regulations and limitations, for too long, the system has been a rigged game that discourages the average person from striking out on their own and building a successful business and life.” Tapio said.

“Under President Donald Trump we’re seeing the beginnings of a reversal of those very troubling tendencies and already, the results are evident,” Tapio said.

“Unemployment is nearing record lows for population groups across the board and we’ve just experienced three consecutive quarters of Gross Domestic Product Growth (GDP) above 3%, after we were once told that America could never again experience that kind of economic prosperity,” Tapio said.

“I think the work has only just begun and I believe our economy is going to soar even higher, so long as we allow this President to continue on the course that he’s charted. I’m ready for the task of helping implement small government policies that empower people and put government in its place,” Tapio said.

Tapio is a successful entrepreneur and business owner whose enterprises service Fortune 50 companies in the world energy sector. Over 20 years of creating and running his own businesses, Tapio has negotiated multimillion dollar contracts in corporate boardrooms of some of the largest companies in the world. He became inspired to bring the practicality of his business experience to the political realm by the similar message and example of President Donald Trump: America first policies in economics, national defense and immigration that are a repudiation of globalist priorities and bureaucratic incompetence that for years left Americans disillusioned and hopeless about the political future of the nation and struggling under a deliberately sabotaged model of diminished American prosperity and a stagnant economy.

From my E-Mail Box:

From Facebook:

Noem, Gowdy Move to Close Fugitive Loophole

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Kristi Noem and Trey Gowdy this week introduced the No Haven for Dangerous Fugitives Act, which closes a critical public-safety loophole. More specifically, under current policy, certain individuals wanted on felony charges – including violent crimes – can flee to Indian Country and evade arrest. It was an issue discussed extensively when Gowdy joined Noem in South Dakota to meet with area law enforcement about local drug crime and policing challenges. The Noem-Gowdy proposal that resulted from the meeting would give federal law enforcement the authority, when necessary, to enter Indian Country and apprehend the defendant.

“Today, we have fugitives hiding in plain sight,” said Noem. “The way the system is set up violent criminals can use Indian Country as a haven to evade law enforcement. That policy poses a serious and concerning public safety threat to tribal communities. The No Haven for Dangerous Fugitives Act closes this dangerous loophole once and for all. I thank Rep. Gowdy for taking the time to hear from South Dakota law enforcement about this threat to public safety and then collaborate on a workable solution.”

“The priority should always be on victims of crime and public safety,” said Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom.  “Law enforcement faces jurisdictional obstacles that hinder our efforts while fugitives roam freely from one jurisdiction to the next, oftentimes continuing to commit more crimes.  It is time to hold fugitives accountable and stand up for victims.”

“Too many victims of crime in Pennington County over the past decades have had to hear that they would not get their day in Court because the offender was beyond the reach of even federal law,” said Mark Vargo, Pennington County State’s Attorney.  “By recognizing tribal borders as being the equivalent of state borders, the No Haven for Dangerous Fugitives Act takes a huge step toward ensuring that no one is beyond the law.  We will no longer have to wait for a new victim before an offender can be brought to justice.  This means that all of South Dakota’s communities will be that much safer.”

“This simple but important adjustment to legislation will correct an unintentional flaw that has contributed to a disparate degree of Public Safety on and near tribal lands,” said Karl Jegeris, Chief of Police at the Rapid City Police Department. “Ultimately, it will create an opportunity for reduced victimization by holding offenders accountable.”

Under current law, federal law enforcement may apprehend a suspect who allegedly committed a crime in South Dakota, for example, and then flees to another state in an attempt to evade arrest. Federal law enforcement may also apprehend a suspect who allegedly committed a crime in South Dakota and then flees to an Indian Reservation in another state.

Federal law enforcement currently do not, however, have the authority to apprehend a suspect who allegedly committed a crime in South Dakota and then flees to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In addition to denying victims and their families justice, the communities to which the defendant flees are put in jeopardy. The No Haven for Dangerous Fugitives Act simply allows federal law enforcement to apprehend a suspect who allegedly committed a crime in South Dakota and then flees to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

###

While I was on the way to the Airport on Friday, I was incredulous when I heard Greg Belfrage on the radio declaring that “there was only one member of the State Bar in the entire state who supported it, and it was the person promoting it.”

Because it was a statement that I knew to be utterly false. In fact, one of the other attorney supporters, a candidate for Attorney General, was speaking about his support just recently:

The South Dakota amendment established constitutional rights for crime victims including privacy, protection from harassment or abuse, and timely notice of trial.

However, lawmakers say the voter approved constitutional amendement has unintended financial consequences and has hindered investigations.

Senator Lance Russell says he believes Marsy’s law is a benefit.

District 30 Senator Lance Russell says, “I was a state’s attorney and I had my secretaries and myself meet with victims and notify victims of the status of their case and that’s essentially what Marsy’s law requires is that if the victim would like to meet with the state’s attorney that they have an opportunity to do so. If they want to be notified of every hearing and what are proposed plea agreements that they’re entitled to have that notification.”

Read it here.

I also believe the Beadle County State’s Attorney weighed in as well:

There may be areas of the law that could use tweaking. But the legislature should think twice before trying to strip crime victims of their rights because some parts are inconvenient.

From the Argus Leader, Councilor Christine Erickson is helping to introduce a measure to bring some transparency to city contracts, as they usher the ‘Huether Era’ out the door:

A pair of city councilors wants more transparency around certain contracts being proposed by Mayor Mike Huether.

City Councilors Christine Erickson and Marshall Selberg plan to introduce an ordinance that will require the mayor to open up facility management contract drafts for public inspection no fewer than seven days before councilors are asked to vote on them.

“Not only will the City Council get it, but the public will have access to it for a full seven days,” Erickson said this week.

And..

After hearing some input from Council Vice Chair Erickson this morning, I don’t see any concerns,” Huether wrote. “It makes common sense and business sense to do it, but of course there may be some rare cases where this could cause an issue, but I am sure it can and will be worked out, as we always do.”

Read it here.