Dusty Johnson Continues to Break Fundraising Records
Raises Over $100,000 for Fifth Consecutive Quarter; Exceeds $600,000 Raised in Total

MITCHELL, SD – The Dusty Johnson for Congress campaign announced today that it raised $115,000 in contributions during the fourth quarter of 2017. This raises Dusty’s overall fundraising sum to a record-breaking $600,000 in South Dakota’s Republican primary. $600,000 is more than any previous challenger or open seat candidate for Congress at this stage in the race and Dusty Johnson is on pace to continue setting South Dakota fundraising records.  Dusty has raised more than $100,000 for five consecutive quarters.

“I think this is a clear indication that South Dakotans are looking for a solutions-oriented candidate to represent them in Washington,” said Dusty Johnson. “Whether it’s answering your questions through my ‘Ask Dusty’ videos on Facebook, meeting for coffee to listen to your concerns about our nation, or shaking hands outside of the farm show – South Dakotans are learning that I’m the only candidate for Congress that has the know how to get Washington back on track.”

Dusty Johnson grew up in a working-class family in central South Dakota and graduated from the University of South Dakota. A former policy staff member for Governor Mike Rounds, Dusty learned early on he had a passion for public service. After serving on the Public Utilities Commission, Dusty became Governor Daugaard’s Chief of Staff and helped lead the state out of a $127 million deficit. Dusty currently works as Vice President at Vantage Point Solutions in Mitchell where he helps telecommunication companies deploy fiber and broadband into rural communities.

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I had a note today from South Dakota Right to Life who asked me to post the following:

SD Right-to-Life is incredibly grateful for the work our legislature, Attorney General and courts have done to help us reduce the devastation of abortion in SD, and look forward to continuing to work with them until abortion is not only illegal in South Dakota, but unthinkable.

The Mark Mickelson led ballot measure group “Tuition 4 Tech Students” has filed their end of year  campaign finance report with the Secretary of State. And we have it for you here:

Tuition 4 Tech Students 2017 EOY Campaign Finance Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

What do we know?  It appears that the funding for the ballot measure to date has come almost exclusively from Speaker Mickelson, and Denny Sanford/First Premier Bank.

Mickelson drew from campaign funds in his Leadership PAC, from campaign funds in his House Campaign account, and from business funds to contribute a bit over $25k to the effort, with another $25k coming from First Premier Bank.

No word on any opponents to the measure organizing as of yet.

The ballot measure’s purpose is to increase the Tobacco Tax with the proceeds going towards tech schools. The measure is awaiting approval for the ballot by the Secretary of State, and once it passes that hurdle, it will go to voters in the 2018 General Election.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 7th Annual Attorney General Top Gun Shooting Competition to raise money for CASA. Congratulations to the 2018 Top Gun- Representative Mark Willadsen. pic.twitter.com/qRsVXGhjP3

— Marty Jackley (@martyjackley) January 25, 2018

Results of Attorney General’s 7th Annual Legislative Shootout Contest

PIERRE, S.D. – “South Dakota enjoys, respects, and protects the fundamental right of the state and our law abiding citizens to bear arms. The Attorney General’s Legislative Shootout is intended to support our constitutional rights, test legislator’s marksmanship and raise money for important causes,” said Attorney General Jackley. Legislators donate to a charity and there is no cost to taxpayers.
Below are the top three places for this year’s contest:

1. Representative Mark Willadsen (District 11)
2. Representative Steve Livermont (District 27)
3. Representative Greg Jamison (District 12)

Representative Willadsen’s name will proudly be displayed on a plaque at the Attorney General’s Office. Monies raised during this event go to the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program.

Secretary of State and Congressional Candidate Shantel Krebs sent out an e-mail blast yesterday claiming that’s she’s the front runner in the Congressional race, proclaiming boldly that “We Are Winning” based on an on-line poll being conducted by the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan:

The problem with the claim that “We are winning” based on the on-line poll?  If you go to the poll at the Yankton Newspaper which you can find here, as of 7:30 this morning, Krebs’ early boast might have been an overly eager assessment:

“Oh no! What happened! Now the other team is up!”

Seriously though, it just goes to show you if you’re claiming you’re ahead based on an unscientific newspaper poll, you really should be spending your energy elsewhere.

As I said back in March 2017, the last time the Krebs campaign tried to claim they had the momentum based on an on-line newspaper poll, If the 2018 Congressional election is going to be all about who is more popular in newspaper web polls, it’s going to be a long, long campaign.

From Facebook:

I just got my latest political pin acquisition in the mail, so we should raise a toast to it…

Or not..

It’s a pin for the 1912 State Convention of the SD Women’s Christian Temperance Union 24th Annual convention in Pierre.

What’s the WCTU? Actually, the anti-alcohol Christian group came to the Dakota Territory in 1877. And as of 2005, they still seemed to be here. You can find their website here. And there’s a history of their activity in the state here.

I believe in less government. Always have.

But there are times when you want someone to make sure that the people holding themselves out to the public are licensed professionals who have the proper education and training. Doctors. Lawyers. Yes, Real Estate Agents.  And there are others.

That list of others includes those people who many of us think are just waving their hands.. but they are actually communicating to a large segment of the public who are unable to communicate via the spoken word, and must rely on American Sign Language for information.  Which is why removing the licensure requirements for interpreters via Senate Bill 109 is an AWFUL idea.

Because this is what you’ll end up with:

A safety agency is trying to coordinate a response to Hurricane Irma, and their interpreter is signing things like “pizza” and “need be bear monster.”

We wouldn’t like it if official documents contained random gibberish. We shouldn’t expect that tax-paying South Dakotans who can’t hear appreciate it in their communications either.

I would anticipate if this makes it anywhere near the Governor’s desk, he’ll veto it without a second glance. But it should not even make it close to that point. It’s just that awful of an idea.

Which one of these Argus Leader headlines actually deserves our legislator’s time, as well as our tax dollars, to be spent on them?

This one?

Or this one?

Your thoughts?

From Facebook, US Senator Mike Rounds talks about where we go from here, now that the Schumer-shutdown in Washington is ending: