Ellsworth Task Force Leaders Announced

MADISON, SD–Today, the Executive Board of the Legislature announced the Senate membership on the Ellsworth Task Force, which will explore current and future developments surrounding Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Senate members of the Ellsworth Task Force are Senator Michael Walsh (Chair) (R-35), Senator Red Dawn Foster (D-27), Senator Helene Duhamel (R-32), Senator Jean Hunhoff (R-18), and Crabtree.

The formation of this task force underscores South Dakota’s commitment to the continued success and viability of Ellsworth Air Force Base and the surrounding region.

Majority Leader Casey Crabtree expressed his confidence in the Senators selected to serve. “The Senate has made economic development in South Dakota a major priority,” said Majority Leader Crabtree. “We have the opportunity to strengthen America’s national security and grow prosperity for the surrounding region. These Senators understand the importance of Ellsworth Air Force Base to our state and nation.”

“Ellsworth Air Force Base is an integral part of the Rapid City community and a strategic location for our nation’s military,” said Task Force Chair Walsh. “I look forward to helping ensure that we as a state are doing everything possible to support the Ellsworth Air Force Base.”

Walsh was appointed to the vacant District 35 Senate seat by Governor Kristi Noem earlier this year. He is a Marine veteran, volunteers as a Key Spouse at Ellsworth Air Force Base, and is a volunteer boxing coach on the base. District 35 is home to the air base and Box Elder School District.

“I’m especially appreciative of Michael Walsh stepping up to chair the committee,” added Crabtree. “With the air base in his district along with past military service and time spent volunteering on base will help this group land the plane and stay on target.”

The Ellsworth Task Force will convene for its inaugural meeting with House members at an upcoming date. The Ellsworth Task Force plans to convene for meetings in Box Elder and Sioux Falls in the legislative interim period.

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The political action committee helmed by Hillary Clinton donor and former congressional candidate Liz May  – the Conservative Principles PAC – is busy pumping out advertisements on facebook in 30 state legislative primary contests across South Dakota, trying to curry favor among her people against others running, in what many might view as the list of candidates comprising the hard right in South Dakota, with many of them running against incumbent House and Senate members:

You can view the full list here.

Who all is being supported by Liz May’s political action committee (if the photos are too small)?

• Chris Reder (D1 House)
• Logan Manhart (D1 House)
• Dylan Jordan (D4 House)
• Vanessa Namken (D4 House)
• Josephine Garcia (D5 House)
• Aaron Aylward (D6 House)
• Wendi Hogan (D6 House)
• Jeff Struwe (D7 House)
• Matt Wagner (D8 House)
• Joy Hohn (D9 Senate)
• Tesa Schwans (D9 House)
• Bethany Soye (D9 House)
• John Kunnari (D11 House)
• Manny Steele (D12 House)
• John Hughes (D13 House)
• Tony Kayser (D14 House)
• Kevin Jensen (D16 Senate)
• Karla Lems (D16 House)
• Jeff Church (D17 Senate)
• Julie Auch (D18 House)
• Lee Qualm (D21 House ) – Watch your wallet.
• Tom Pischke (D25 Senate) 
• Travis Ismay – (D28B House)
• Sam Marty (D28 Senate)
• Kathy Rice (D29 House)
• Matt Smith (D30 House)
• Mark Mowry (D31 House)
• Heather Baxter (D34 House)
• Greg Blanc (D35 Senate); and
• Scott Odenbach (D31 House) who has a different ad under the PAC banner.

It’s a long list of candidates that Hillary Clinton donor May is using her Political Action Committee to pump up their campaign efforts, trying to be the king-maker.

Where’s all the Liz PAC cash coming from? In the past, she has put money into the PAC alongside Odenbach’s Liberty Tree PAC transferring $15k cash over, which we might assume is the reason he gets a more personally branded advertisement.

There are a lot of these candidates that are going to fall short in their efforts, as many represent the bottom of the barrel. Do Odenbach and May really expect that Mark Mowry is going to take out his District-mate Mary Fitzgerald? Or Manny Steele is going to somehow dodder past Amber Arlint and Greg Jamison in the D12 House race? Probably not.

But it begs watching to see what other investments they make into these campaigns this election season.

Was anyone else left scratching their head this morning after reading the latest story from the Dakota Scout?  In case you missed it, here’s the headline:

The headline blares GOP chair seeks to block challenge to Rep. Dusty Johnson. with the subheading Republican insiders worry rogue candidacy could give race to Democrats.

The problem? The main headline is a bit of a leap. And there’s absolutely nothing in the story providing substance to the subheading. Really, they could have added, “Republicans watching out for UFO’s,” and it would have been given the same number of column inches.   I asked a couple of party and campaign officials if they’d read it.  One pointed out “they buried the lede a bit,” referring to the actually important thing in the story – the felony investigation of Justin McNeal that’s being conducted by the Division of Criminal Investigation mentioned deeper in the story:

..in a letter to the Division of Criminal Investigation obtained by The Dakota Scout, Wiik asked that an investigation be opened into McNeal for allegedly violating state law when he circulated petitions as a Republican candidate. State law required McNeal to be a registered Republican, but Wiik accused McNeal of not registering as a Republican until Jan. 23. Petitions gathered before that violated an oath that candidate verify information they provided is correct. Falsified petitions could be punishable as a class-6 felony.

