South Dakota
South Dakota Dems Have a Theory About Kristi Noem’s Flackery
Kristi Noem’s smile set political teeth chattering across South Dakota and the nation this week. Her feet soon followed.
The Republican governor’s odd infomercial-style post about an out-of-state dentist that did work on her mouth, followed by a video endorsing a shoe company, has some locals scratching their heads and wondering if she’s trying to get the attention of one Donald Trump—who hasn’t yet picked a running mate.
“It’s so hard to know these days where she’s getting direction and inspiration, but I have to believe Trump or Noem’s and her staff’s desire to please Trump are behind it somehow,” said Kevin Woster, a longtime political reporter with South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
“Or maybe it’s simply Noem’s need to look better for the national spotlight she seems to crave, although I thought her smile was just fine before.”
Brian Bengs, a retired Air Force colonel who ran as a Democrat for a U.S. Senate seat and lost in 2022, had the same theory.
“Not only will this increase her chances of being selected as Trump’s running mate, but I believe it was done precisely for that reason,” he said.
He noted that Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway endorsed Ivanka Trump’s fashion products in a 2017 television interview leading to a sales bump.
“There was a firestorm about the clear ethics violation and the president backed her up to preclude any disciplinary action,” Bengs said. “Kristi is demonstrating that she has no reservations about shilling any Trump or Trump ally’s product as vice president. He now knows she will help him make more money as president.”
Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
It’s not clear if Noem is on Trump’s shortlist for vice president, but her ardent support of him—remember the Mount Rushmore fireworks show for him?—and her full-fledged embrace of MAGA has certainly raised her national profile.
Which is why national headlines followed when she posted a video on Facebook, X, Truth Social, and Instagram this week of a dental procedure she had done in Texas to repair damage from a bike accident.
“I love my new family at Smile Texas!” Noem wrote on her personal, not official, account. “The video says it all, and I am so grateful for their help fixing my smile for me.
“The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in, and that really is a gift that I think is going to be incredibly special to have. I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they’re the best.”
Ethical questions were immediately raised. A consumer advocacy group, Travelers United, filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C, alleging she was advertising a product “without disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company.”
Then on Thursday, Noem posted a video endorsing a South Dakota shoe called Fit My Feet, saying they did “amazing work to make custom insoles.”
“Just wait… I’m gonna be so fast!” she wrote.
State Sen. Reynold Nesiba, one of just 11 Democrats in the 105-member South Dakota Legislature, called on the Government Operations & Audit Committee, which he serves on, to look into the matter.
“I just thought it was a very strange video about how much she enjoyed having her teeth done at that particular place,” Nesiba told the Associated Press.
Northern State University political science professor Jon Schaff said he was surprised by the uproar.
“This whole thing strikes me as a proverbial tempest in a teapot. I wish that the biggest problem facing South Dakota is who whitens the governor’s teeth,” Schaff said. “Noem is getting national attention as a potential running mate for Donald Trump. Her opponents are grasping at anything to rough her up.”
But he acknowledged that by his memory, no other South Dakota politician had done anything like Noem’s flackery.
“I think it is odd that a sitting governor would engage in a kind of product endorsement more typical of a celebrity or an athlete,” Schaff said. “I don’t know that I would call it improper, which suggests unethical, but perhaps governors should be more statesmanlike rather than using their notoriety to sell a commercial product.”
State Rep. Linda Duba, a Sioux Falls Democrat, pointed out that Noem also endorsed a Spearfish coffee shop, Common Grounds, on Thursday. And she noted that her attention-getting posts came ahead of a trip to Ohio to appear at a rally with Trump.
“She can show off her new teeth,” Duba quipped.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial among USA TODAY’s best scenic views
Explore Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, named one of USA TODAYs Most Treasured Views in America for 2025.
Few states can boast of a culture and history as closely tied to its Native American heritage as South Dakota.
The state has the nation’s fourth-highest per capita population of Native Americans, and about one in ten of the residents in its second-largest city — Rapid City, gateway to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills for millions of annual visitors — are Native American.
