I know I’d mentioned a time or two that the Minnehaha County malcontents who tried to remove Chairman Korry Petterson have no authority under party bylaws to do so. And it appears that (once again) I’ve been proven right, as the State Republican Party Executive Board had to concede the fact in a facebook post last night.
If you have forgotten, on October 28th, the Vice Chair Marsha Symens had sent out an e-mail to members noting in part:
Included in this correspondence is the official censure of Chairman Petterson. As a result of this action, the Minnehaha County Central Committee has voted to remove Chairman Petterson from his position, effective immediately. In accordance with our bylaws, Vice Chairman Symens will assume the role of Chair.
Despite the fact there’s nothing that says they can do that. It’s my understanding per reports I’d heard that the Minnehaha people were then pigeonholing some of the executive board to uphold their position.
And guess what? By a majority vote, that didn’t happen.
An Executive Board meeting of the South Dakota Republican Party was held the evening of November 10th, 2025, with 11 of 12 members attending, to address the recent vote in Minnehaha County to remove their Chairman.
It was the majority voice of the Executive Board that our bylaws do not allow for the removal of duly elected officers by going to Roberts Rules of Order for guidance in the matter.
If the South Dakota Republican Party is to have a process for removing officers, it will require a bylaws amendment to be passed by a properly convened body of the State Central Committee.
Read that here. For some reason they had to wait to announce it until they could make a graphic featuring the former 32-year Democrat & Obama supporter currently in charge of the SDGOP.
As noted, they made this decision by a majority vote. Although, if I were a betting man, I’m guessing Tom Pischke was a dissenting vote, since the people who are no longer in charge after their brief insurrection ended were his allies.
And it looks like the Minnehaha County Republican organization can get back to their business of being completely useless and dysfunctional, save for entertainment purposes.
(When exactly was that Minnehaha County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner this year?)
Marshal Seemans. Bridesmade (Bridget) and Tom Pissem are just fools, then there is Jennifer “the witch” Foss and thr Goofy Myers Club that arr mad that Minnehaha has turned on them. Wr see thru their b.s. these 20 people are clowns, and should be voted out of the party
When is the Real Republican Party going to reconstitute and start getting some stuff done? These RINOs in the culture war clubs disguised as “county parties” are just goofs. Complete goofs, people.
When are we going to bring back sensible leaders?
Oh wait — we can’t. Because anyone with sense doesn’t want the job anymore. Who would, when you have to deal with the same handful of people dragging the county through the mud every few months?
You can’t build a serious political organization when every meeting turns into an ego contest between the same loud personalities who think shouting the word “bylaws” is the same thing as understanding them. It’s the same crew, same chaos, different week — each convinced they’re the hero of the story while all they’ve really done is make it unrecognizable to anyone who still takes the party seriously.
The Minnehaha County GOP used to mean something. It was about teamwork, accountability, and actually winning elections. Now it’s two rival fan clubs fighting over a folding chair, each one preaching integrity while tripping over their own rulebooks.
And just when you think it can’t get more absurd, you hop on Facebook and see the usual suspects crying, “This decision STINKS of collusion, manipulation, and bribes. Can votes be influenced by money? Like money given to groups OUTSIDE of Minnehaha County in 2024? Think BIGGER and follow the money!”
At this point, it’s not politics — it’s performance art.
If this were happening anywhere else, we’d call it satire.
The truth is simple: it’s time to disorganize Minnehaha County GOP completely. Start over. Wipe it clean. The grown-ups have left the room, and all that’s left are two factions arguing over who gets the last crayon. Bring back people who understand leadership, respect process, and care about the mission instead of the drama.
Because sensible leadership isn’t extinct — it’s just hiding from the circus these folks created. And honestly, who can blame it?
It’s time to get rid of state wide parties in their entirety. It is an outdated system that gives way to the good ol boys club. Except it has now given way to the tinfoil hat society. Unless someone is involved in politics, they don’t even realize there isn’t a primary for our constitutional officers. People are genuinely shocked when this process is explained to them.
A good turnout to the state convention is what, roughly 500 people. The most recent estimate of SDs population I can find is 924,669. These constitutional offices have been held by republicans for, well, forever. That means that these offices will be decided by around 0.06% of SDs population. Let’s even say that 1000 people turn up for the convention. Then a whopping 0.1% of the population picks who fills these offices. That. Is. Insane.
Time for primaries. For everyone. And problem solved.
