Had a lot of chatter and tips this week that seems to circle back to an organization I’ve recently written about, the Patriot Ripple Effect Group/Political Action Committee based out of Sioux Falls. The group is chaired by Adam Broin, with former Minnehaha GOP Chair Dave Roetman serving as treasurer and main contact for the committee.
I’m told that new Sioux Falls at-large city council candidate Bobbi Andera is a very politically conservative recruit of this group in one of their first forays into finding candidates. She is running to take on incumbent Janet Brekke for one of the at-large Sioux Falls City Council spots. (City Council race watchers should also be aware that word is also that a not-so-hard-right candidate with broad based support will also be getting in the race.)
But even more interesting, I’m also being told that this race was NOT Andera’s first choice. I was told last night that she was originally recruited to run in a primary election against State Representatives Sue Peterson and Richard Thomason in whatever ends up as the reconfigured District 13 legislative district. And that information was in the wild as much as 2-3 months ago, and the switch to City Council is only a very recent development.
The word is that the intent was to try to take out Thomason because there are those who view him as not being one of the hard right members of the Sioux Falls legislative delegation. And the group has eyes on replacing several incumbents they see as not following their dogma.
Where are they coming from in philosophy? You might say that it is reflected by the Ripple Effect’s participation in the anti-incumbent rally this summer.. not to mention the COVID anti-vax protest they recently helped sponsor across the street from the Sanford Hospital.
Now that brings me up to this afternoon. In conjunction with tracking down some calls being made by one of the leaders of this group in the race for AG, I’m told that the Patriot Ripple Effect group is ALSO recruiting for Republican Party precinct positions in hopes of influencing candidate selection.
While legislative races are selected in primaries among Republicans in the population at large, this push for precinct people is a very big deal for Constitutional office candidates; those offices from Lt. Governor down through Public Utilities Commission, as those delegates are the ones who directly select those offices at the State Republican Convention which will be in Watertown next June.
In recruiting for precinct slots, with enough people they could hold sway over who wins the contested races at the next Republican Convention. Which at the moment are currently Attorney General & Commissioner of School & Public Lands. But, there could be more in this environment of political conflict.
The number of precinct people I was given was that they may be hoping to recruit was around 250 precinct people statewide to help forward their agenda.
With precinct people, that group can also further influence races, as party committee precinct people are the ones who make the replacement selections if legislative candidates drop out of running during the election cycles. Of course, wielding that influence also continues in races in late 2022/early 2023 for county party officials.
It’s hard to guess whether the group is going to gain any traction or influence.
But, unless you are looking for the state legislature to turn into a complete sh*t show like the Rapid City School Board, it’s a good reminder.
If you want to be represented by the best candidates with broad-based support, the world is ran by those who show up.
So be a part of the solution for good government, and make sure you’re showing up. Volunteer, vote, and even better, give running for office a try.
Your community will be far better off if you do.
The Ripple group will the end of the Republican Party. It’s no wonder Independent registration is in the rise. I hope there is enough sanity in the state to out these nut cases out to pasture.
Except the people at the top, who only show-up to pick-up their fiat currency from the printing presses.
But participating in the GOP in order that conservative ideas make it into the fray seems like a worthwhile strategy.
I can’t help but wonder who this message is directed toward. Christians?
I’ve always preferred BBQ chips to Ripple chips.
so this Ripple Effect group plans to recruit 250 precinct committee men & women to go to the convention on its last day, so they won’t pay a cent for the convention space, costing the party the expense of accommodating them, and then they will disappear, never to be seen again.
Perhaps some of these people do not understand that the duties of a precinct committee person go beyond showing up for one day at the convention.
They are supposed to attend the county meetings, conduct political campaigns in their precincts, compile and update voter lists, contact the voters in their districts, etc.
We might throw in the responsibility of arranging rides to the polls. In any case, candidates for these positions should be advised that if they don’t want to do the job, they shouldn’t try to get it.
If we don’t get more engagement out of the precinct committee men and women, the party should change some bylaws.
Hi Anne;
Is it reasonable to think that one cause of people not showing up beyond initial meetings is that they are proffering what might be thought of as non-main-stream ideas?
[rest redacted, because completely off-topic -pp]
The job of the precinct committee person is outlined in the state party bylaws. And it is a JOB. It doesn’t pay anything, but it is a job. It is supposed to be performed under the direction of the county party chairman.
Unfortunately, candidates for constitutional offices will go into counties where there is nobody interested in forming a county party central committee and recruit precinct people. If these people were actually interested in supporting the party, they would call a meeting within their county and form a central committee. They could be the ones holding the meetings you think they don’t want to attend. The positions are open, to be filled by anybody who wants to show up. They could become county party chairs and vice chairs and promote all the non-mainstream ideas they want.
But the fact is, these precinct people from leader-less counties aren’t the least bit interested in building the party.
The only reason they pursue the precinct positions is so they can go to the convention, cost the state party a bunch of money to accommodate them, and then disappear. They view their role as disruptive, not productive. Even if they get their candidate nominated, they won’t do anything to get him elected.
Some things need to change.