The state can claim historical Native American luminaries like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bill and modern ones like the late activist Russell Means, Olympian Billy Mills, author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and Mato Wayuhi, an actor, composer and performer who wrote the score for Hulu’s “Reservation Dogs.”
It’s the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, but also the American Indian Movement of the 1970s and its occupation of Wounded Knee. More recently, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe drew international attention to protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline just north of the South Dakota border and etched the phrase “Water is Life” into the cultural lexicon.
Those tribal ties help draw tourists. A survey from South Dakota Tourism in 2018 found that around 80% of visitors want a Native American “experience” during their stay. Yet the state’s nine tribal nations typically don’t see much from the billions in economic impact that tourism delivers to the state.
The South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance formed in 2019 to help bridge that divide. The nonprofit organization trains tour guides, plans tribal tour itineraries and works to develop tourism infrastructure in tribal communities.
Recently, it secured one of 10 J.M. Kaplan Innovation Prize awards, earning it $175,000 and connecting it with other early stage nonprofits across the U.S. for collaboration and guidance.
South Dakota Searchlight recently spoke with Rhea Waldman, South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance’s executive director, and Sarah Kills In Water, a Rosebud Sioux tribal member and member of the group’s board of directors.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What can you tell us about what you’ve done so far? Can you give us an update on your economic catalyst tours?
Kills in Water: We worked with Destination America and developed multi-reservation tours, a multi-day tour that started in the Black Hills. They came through Pine Ridge, spent two days on Rosebud and went up to Standing Rock. They ended up marketing that itinerary to a company called Trafalgar, which operates heavily in South Dakota. So that was one major win.
Our tour guide training came up out of a need for another initiative that we worked on, helping the Sicangu Oyate Treaty Council and the Wild Foundation host the Wild 12 conference last year. They brought in people from all over the world, and they wanted to hear from our youth on questions like “How is the mining in the Black Hills going to impact your youth for the next seven generations, for the foreseeable future?”
So we went to engage with the Sicangu Youth Council, and they jumped on the opportunity. They provided a tour experience for a group of 50 international visitors at Bear Butte State Park. The kids were excited, and they were wanting to expand and do more, and so I brought them into my Trafalgar itinerary this year. They actually do the tours on Rosebud when Trafalgar comes through.
What’s lacking in the tourism landscape today that your organization aims to improve upon?
Kills In Water: The cultural piece is so important. Having these experiences with us, provided by us, told in our voices, our stories, everything, it makes it more personal, and I think it brings the realization to our visitors that these people are still here. After all the years of government oppression and everything that’s been done to them, they’re still here, and they’re still vibrant.
Tribal people sometimes have a really bad idea when they think about tourism. They think we’re selling our culture, but that’s not what we’re doing. All we’re here to do is help tribal nations define what stories they want to tell. What do you want to share with your visitors?
Waldman: South Dakota Tourism has been a great partner for us, and really helped us, because obviously they have a lot of data. One of those data points is that over 80% of people want to have a Native American experience when they visit South Dakota. Not even half of them actually do, though. So why don’t they do that? It’s because people don’t know where to go, where to find information.
What are the hidden gems that are already there that you point people to?
Waldman: Every tribal nation has their own gems. The tribes along the river have some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. Cheyenne River has one of the biggest buffalo herds in North America. There are cultural centers that have phenomenal art, that are showcasing local artists and the breadth of the history that Native Americans have experienced.
One of the challenges comes when you think about the great American road trip. When you’re on Interstate 90 between Sioux Falls and Rapid City, none of the reservations really are right there. I live in Pierre, and even though we’re the state capital, it is actually hard to get people out here. It’s because we are 35 miles from the interstate, so it takes you at least an hour and a half to travel there and back. So how much can you see here in order for people to come? That’s even worse for the reservations, because they are not the capital, and people don’t necessarily know all the things they can do.