In a statement to The Dakota Scout, Tony Mangan, a spokesman for Attorney General Marty Jackley, verified his office received the complaint.

Again, read that here.

So, an investigation for a felony-level violation of South Dakota petition laws by a candidate is buried in the middle of a story?

I asked SDGOP Chairman John Wiik about it this morning, who pointed out that the SDGOP is just doing it’s part to maintain election integrity, and that “I’m not the insider worried about McNeal. I’m worried about election integrity.”  Having gone through this nonsense a number of years back with Annette Bosworth, making sure candidates get petitions right is a big deal to the SDGOP. I even taught a class for the party in 2021 for new candidates pointing out the importance of not screwing your petitions up, and making sure candidates do things by the book.  Not screwing your petitions up is a big deal.

What about these supposed insiders worrying about “a rogue candidacy giving the race to candidates” referred to in the headline?   The story does claim:

But the move has alarmed GOP officials, who fear that if McNeal, 40, made the General Election ballot, he could siphon off enough voters to throw the race to Democratic challenger Sheryl Johnson.

Same reference to read it.

Who exactly is saying this? Who are these “GOP officials?”  The thing is, I can find no party or campaign officials who have expressed any concern or worry about Justin McNeal. Any grumbling about him has been in reference to state party officials putting their foot down on rogue county party officials not doing the job they signed up for, supporting Republicans,  or in reference to McNeal’s alleged criminal violations in reference to his petitions. They’re not worried about a third party candidacy of someone who couldn’t make the ballot once, outside of the usual blocking and tackling they would do for any opposition candidate.

It’s like the author just pulled the headline out of thin air, while burying the felony investigation.  No one is worrying about a rogue candidacy. And as a party official noted to me, “Investigation and prosecution wouldn’t keep Justin off the ballot,” causing more head scratching over the headline of “GOP Chair seeks to block challenge” when one pauses to give it deeper thought.

It’s certainly their newspaper, and they can write what they care to. But this story seems to be focusing on palace intrigue that isn’t there, as opposed to a criminal investigation that’s very real.

Dakota News Now has a story tonight featuring former State Representative, and hopefully, future Sioux Falls City Councilman Richard Thomason, on his efforts to get out the vote as the campaign cruises into the final week of the election:

Thomason reflected on his campaign ahead of the runoff contest and said that nothing has changed for the messaging, but this upcoming election is a new playing field.

He said, “While we do have great momentum, you can’t let the foot off the gas pedal, you’ve got to keep going. Every day knocking on doors, making calls, meeting with people. We do enjoy the momentum, but we know that’s not stopping until 7:00 on April 30.”

and..

For the duration of Thomason’s campaign, Jamison has served as a mentor for him. As they’ve transitioned into the runoff portion, Jamison and Thomason discussed how they’ve moved into looking at the bigger picture behind having a council seat.

Jamison described how the biggest reality check he faced when on the council was the elaborate budget the city had for a variety of things, he’s taken his knowledge and provided Thomason with his best advice.

Read (and Watch) the entire story at Dakota News Now.

The Elkton School Board is apparently “having a meeting” after a convicted sex offender was invited to a classroom to speak with students:

The Elkton School Board will discuss a revision of guest policies after a sex offender was invited into a classroom as a guest speaker.

and..

According to Jandahl, the school board will be revising the guest policy so that the administration will have more oversight on who is invited into classrooms. The school board will also implement a policy that will allow them to ban non-student sex offenders from school grounds, school activities and property under control of the school.

Read the entire story here.

You hate to over react.. but I would have thought that not visiting schools would have been an automatic condition placed upon a convicted sex offender who as an element of their crime offended with a minor.  Or were just a sex offender, period.

Always good to see our elected officials being truthful with the public. And this occasion is State Senator Erin Tobin noting to the voters of her District what they need to know about the scorecard her opponent is waving around, the infamous Citizens for Liberty cherry picked nonsense scorecard.

This would be the same group that rated their lobbyist’s spouse at 100% after she was suspended and censured for harassing a legislative employee over breastfeeding and vaccinations. And not passing any legislation that year.

You can go to Senator Tobin’s facebook page here – share it all over.

If you’re interested in reading a more accurate scorecard on who is and who is not conservative, you can check out the Real Conservative Scorecard here.

Good gosh. What is it with politicos being accused of trying to strangle women?

First, it was Gordon Howie/Neal Tapio campaign supporter Shad Olson. Now, Sioux Falls city candidate.. or attempted city candidate.. David Zokaites has been accused of trying to injure some poor woman:

At Zokaites’ initial appearance hearing Tuesday, Minnehaha County prosecutor Kathleen Fulton said the allegations against Zokaites were that an argument between him and the woman became physical, and that he placed an exercise ball over her mouth and nose and put his body weight on it, preventing her from breathing for 30 seconds.

