South Dakota

Opinion | In South Dakota, the GOP war on democracy hits a wall

Published

3 years ago

June 8, 2022

Opinion | In South Dakota, the GOP war on democracy hits a wall

In case you care about democracy — not whether or not your facet wins the following election, however the way forward for the American system of presidency — these are darkish instances.

The concept of majority rule is underneath relentless assault, and it’s arduous to really feel optimistic that the general public cares that a lot. In case you attempt to encourage them to confront threats to foundational American values, they’re prone to let you know that they care extra about fuel costs.

However every now and then, there are tiny glimmers of hope — indications that even in Republican states, there are limits to the assaults on democracy that folks will tolerate. On Tuesday, we noticed one such glimmer in South Dakota.

It’s a deeply Republican state; former president Donald Trump gained it by overwhelming margins twice. However by a powerful 2-to-1 margin, voters there simply rejected an initiative placed on the poll by Republicans meant to make sure that poor folks in South Dakota will stay with out well being protection it doesn’t matter what residents of the state need.

The story begins with the Inexpensive Care Act’s growth of Medicaid, which has been a smashing success. Not solely has it introduced health-care protection to thousands and thousands of People, nevertheless it has additionally produced a spread of different advantages, together with positively affecting financial development and state stability sheets.

But 12 Republican-run states have refused the growth for an unpleasant amalgam of ideological causes: They don’t like authorities offering companies; they don’t assume poor folks deserve health-care protection; they usually nonetheless need to stick it to former president Barack Obama.

However activists in South Dakota teed up a poll initiative to drive the state to just accept the growth, which can seem on the poll in November. If it passes, South Dakota will grow to be the seventh state the place Republican legislators blocked Medicaid growth however the voters authorized it (together with Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Utah).

So the GOP responded by including a measure to the first poll — for which largely Republicans prove to vote — that may have required future initiatives to get a supermajority of 60 % to win. There was by no means any doubt it focused the Medicaid initiative; one GOP chief explicitly mentioned this was the rationale.

But it failed badly. What does that inform us?

One lesson Republicans may draw: In the event that they need to take energy away from residents, they’ll have extra success doing it by means of establishments — particularly legislatures and the courts — over which they’ve management, relatively than letting voters weigh in on whether or not to abdicate their very own affect.

That’s what Republicans have performed somewhere else, the place they’ve undertaken post-hoc efforts to nullify voter initiatives they don’t like. One repugnant case occurred in Florida, the place by a 30-point margin, voters handed an initiative in 2018 to revive voting rights to folks with felony convictions who had served their time. So Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-run legislature handed a invoice requiring them to pay each cent of courtroom prices, fines and charges earlier than voting rights could be restored — in impact, a ballot tax stopping folks from voting in the event that they don’t have the cash to pay it.

In lots of instances ex-felons couldn’t even discover out what cash they owed as a result of the state made it so tough. The entire scheme was ultimately rubber-stamped by a federal appeals courtroom dominated by judges appointed by Trump.

One other instance comes from Missouri. Voters authorized a Medicaid growth in 2020. Then the legislature refused to allocate the comparatively modest amount of cash the state needed to contribute (the federal authorities picks up 90 % of the associated fee), stopping the initiative from taking impact.

One Republican legislator justified the motion this manner: “Rural Missouri mentioned no.” In different phrases, a multiracial majority of the state’s voters should yield to the votes of a White minority, whose will is the one one which issues. In the long run, the state Supreme Court docket ordered the state to adjust to the voter initiative.

That results in one other lesson for Republicans: Once they assault democracy, they’ll solely get their voters to line up behind the assault in the event that they characterize it as a battle of us in opposition to them. It’s more durable to do this with Medicaid (which is enormously standard) than with gerrymandering or voter suppression, which contain direct conflicts between Republicans and Democrats.

If and when Medicaid growth passes in South Dakota, the ruling Republicans will in all probability grumble and transfer on. They won’t like the thought of poor folks being rather less depressing, however so long as the broader venture of undermining democracy so Republicans can rule even after they’re within the minority retains its momentum, issues are nonetheless going their method.

