From the anti-Trumper group “SD Grassroot Conservatives” it looks like former 32-year Democrat and current SDGOP Chair Jim Eschenbaum went al the way out to Keystone to take part in the Justin McNeal for US Senate announcement, as here he is with Julie Frye-Mueller and her husband.

Later in the video clip this was snipped from was Phil Jensen and his wife, the state party Vice-Chair Janet Jensen. Because well, of course.

As you see, Phil is looking as intelligent as he acts during session.

(Guessing neither our ’32-year Democrat’ State GOP Chair Eschenbaum nor Rep. Jensen were invited to the Governor’s Hunt on the other end of the state).

In response to the Minnehaha County SDGOP Chair earlier today calling the attempted coup by the vice-chair improper.. The Minnehaha SDGOP Vice-chair responded in a completely adult manner, and declared (in effect) No it’s not improper. Nee-ner nee-ner! No takebacks!  As they prepare for a rumble at the bingo-hall!

In case the middle-school students need some remedial bylaw training, which clearly they do..  If you look at the governing bylaws as per the State Republican Party, which supersede any county rules to the contrary:

5. Duties of Officers:

A. County Chairman: The county chairman, as head of the Republican Party in the county, has the following duties:

1. Direct county Republican Party affairs as well as to conduct the political campaign in the county.

6. Preside over meetings of the County Central Committee and County Executive Board.

and..

B. County Vice Chairman: The county vice chairman has the following duties:

1. Discharge all duties of the county chairman in his/her absence or disability.

2. Coordinate all Republican auxiliary activities in the county.

3. Other duties as the county chairman may delegate.

I’m quite sure the state bylaws noting that the chair directs party affairs, and presides over meetings, AND that the VC can only discharge the chair’s duties in the chair’s absence or disability, means that unless the Chair delegated to the Vice Chair the ability to call meetings, the vice-chair does not get to do so, just because they don’t like the chair’s decision.

Good Gosh. Maybe we can hope that they’ll finally figure it out and quit it.

The continuing drama over the recall election for Deadwood City Commissioner Blake Joseph continues as a hearing determined there were not sufficient grounds to stop the election, so it’s back on like Donkey-Kong:

City officials are expected to schedule a special meeting Monday, where they can now set a special election date.

The word I’m hearing out of the Governor’s Hunt this last weekend is that we should expect Governor Rhoden to be making an official announcement in the next 2-3 weeks.

That rumor doesn’t come as a shock, but what’s in 2-3 weeks? The lead in to Thanksgiving.  That starts the tough holiday season for fundraising when people tend to keep their money home.

Governor Rhoden did hold a big Friday afternoon fundraiser – a Strong, Safe, and Free PAC event – during the Governor’s Hunt weekend. And while it had a few heavy hitters in attendance, I don’t know that it produced a half a million in receipts, as recent Dusty Johnson or Marty Jackley events in Sioux Falls have. Although, donors are being provided with a myriad of ways they can inject money into the Governor’s race on Larry’s behalf:

We’re starting to get down to brass tacks where we’re going to see a flurry of announcements, with the Governor’s expected to be the biggest.  Once they pull the trigger, the question will be how much can they raise to put a message into every Republican Household in the state? Because there’s going to be a lot of competition this season.

The constant bickering over who is in charge at the Minnehaha County GOP is kind of exhausting. And yet it continues for our collective amusement.

From: Korry Petterson <minnehahasdgop@230214358.mailchimpapp.com>
Date: October 27, 2025 at 8:52:18 AM CDT
To:
Subject:Improperly Called Meeting – Official Notice
Reply-To: minnehahasdgop@gmail.com

Good morning,

I am writing once again to address another improperly called meeting organized by Vice Chairwoman Marsha Symons and County Committeewoman Bridget Myers.  Although I received the meeting notice this time, I have spoken with more than 18 central committee members and legislators from across Minnehaha County’s districts who were unaware of this meeting.

Once again, no coordination was made with the Chair. This continues a concerning pattern that disregards established party procedures and expectations. Such actions undermine the process intended by our bylaws and compromise the integrity of our county.