You’re not wrong — the system’s outdated and the numbers prove it. But scrapping the party altogether isn’t the answer. We still need an organized team to recruit candidates, fundraise, and actually win elections. The problem isn’t the existence of a party — it’s the people running it like it’s a middle school popularity contest.
The convention setup gives power to the loudest room instead of the smartest voices. That’s how we end up with chaos instead of leadership. If we want voters to take the GOP seriously again, it starts with cleaning house — not burning it down.
Right now, the “grassroots” are busy tearing up the roots and wondering why nothing’s growing.
I am a precinct committee person in Minnehaha County, and rest assured, the small minority that showed up at this meeting do not represent the majority of the Minnehaha County Republicans. Most of our meetings are conducted in a timely, respectful, professional manner. There is simply a small minority led by a few, that want to raise chaos because they cannot gain full support for their initiatives and chosen candidates. Most of us know, that we can get 20% of the members together to call a special meeting, but we also know we need to submit that request to the Chairman, who has to set the time, date, manner, and agenda for the meeting, while further, we know he has to delegate to the Vice Chair to act in his absence. We also understand, to remove any member of the elected board, we must follow parliamentary procedure as set by Robert Rules of Order, which calls for a public hearing to allow the board member to face his accuser(s) giving him or her a chance to make his case for or against the issues brought to our attention. Since this did not happen in the proper manner, the State Party cannot honor the business of the meeting this past month. All this meeting was a get together, a group of 20+ members getting together to drink beer, smoke pot shots, and unofficially, discuss politics of the county affairs. There are roughly 120 members elected as part of the Minnehaha County Republicans, to which, a good majority of us are on the same page as far as how to spend the money, what initiatives to support, and who we wish to support as far as candidates. The small minority that are upset, are simply mad cause they cannot convince 66% of the membership to see it there way, so they start chaos at our meetings, and start internal wars among the full membership. I would ask Mr. Pischke, why he fails to participate at executive meetings, but aligns himself with a small faction of our party, when he was elected by the majority of our membership last January. I believe most of the time, our official meeting conducted fairly, professionally, and respectively, and for the most part we are all getting along. The last official meeting, I guess I assumed all was good, everyone cooperated nicely, and the meeting was awesome. But then we find out a small minority are still upset and held this special meeting, and did so knowing it was not the correct manner. Please, do not judge all of us by the actions of a few. If we are truly a “republic”, then we act as one, while standing on the land, we call Minnehaha County. In all due respect, I urge everyone to respectively find a way to come together the best we can. Even where we disagree. I urge both the Established Politicians and the Grassroots Citizens to come together to adopt a resolution to put bygones behind us.
Thankyou,
Precinct 5-18 (male)
but the error you all made was believing that Roberts Rules of Order allow you to remove an office holder in spite of the state party’s bylaws.
if you google the subject, the AI response is quite clear that an organization’s bylaws “have higher authority (over Robert’s Rules of Order) and take precedence in case of a conflict.”
So you clowns can take your RROO and stick ’em where the sun doesn’t shine.
Truth is that the real authority lies with the people of each county. Article 27 explains it all. If your intent is to completely reconstruct your political state, you are to organize the people under each of the counties, elect precinct committeemen and women, legislative delegates under each district, thus organizing your political state to reinstitute the republic itself. By doing this, you organize a State Assembly, to which you then work in large part as a political state of free Americans (Nationals) to meet together in a Convention. Those convention delegates then adopt an ordinance, with the plan to reconstruct the state government, putting in place your at-large office holders – Governor, Lt. Governor, Auditor, Treasury, Secretary of State, Public Land and School Commissioner, while choosing at least one State Senator per each of the Legislative Districts, and two State House Representatives per each district themselves, while you by ordinance, choose your U.S Senators, U.S House Representatives, and U.S Elector for President. Each to serve a temporary two-year term, prior the first general election of the qualified voters. The goal of this provisional government is to restructure the state government, re-organize all the offices beneath that government, and to reconstruct your county governments, to whom reset, and organize the townships of each county. To better understand this, research, and understand the 1776 Declaration, the 1788 Ordinance, and Article 27 of your State Constitution itself.
– Sincerely,
Precinct 5-18
the canvassers are just mad the minnehaha county party wont sponsor any of hansens pizza ranch parties. they figured if they voted kory out they could have more pizza ranch.
What has either the SDGOP or the Minnehaha County Party done to help Republicans win elections? Neither raise money. Neither recruit or train campaign workers. Neither do anything except embarrass Republicans.
that’s why we won’t give them any money