South Dakota
Noem dodges CNN questions on abortion exceptions and election certification • South Dakota Searchlight
Gov. Kristi Noem appeared Sunday on CNN and declined to say whether she supports additional abortion-ban exceptions or whether she would have certified the results of the 2020 election.
The only exception in South Dakota’s abortion ban is for the “life of the pregnant female.” CNN “State of the Union” co-host Dana Bash asked if there should be exceptions for victims of rape and incest.
Noem did not give a definitive answer but said, “I just don’t believe a tragedy should perpetuate another tragedy,” and added that she will focus on “walking alongside” prospective mothers in crisis situations.
Noem doesn’t address exceptions but calls Trump’s abortion statement ‘exactly right’
“I’ll continue to do that and love mothers and families through these situations,” she said.
Noem also said “every state’s going to look different,” echoing recent comments by former President Donald Trump, who is considering Noem as a running mate in the 2024 presidential race. Earlier this month, Trump declined to support a national abortion ban and said the issue should be left to the states.
Trump also said he supports exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
On CNN, Noem said South Dakota’s abortion ban “was passed decades before I ever became governor.” In fact, lawmakers passed South Dakota’s trigger ban in 2005, 13 years before Noem became governor and two years before her time as a legislator. The ban immediately took effect in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a prior precedent establishing a constitutional right to an abortion.
Regarding the 2020 election, Bash asked Noem if she would have certified the results as then-Vice President Mike Pence did on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters violently attempted to stop the certification.
Noem gave a lengthy response but never answered the question.
“Talking in hypotheticals is not something that I do,” Noem said, in part. “I deal with the reality of what I’m dealing with today and every single day. And what I’m going to do from now until we get to November is continue to go across this country and talk to people about Donald Trump.”
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South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
News
Agronomist: eastern South Dakota crops hit and miss
An agronomist in eastern South Dakota says corn and soybeans are hit and miss as the growing season begins.
Steven Zemlicka with AgTegra Cooperative tells Brownfield, “We’ve got corn anywhere from V1 all the way up to V4. Biggest stuff’s maybe touching V5. Corn’s coming right along, looks pretty good. A little bit of hail here too, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue. Stands for the most part are pretty good, pretty solid.”
Zemlicka says soybean emergence has been slow due to the wet, cool conditions, and there are a few fields that still need planted.
“People were still working on planting soybeans when we got the recent rain.”
He says recent rain totals ranged from a half inch to as much as four inches in the northeast part of South Dakota; the southern part of the state has been drier.
South Dakota’s corn is rated 61 percent good to excellent, with soybean conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s first condition ratings of the season.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Community Foundation is encouraging nonprofits to apply for funding this June.
Beth Massa and Ginger Niemann joined us live with what you need to know before applying.
Watch the full interview above.
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