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South Dakota

South Dakota Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life results for Jan. 8, 2025

Published

4 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

South Dakota Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life results for Jan. 8, 2025

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Jan. 8, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Jan. 8 drawing

01-20-36-38-43, Powerball: 24, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Jan. 8 drawing

13-14-24-37-38, Lucky Ball: 13

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from Jan. 8 drawing

04-15-33-39-41, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Dakota Cash numbers from Jan. 8 drawing

05-15-25-26-33

Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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South Dakota

Noem’s former opponent heading back to Pierre as she prepares to leave • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

12 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Noem’s former opponent heading back to Pierre as she prepares to leave • South Dakota Searchlight

SIOUX FALLS — Three years ago, Kristi Noem kept her job in Pierre, and Jamie Smith left. Now the situation is reversed.

Kind of like Smith predicted.

“Everyone knew she had national ambitions,” he said Wednesday.

Smith, a Democrat, gave up his legislative seat in 2022 and ran against Noem, a Republican, who wound up winning a second term as governor.

Now Noem is preparing to leave South Dakota for Washington, D.C., where she is nominated to serve as secretary of Homeland Security under President-elect Donald Trump. Her nomination hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Smith, meanwhile, won a state Senate seat in a Sioux Falls district during November’s election. He’ll go back to Pierre on Tuesday for the start of the annual legislative session, where he’ll serve as Senate assistant minority leader.

Addressing members of Change Agents at a Sioux Falls library, Smith acknowledged the challenges he and the other Democrats face in the Legislature. They’re outnumbered 96-9 by Republicans.

“We are very limited in what we can do this year, with the number of Democrats that we have in the Legislature,” Smith said. “We are essentially left playing defense.”

Democrats lose ground in Legislature, but pick up seat in longtime Republican district

Members of Change Agents, formed in 2021, say they support pragmatic candidates and oppose extremist rhetoric and policies. Founders include former Sioux Falls Mayor Rick Knobe, financial planner Mike Huber and entrepreneur Craig Brown.

After the meeting, Smith told South Dakota Searchlight why he came back to politics.

“Because I truly believe that I have the skills to try and help people,” he said. “I do believe that one person can make a difference for the people of South Dakota.”

Smith said finding ways to build relationships across the aisle will be crucial for Democrats this session, like the one he said he built with incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, based partly on a simple starting point.

“We share a birthday,” Smith said.

Outlining his priorities, Smith said he plans to introduce a bill that would end incarceration for drug ingestion in South Dakota. South Dakota’s ingestion law is the only one in the nation that allows prosecutors to charge people with felony drug possession for a failed drug test.

Instead, he advocates for expanding treatment programs and diversion efforts, calling incarceration for ingestion punitive and ineffective.

Smith also addressed his desire to amend the state’s abortion ban, his opposition to Noem’s $4 million proposal to fund private and homeschool education, and his resistance to raising sales taxes as a means of lowering property taxes.

South Dakota’s near-total abortion ban allows an exception only to save the life of the mother and lacks clear definitions, said Smith, who called the ban “cruel and unusual.”

“We need to stop it,” he said.

Smith said women’s health care is a top priority for Democrats, but they don’t currently have a bill to increase access to abortion. He said some members want to introduce bills to expand exceptions beyond the life of the mother, while others are arguing for a broader abortion access ballot measure. Voters rejected an abortion-rights measure in November.

Smith also criticized a proposal from some Republicans to reduce property taxes by increasing sales taxes, calling it a potentially unfair shift that could disproportionately impact low-income people.

Smith attacked Noem’s $4 million plan for education savings accounts, calling it a voucher program that would divert public dollars to private schools and homeschoolers. Smith said the program would lack accountability, because alternative schools and homeschoolers are not required to follow the same transparency, testing and other standards as public schools.

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South Dakota

Court documents reveal more details about the Yankton man accused of murder

Published

20 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

Court documents reveal more details about the Yankton man accused of murder

YANKTON S.D. (KTIV) -Court documents are now revealing more details about the man accused of murdering his girlfriend, last week.

In December of 2021, 32-year-old Craig Allen Nichols Jr. of Yankton, South Dakota was charged with four counts of felony aggravated assault and four counts of simple assault in Minnehaha County.

Craig Allen Nichols Jr. was arrested on several charges related to a death in Yankton, S.D.(Yankton County Sheriff)

Documents say Nichols reportedly used a taser to assault another man, resulting in injury. Nichols was found not guilty by reason of insanity in June of 2023 and then committed to the Human Services Center, located in Yankton, for treatment.

Records report Nichols was released from the center in August of 2024.

As previously reported, Nichols is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and two counts of contempt of court, after he was taken into custody by Yankton officials and accused of murdering 41-year-old Heather Bodden on Thursday, January 2.