These repeated procedural violations are especially disappointing given the civil, productive, and focused meeting we held on Saturday, October 4th. Regrettably, certain members of the Minnehaha County Executive Board continue to foster division and distraction rather than contribute to the progress our county party is making.

Special meetings exist for urgent county business, not for personal disputes or political maneuvering. A properly called Central Committee meeting will be scheduled soon, with full and appropriate notice, and a clear agenda, in accordance with party bylaws.

To be perfectly clear, tonight’s meeting at Giving Hope Bingo at 6:30 PM will not be recognized by the Minnehaha County Republicans.

Best regards,
Korry Petterson
Chairman
Minnehaha County Republicans

So, Tonight’s meeting is a fake meeting, and nobody is supposed to go.

 

Navigating the Shutdown
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
October 24, 2025

BIG Update

Many government services are halted during a government shutdown. One of which was the local Farm Service Administration (FSA) offices which provide vital services to producers. I’ve heard from many producers across South Dakota that they need these offices to open so they can cash their checks from commodity sales. Without these funds, many farmers are put in a tough spot. I expressed my concerns to Secretary Brooke Rollins, and she assured me USDA would fix the problem.

Good news for producers – these local FSA offices will now be open five days per week to sign these checks and continue payments for other programs like ARC, PLC, CRP, and more. These services are critical for producers, and I will continue to advocate for them in D.C.

BIG Idea

Day after day, hundreds of thousands of military service men and women and federal employees have shown up to work without pay during the government shutdown. These hardworking individuals shouldn’t have to suffer because Congress didn’t do its job. I introduced the Shutdown Fairness Act, which has President Trump’s support, to pay federal employees and servicemembers who are required to work during a government shutdown. My bill would make sure none of these employees work without pay and help folks make ends meet for themselves and their families. It’s not fair that these individuals and families have to suffer by missing a paycheck, so I’ve made sure my pay is withheld as I keep working to resolve this shutdown.

 

Click here or the image above to read more

BIG News

The Trump Administration announced plans to buy beef from Argentina. This announcement was concerning to me and cattle country, and I shared these concerns with the administration and asked for more details about this plan.

South Dakota’s cattle producers set the standard for quality and safety in beef production. I understand the President’s efforts to strengthen trade and keep food affordable, but those efforts should not undermine the farmers and ranchers who put dinner on our tables. Any decision to import foreign beef must hold countries to the same gold-standard regulations our producers meet every day. American ranchers play by the rules, produce the best beef in the world, and they deserve a fair shot to compete.

This week, USDA also announced its plan to fortify cattle herds in the U.S. The best way to ease prices at the meat counter is with more U.S. beef. Anything we can do to keep more American families in the cattle business is good news.

###

Democrats’ Shutdown Has Real Consequences
By Sen. John Thune

 For nearly a month, Senate Democrats have kept the government shut down and held government funding hostage to their partisan demands. Their motivation is pure politics, but their shutdown is having very real consequences, including in South Dakota. Republicans are continuing our efforts to reopen the government. But given Democrats’ determination to prolong the shutdown, Republicans and the Trump administration are working to help hardworking Americans who are being impacted by the shutdown.

South Dakota’s agriculture producers are among those who are being hurt. Due to the shutdown, Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in South Dakota and across the country were forced to close, leaving farmers and ranchers without access to critical services, and during harvest season no less. Producers who take FSA loans have been unable to certify the sale of their products or cash checks from their sales, and that is simply unacceptable.

From the beginning, I urged the Trump administration to keep FSA offices operational during the shutdown. Unfortunately, shutdowns force the government to make hard choices in the face of limited resources. But over the last several weeks, my office has worked with the Trump administration to find a way to reopen FSA offices, and, because of those efforts, on October 23, FSA offices were able to resume operations.

Farmers and ranchers are not the only victims of Democrats’ shutdown. Military families have turned to food banks in “unprecedented” numbers. Nutrition programs are in jeopardy. South Dakotans on Medicare and in rural areas are dealing with the elimination of telehealth services. And federal employees are working without certainty about their next paycheck. But none of this has been enough for Democrats to back down from their partisan demands and reopen the government. They remain dug in, terrified of the backlash from the far left if they don’t appear to be fighting President Trump hard enough.

Democrats have stood in the way of reopening the government and mitigating the pain of the shutdown every step of the way. They have blocked a nonpartisan funding extension a dozen times. They blocked the bipartisan defense appropriations bill, which would have at least supported national security and paid the troops absent a broader funding deal. And most recently, they blocked a bill to pay any federal employee who is working during the shutdown.

One leading Democrat recently told an interviewer, “Of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer…But it is one of the few leverage times we have.” Are hardworking American families just leverage to Democrats? We need some Democrats to show some courage, say “no” to the far-left activists who demanded this shutdown, and vote to reopen the government.

###

Business Done Right
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
October 24, 2025  

The right project in the right place at the right time. That’s how we do economic development in South Dakota. More often than not, that means focusing on opportunities for existing South Dakota businesses to grow and expand – whether that be a new product, a new market, or just doing what they do well on a bigger scale. Sometimes that means finding the right partner to move into the state in a way that benefits us as well as that new business.

South Dakota has taken this approach for many years, and it’s worked very well for us. Under the Noem-Rhoden Administration, this approach hit a greater stride. After Governor Noem declared South Dakota “Open for Business” during the COVID pandemic, visitors came to South Dakota by the millions. Freedom-loving Americans moved here by the tens of thousands. And businesses relocated here in huge numbers, as well.

This growth has set South Dakota up well. We have the lowest unemployment rate in America and have won the Governor’s Cup each of the last two years, meaning we have the most economic development projects per-capita. On top of that, we have the 6^th fastest growing economy of any state and the 4^th highest average personal incomes. Over the past several years, there were times when South Dakota even led the nation in income growth!

The economy boomed under the Noem-Rhoden Administration, and we’re working hard to keep it strong since I took the reins as Governor. That doesn’t mean saying yes to every project. We’ll be better served in the long run if we continue to advance the right project in the right place at the right time.

Two such right projects are the expansions currently underway at both the Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports. Since 2019, when Governor Noem and I took over in Pierre, we’ve consistently broken records every year for tourism. In fact, the number of folks coming through the Rapid City airport has increased by 30% over that timeframe, and Sioux Falls is up by 25%. Those are staggering numbers, and even over the last year, we’ve seen another steady increase.

I announced a plan to make a wise and targeted investment in these airport projects. The state has leftover housing dollars available that haven’t been used, so if we shift these to our economic development fund, we can offer them to the two airports in the form of a loan that they’ll repay over 20 years. It’ll be a 0% loan so that the projects will remain affordable, and the state will get those dollars back over time once the projects become profitable. That’s a win-win!

That’s how we do business in South Dakota. We invest in our communities. We keep taxes low and regulation light. We pave the road for opportunity and then get out of the way. And that’s how we’ll continue to approach these issues: the right project in the right place at the right time.

###

A new poll is out talking about where the candidates are in terms of support for the Republican primary. No big surprises:

Mason-Dixon SD GOP primary: 

• Dusty, 28%
• Rhoden, 27%
• Toby, 15%
• Hansen, 10%

Read more about it at SD News Watch.

The so-called “SD Grassroot Conservative” group which has fought against Republicans for a few elections now is chirping on facebook tonight about the 15 or so people who showed up yesterday at Justin McNeal’s announcement that he would be running against Senator Mike Rounds.

Whoof! That’s a lot of empty seats.  Not sure why they didn’t have this at an area Pizza Ranch meeting room.

If you’ve forgotten (as the chief troll of the group, Julie Korth apparently has), President Trump has already endorsed incumbent Senator Mike Rounds as the Republican Nominee for the US Senate seat:

Which if you think about it makes Korth’s group and McNeal’s candidacy all part of an anti-Trump effort.

Considering McNeal failed in two prior attempts to get on the ballot..  this anti-Trump effort will likely be a very short anti-Trump effort.