Republican coalition of confederates now “By-Law Compliant Counties,” holding meeting rumored to try to overthrow GOP leadership?

Interesting email sent my way this morning. The coalition of confederates are calling themselves a new name today – the By-Law Compliant Counties (seriously?), and continuing their effort to overthrow SDGOP leadership.

In part..

From: SD GOP By-Law Compliant Counties <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Aug 10, 2024 at 11:30 AM
Subject: Notice of SD GOP Special Meeting – Quorum Call

All,

To all members of the South Dakota State Republican Central Committee:

Please plan to attend a Special [Summer] meeting of the State Central Committee as permitted by and through this quorum call by the Bylaw-approved initiative and actions of the county chairs listed below on Saturday, August 24, 2024…

The primary purpose of this Special meeting call is to discuss coordinated strategies for defeating various ballot propositions and measures that will be on our statewide ballot in just a matter of weeks leading up to the November election.

Logistics. As a courtesy, Brown County Chairman Rich Hilgemann will be providing coffee, cinnamon rolls and muffins to attendees. Box lunches are available for purchase at the cost of ~$21 (includes sales tax and 18% gratuity). The options include:

….

In addition to the sandwiches, the boxes include a bag of chips, granola bar, candy bar, beef jerky stick, apple, and condiments.

Your prompt replies to this notice are appreciated.

Regards,

Dan Hargreaves, Chairman, Aurora County
Judd Schomp, Chairman, Bennett County
Stu Cvrk, Chairman, Bon Homme County
Dusta Ismay, Vice Chair, Butte County
Dwight Wiest, Chairman, Campbell County
Lee Qualm, Chairman, Charles Mix County
Clint Clark, Chairman, Corson County
Lea Anne McWhorter, Chair, Custer County
Larry Mathis, Chairman, Davison County
Mary Nosbush, Chair, Deuel County
Sandy Wahlert, Chair, Fall River County
Amber Werdel, Chair, Hand County
Rep. Jessica Baumiller, Chair, Hanson County
Betty Olson, Chair, Harding County
Jason Williams, Hughes County
Tucker Amiotte, Chairman, Jackson County
Betty Otten, Chair, Lincoln County
Mike Klipfel, Chairman, McPherson County
R. Shawn Tornow, Chairman, Minnehaha County
Amy Wagner, Chair, Pennington County
Scott Assman, Chairman, Todd County
Bob Tate, Chairman, Tripp County
Jim VanDeRostyne, Chairman, Turner County
Steve Rokahr, Chairman, Yankton County
Jana Hunt, Chair, Ziebach County

Interesting that his first action in becoming the new Brown county GOP chair, Rich Hilgemann is to buy breakfast for the confederate coalition who spends their time attacking party leadership. And even more surprisingly, Hughes County GOP Chair and Deputy State Treasurer Jason Williams is apparently throwing in with this lot. While not on the e-mail went out, I’m told R. Shawn Tornow of the Minnehaha GOP is paying for the room.. so, there’s cash not going towards Minnehaha GOP candidates that is instead being spent on his delusions of grandeur.

It sounds like they’re not going to accomplish a darn thing except talking and talking and wasting the day if you look at their agenda:

Ballot Propositions Discussion
• Purpose
• Goal
• Action Plan
• List of ballot propositions: (They list all of the ballot measures, one by one by one.)

Strategy/Coordination of Key Races
• Public Utilities Commissioner
• Other

Get-Out-The Vote (GOTV) Training
• Campaign Sidekick operation (pending RNC support)
• Other

Other (time permitting)
• Approved resolutions disposition
• Bylaws

Working Lunch
• Box lunches for purchase (pre-order required)

Notice that going on ad nauseam about ballot measures is first and foremost, and talk about electing candidates is barely mentioned. Legislative races? They are “other.”

For their talk of “coordinating,” and action plans, the problem is that almost none of these counties participating in this eye-rolling endeavor have financially supported the efforts of the state party.

Talk is cheap, at the expense of one of the last weekends before school starts. But how will they implement and pay for all these action plans? The SDGOP is not in a good financial state. Is this meeting intended to help set the stage to sell off use of the party’s name & logo to their preferred ballot measures – despite many Republicans being divided on many ballot measures? (As one recipient speculated to me?)   And how do they propose to elect candidates? Despite it being far, lower on their agendas, that’s the actual job of the party.

Here’s an item of even greater concern, I am also hearing talk the participants of this meeting may have a mind to attempt to use the meeting to completely kick the cart over, and to use the meeting to oust the chair right before the fall elections begin. That could possibly not come at a worse time, as this group’s antics have already crippled GOP fundraising at the same time they refuse to help. Why don’t they then create complete disorganization too?  

What would they accomplish? Not a ton. That upheaval would set the stage for the current Vice-Chair Mary Fitzgerald to be the new chair, where she could select a new vice-chair. Unless the leadership team resigns en masse in protest. Not sure there’s bylaws to even address that.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a party group acting to completely nuke their organization before an election like the confederates.. er, By-Law Compliant Counties. 

But hold your beers. They’re going to give it a shot.

34 thoughts on “Republican coalition of confederates now “By-Law Compliant Counties,” holding meeting rumored to try to overthrow GOP leadership?”

  1. Young Mr. Williams is not known as a deep thinker when it comes to the lots into which he throws his hat. Mr. Haeder is a swell fellow, but some of the others the very young, and very lazy Mr. Williams consorts with show him to be insaner than most.

  2. I don’t know man.

    I think that anyone in a public office that didn’t come out in support of election integrity in the last 3+ years kind of made a mistake?

    I’m not sure who these rabble-rousers (so called terrible people) are who want auditors to be able to audit, and the public to be able to trust results, and the roles to be clean .. but dang, now that I think about it, why don’t people like these rabble rousers again?

    Hey, what’s going on with the roles.

    Have you covered the filings for that lawsuit?

    You should cover the filings for that lawsuit in a post and link to the text of the filings.

      1. This is a very sophisticated straw man.

        Incel – the people who followed the SCL podcast numbered at around 30,000/mo in 2021.

        They were family people, patriots, men, women, children, college kids, elected officials, military, law enforcement, academics, scientists, and others.

        Did we save hundreds of people from the dangers of those times by publishing true information in a cogent conversational format with a distinctively South Dakotan accent?

        Did the Governor’s office watch for our content and read it very carefully? Did they hold off on making big decisions so they could troll the comments section of DWC to get input from a few key cogent, honest, non-operant individuals?

        I hope that incels listen to and read the content that I publish. I would like to be instrumental in pulling them from the mind set that has them alone, childless, and unable to connect with the opposite gender/sex. I like to ask them questions like, “why did you decide to do this? Who convinced you to do this? Who convinced them?”

        To say that nobody cares is .. well .. obviously false, but I’m sure writing it makes you feel better about whatever short circuit you have.

        For what it’s worth, the Spearfish City Limits podcast has already relaunched for this election period. Where have you been? There’s already 8 hours worth of critical content aimed at making our country a better place.

        Now, at ease.

        That is all.

    1. Mr. Dale, a stogie and a shot at the Steerfish tonight and grudznick can fill you in. You buy the hooters and I’ll buy the shots. Don’t bring your road dogs this time.

      1. I don’t smoke.

        Didn’t Steerfish close because they were too proud to approach me (and my degree from McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship) about how to structure their entity, craft their product offerings, and how to retain employees?

        Pride goeth before the .. well, you know.

        It’s sad because I could hit the building with a paper airplane from here.

        But they only master and employ. Not humble enough to thrive, but the Walleye tacos were pretty good.

        1. People approaching Mr. Dale about how to structure their entities! BuwahahahaHAHAHAHA

    2. It’s the Precinct Committeemen and women who signed up for the job of updating voter registration rolls, getting out the vote and poll-watching. They are the ones who are supposed to make sure things are done properly.
      That’s the job they signed up for.

      If you are disappointed to learn they can’t be bothered to do their job, welcome to the club.

  3. Hilarious. The demise of the Democrat Party in S.D. was when they turned their focus to ballot issues.

    I think a coalition of Indians, Libertarians, and dog owners are ripe to take over governing this state.

  4. Surely these wise, well-informed, and economically literate individuals are campaigning to reject the efforts to overturn SB201? After all, they seem like a bunch that totally wouldn’t raise funds for a few PACs, the have these packs backstab their fellow legislators, no they seem quite well educated and in possession of long-term vision.

    /sacrcasm for those unable of detecting it.

    1. Davidson County isn’t incorporated according to the SDGOP website. They’re short of half. Not to mention the Yankton County dilemma.

  5. Davidson County isn’t incorporated according to the SDGOP website. They’re short of half. Not to mention the Yankton County dilemma.

  6. so if only the insane clown posse shows up for the shitshow, will anything they decide to do have any validity?

  7. The only way to save the GOP is to vote Harris and let MAGA die over the next 8 years.

  8. ok so the word is there is a group frustrated that the SDGOP is not officially opposed to the CO2 pipeline and have been trying to get a resolution of opposition adopted.
    The SDGOP is pro-agriculture, pro-business, pro-ethanol, pro-national energy independence and doesn’t want to oppose the pipeline, so they couldn’t get it adopted at the last central committee meeting, nor at the state convention.

    This is another attempt by people who think resolutions are legislation. They know if they call a special meeting and can get 45 people to show up they can vote for their resolution. What they don’t know is that absolutely nothing will change if such a resolution is adopted. Absolutely nothing..Nobody will pay any attention to it or them. It’s just a waste of time.

  9. If you take each listed county one by one, many of these were newly formed in the last couple of years or less. Minnehaha and Pennington were taken over by people who have not invested in the Republican party and are dysfunctional. You didn’t see them involved 10 years ago. Some of these counties formed in their own living rooms and did not even post public notices of their organizational meetings and election of officers.

    These are NOT Republicans, but a mob who finds satisfaction in feeling powerful and finally accepted into a gang who only destroys and tears down real Republicans. If they were worth a hoot they would raise money to put on their own ballot measure meetings and campaigns, but they don’t know how to accomplish anything positive. I bet none of them gave their $2000 quota to the SDGOP either. They want to vote and take control without the hard work. Republicans have a super majority in our Legislature and all statewide elected positions. NO THANKS TO THESE PEOPLE. It wasn’t ANY of these people who went through the work and strategies to make that happen. The people they call ‘establishment’ are exactly who made our party successful.

    This ignorant cult is destroying our SDGOP and when we wind up with a bunch of liberals running our state and it’s destroyed, it will be these people to blame. Calling a meeting like this proves they can’t stand not causing even more trouble. No way they fix anything. They need to start raising money and send it to the SDGOP to fight the ballot measures instead! When it comes to who shows up to this destructive, pretend meeting, start taking names!

  10. Is this the same group that tried to force Haugaard on the Gov ticket after he was soundly beaten in the primary?

    1. yep. Also the same group that thought Monae was going to restore election integrity and now they are suing her because she did not live up to their expectations

  11. Mary Fitzgerald for SDGOP Chair. That will fix everything. She’s easily the smartest person walking around the Capitol building. The party could definitely take off again with her running operations. She’s amazing and the hardest worker in the room. Just ask her.

    1. I am hearing from reliable sources that Mary Fitzgerald is already starting to run for SDGOP chair—

      1. I kind of doubt that. It’s not a job I’d wish on anybody. Mary knows that she takes enough arrows being a county chair, and I haven’t heard any reports she wants to hold onto the lightning rod.

        1. I have a ton of respect for Mary as a legislator and leading the Republican Party. Not sure what all the bashing is about, but I appreciate her hard work for the state and party.

  12. Where’s Noem in all of this? As the head of the party – shouldn’t she be cracking some skulls right now?!

    1. At the last REAL central committee meeting, she tried explaining that the party needs to remember who the adversary is, that we are all on the same team.
      It didn’t work.
      They didn’t listen.
      They are too busy promoting their personal agendas. They don’t want to raise money or get Republicans elected, and they are annoyed when told that’s the job they signed up for. They aren’t going to do that, because the county leaders they ousted didn’t train them and the old precinct committee people didn’t turn over their files (what files?)
      Everything is somebody else’s fault.

      These people all need to be in a 12-step program.

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