Victoria Reker, with the Minnehaha County Public Advocate’s Office, said Zokaites denied the allegations. Reker had asked the woman to leave his home after coming over while she was intoxicated, which had become a “pattern of behavior” that he had called police about before.

Read the entire story here.

 

Ellsworth Task Force Leaders Announced

MADISON, SD–Today, the Executive Board of the Legislature announced the Senate membership on the Ellsworth Task Force, which will explore current and future developments surrounding Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Senate members of the Ellsworth Task Force are Senator Michael Walsh (Chair) (D-35), Senator Red Dawn Foster (D-27), Senator Helene Duhamel (R-32), Senator Jean Hunhoff (R-18), and Majority Leader Casey Crabtree (R-8).

The formation of this task force underscores South Dakota’s commitment to the continued success and viability of Ellsworth Air Force Base and the surrounding region.

Majority Leader Casey Crabtree expressed his confidence in the Senators selected to serve. “The Senate has made economic development in South Dakota a major priority,” said Majority Leader Crabtree. “We have the opportunity to strengthen America’s national security and grow prosperity for the surrounding region. These Senators understand the importance of Ellsworth Air Force Base to our state and nation.”

“Ellsworth Air Force Base is an integral part of the Rapid City community and a strategic location for our nation’s military,” said Task Force Chair Walsh. “I look forward to helping ensure that we as a state are doing everything possible to support the Ellsworth Air Force Base.”

Walsh was appointed to the vacant District 35 Senate seat by Governor Kristi Noem earlier this year. He is a Marine veteran, volunteers as a Key Spouse at Ellsworth Air Force Base, and is a volunteer boxing coach on the base. District 35 is home to the air base and Box Elder School District.

“I’m especially appreciative of Michael Walsh stepping up to chair the committee,” added Crabtree. “With the air base in his district along with past military service and time spent volunteering on base will help this group land the plane and stay on target.”

The Ellsworth Task Force will convene for its inaugural meeting with House members at an upcoming date. The Ellsworth Task Force plans to convene for meetings in Box Elder and Sioux Falls in the legislative interim period.

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Attorney General Jackley Announces 11 Inmates Charged in State Penitentiary Disturbances 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley Tuesday announced that 11 inmates will face a combined 18 felony charges stemming from the March 27-28 disturbances at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.

The inmates face charges including aggravated assault, simple assault, damage to prison property, and starting fires within the prison. The charges were filed Tuesday in Minnehaha County Circuit Court.

“These were dangerous acts that injured two state correctional officers and caused significant damage to prison property,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Inmates found responsible will be held accountable for their actions.”

The 11 inmates and their charges are:

• Joshua David Vortherms, 45, two counts of Aggravated Assault Against a Department of Corrections employee; and two counts of Simple Assault Against a Department of Corrections employee.
• Lee David Bernard, 32, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• Taylor Dallas Cook, 22, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• Markos James Fernandez, 19, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• John Welsey Lovejoy, 25, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• Connor David Shockey, 20, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• Michael Chaske White, 50, one count of Intentional Damage to Property.
• James Ewing, 41, one count of Reckless Burning, and one count of Burning Within a Structure Where a Person is Lawfully Confined.
• Curtis Carpenter, 39, one count of Reckless Burning, and one count of Burning Within a Structure Where a Person is Lawfully Confined.
• Michael Hewitt, 41, one count of Reckless Burning, and and one count of Burning Within a Structure Where a Person is Lawfully Confined.
• Mahlon Kirkie, 35, one count of Reckless Burning, and and one count of Burning Within a Structure Where a Person is Lawfully Confined.

An initial court date for those charged has not yet been scheduled. They are presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.

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Gov. Noem and Colleagues Oppose Biden’s Pause on Liquified Natural Gas Exports

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem and 24 of her Republican colleagues issued a joint statement opposing the Biden Administration’s ban on approving applications to export liquified natural gas:

“As governors, we are very concerned by the Biden Administration’s move to pause approvals of new liquified natural gas (LNG) export projects, especially after Iran’s recent attack on Israel. The U.S. is the world’s leading exporter of LNG, and the decision to pause new approvals undermines our economic and national security, and the security of our allies.

“It creates instability and threatens future energy security throughout the world at a time when our allies need us the most. It sends a message that the U.S. is not a reliable energy partner.

“We call on the Biden Administration to reverse course and lift the pause, allowing America to retain its global energy advantage ensuring Americans and our allies abroad have access to a steady supply of affordable energy.”

“We stand with the people of Israel against this brazen and callous attack. Iran hates democracy, Freedom, and basic human rights – making them an enemy of Israel and the United States. I expect the Biden Administration to stand up for these shared principles and hold Iran accountable,” Governor Noem tweeted.

Governor Noem was joined by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.

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