What is it that this grant in particular might help you do?
Kills in Water: The nine tribal nations in our state are so geographically spread out. We don’t always have the resources to get out and go to these tribal nations ourselves. I live in Rosebud, and unless there’s gas money or something tied to it, sometimes I can’t just go to Flandreau. Pine Ridge is close enough where I can volunteer my time, because they’re only an hour and a half from us. With these funds, I see us increasing our partnerships with each tribal nation and really strengthening our efforts that way at the grassroots level.
Waldman: The grant is unrestricted, and that is huge. We’re all aware of travel reimbursement after the fact, but if you’re living in a place where you’re maybe living paycheck to paycheck and you don’t have a thriving business yet, waiting for travel reimbursement can take a while. If you do something like gift cards for gas, that is definitely not something that you can reimburse with federal grants.
And we’re not only getting money. There are 10 different organizations that receive this innovation grant, and we are meeting with them frequently. We can learn from those other amazing entrepreneurs. In addition, the entire team at the JM Kaplan Fund are there to help us succeed, because they know they are funding early stage nonprofits. They’re there with us every step of the way. Yes, money is great and we still need more, but having people that rally for you, that are there for you, that are your family and want to see you succeed, that is really special.
This Q&A was originally published on South Dakota Searchlight. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Video: Kirk Ferentz reacts to Iowa’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Vanderbilt
Kirk Ferentz meets with media after Iowa football’s 34-27 win over Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
IOWA CITY — South Dakota transfer running back L.J. Phillips Jr. has committed to Iowa football, he announced on Jan. 11.
Phillips had a breakout 2025 season, rushing for more than 1,900 yards, along with 19 touchdowns. He also added 28 catches for 195 yards receiving and one touchdown. Phillips was named a second-team FCS All-American by Phil Steele.
Phillips, listed at 5-foot-9 and 225 pounds, will come to Iowa with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
After rushing for more than 4,100 yards in his high school career, Phillips spent three seasons at South Dakota. During his time with the Coyotes, Phillips rushed for nearly 2,220 yards, along with 23 touchdowns. A majority of that production came in 2025. Phillips rushed for 96 yards while maintaining his redshirt in 2023 and then 176 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2024.
But his numbers exploded last season with some ridiculous performances. Phillips rushed 35 times for 301 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Colorado. He had four rushing touchdowns in two separate games. That includes a 244-yard, four-touchdown outing against Murray State. Phillips finished the season averaging 6.5 yards per rush.
Iowa has seen a pair of departures via the transfer portal in its running back room — Jaziun Patterson and Terrell Washington Jr. Patterson ranked third on the Hawkeyes in rushing yards during the 2025 season with 296.
Iowa still projects to have a talented running back room for the 2026 season. Kamari Moulton, who led Iowa with 878 rushing yards last season, still has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Nathan McNeil showed potential in his true freshman season. Xavier Williams tallied 285 yards on the ground as a redshirt freshman.
And now, Iowa adds another weapon to that room in Phillips. The Hawkeyes’ running back unit looks to be stacked entering the 2026 season.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the name of the woman who was killed in a fatal crash in Minnehaha County last week.
64-year-old Patricia Archambeau of Mitchell died on January 5 due to her injuries in a crash that took place in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.
Archambeau’s 2012 Chevrolet Traverse was traveling eastbound on I-90 near mile marker 379, about four miles west of Humboldt, when she attempted to pull off on the side of the road.
At the same time, the Traverse was struck by a semi-truck, also traveling eastbound, and pulling a trailer. The truck continued driving east after the crash and has yet to be located.
On Sunday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol released two images of the semi-truck suspected of hitting Archambeau’s Traverse. The two photos were taken on I-29 near 41st Street in Sioux Falls at 2:25 a.m., about 12 minutes after the crash west of Humboldt.
Highway Patrol is seeking more information about a red Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck, missing its passenger-side headlight. If anyone has information, they’re asked to contact Highway Patrol at 605-367-5700.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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