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.
South Dakota
South Dakota House fails to pass bill requiring cash for school events. But it could come back
House Bill 1017, which would require school districts to accept cash payments for admission to school events, failed Thursday despite receiving 34 supporting votes and 32 dissenting votes on the House floor.
Two representatives — Republicans Jessica Bahmuller from Alexandria and Spencer Gosch from Glenham — were excused from the vote. There’s also two fewer legislators in the House after Tony Venhuizen became lieutenant governor and Herman Otten from District 6 declined to serve the term for which he was elected.
So, 34 wasn’t a high enough threshold to pass the bill on Thursday, even though it was the majority at the time.
Speaker of the House Jon Hansen said shortly after the vote that “the intent to reconsider is hereby noted,” so lawmakers may reconsider the bill per joint rule 5-11 on the next legislative day, Feb. 3.
That’s after Rep. John Sjaarda, R-Valley Springs, brought an amendment to limit HB 1017 to apply to events that aren’t sold out, remove the Board of Regents and Board of Technical Education from the legislation, and put a $200 maximum in the bill. That amendment passed in the House.
Sjaarda said he brought HB 1017 after seven large schools in his area stopped accepting cash, which he said impacts accessibility and fairness at local schools.
He did not specify which local schools opted for that policy but in the House Education committee hearing for the bill Monday, testifiers discussed it was related to Brandon Valley, Harrisburg, Sioux Falls and Tea Area school districts’ partnerships with Iowa-based company Bound that provides mostly digital and cashless ticketing.
But those schools have testified that they work ahead of events and with athletic directors to accept cash for those who wish to use it to pay for events. Brandon Valley Superintendent Jarod Larson said that his schools still take cash for events.
Sioux Falls School Board of Education president Carly Reiter said Monday that the concerns brought by a very small number of people who spoke in favor of HB 1017, and against the district’s policy in August, weren’t “great enough” considering the benefits the district’s change to cashless ticketing gained for hundreds of other people.
She said athletic directors at schools have gone “above and beyond” to accommodate requests for paper tickets or to pay for tickets with cash.
What did local legislators say?
Rep. Erik Muckey, D-Sioux Falls, said the intent of the bill is good but agreed that the House shouldn’t override local control and didn’t want to enforce something statewide that is a local issue.
Rep. Brian Mulder, R-Sioux Falls, said the bill was a “knee-jerk” reaction to something new. He suggested the Legislature let local schools fix their policy before implementing a statewide law.
Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, said a mandatory cashless policy takes more money from families and schools and gives more money to banks.
Rep. Keri Weems, R-Sioux Falls, said the Legislature is part-time because it gives a lot of control to local entities and urged parents with problems getting their children into local activities and events to contact their local school boards to change their policy.
Legislators across state differed on local control
Rep. Terri Jorgenson, R-Rapid City, said she supported the bill because she felt it was a privacy issue and that use of credit cards and digital means is tracked as opposed to cash.
Rep. Roger DeGroot, R-Brookings, said he agrees people should accept cash, but said the House shouldn’t tell districts what to do.
Rep. Josephine Garcia, R-Watertown, said board members failed to help the people who said they couldn’t use cash.
Rep. Tony Randolph, R-Rapid City, said cash has been part of the economy “forever,” that he didn’t understand the objections to the bill, and said he didn’t see it as a local control issue.
South Dakota
Obituary for Craig Reed Lloyd at Miller Funeral Home & On-Site Crematory
South Dakota
Bills to publish voter lists online and protect voters’ contact info both pass SD House • South Dakota Searchlight
PIERRE — The South Dakota House of Representatives advanced a bill Wednesday that would make the state’s list of registered voters free and available to the public online, and another bill that would restrict access to registered voters’ contact information.
The two bills, which would amend some of the same sections of existing state law, are yet to be reconciled. Both bills now head to the Senate.
The House voted 37-31 to advance the bill that would make the voter registration list freely available online, after debate over funding and privacy implications.
The bill would mandate the Secretary of State’s Office to publish the list online, with weekly updates, and to maintain historical archives. Supporters said the bill would reduce barriers to election oversight, citing costs of current voter lists, which are priced at $2,500 per request and up to $3,000 for absentee data.
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Rep. Heather Baxter, R-Rapid City, proposed the bill. She said free access to voter rolls is important to secure elections.
“I’m just asking for it to be of no charge since we’ve already paid for it as taxpayers,” Baxter said.
Rep. Jana Hunt, R-Dupree, said the $2,500 fee is too high for South Dakotans, including political candidates who use voter lists in their campaigns.
“It’s the people in South Dakota that can’t afford a $2,500 fee for voter information. It’s the candidates in this room that struggle with that fee,” she said.
On that note, Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, said the bill has more to do with getting campaigns voter information than election integrity. He voted against the legislation.
“Let’s think about who actually accesses these voter files,” Mortenson said. “Let’s be honest: It’s mostly candidates or activist groups or special interest groups. And so we’re going to say, ‘Well, if we’re going to cut a fee, we’re going to start by benefiting the politician before we start benefiting the people.’ And I don’t think that’s right.”
The fees collected to obtain the voter registration list are used for upkeep and technical support for the state’s Total Vote system, which is used statewide by county auditors and the Secretary of State’s Office to manage voter registration and election data.
The bill does not include funding to offset the lost fees. The Secretary of State’s Office — which spoke in opposition to the bill during its initial committee hearing — said the total fees came to about $100,000 last year.
Opponents also said implementing the changes might require new software, hardware and additional staff to manage archives and fulfill data requests.
Lindley Howard, McPherson County auditor, said during the committee hearing that she is concerned eliminating fees might transfer a financial burden to local governments.
Rep. Tim Reisch, R-Howard, said publicly posting a voter registration list including the birth year of voters could result in scammers having a catalog of elderly South Dakotans provided by the state, for free. He voted against the bill in the committee and the House.
Reish said during the committee hearing that he is all for greater election transparency, “but this bill goes way beyond that.”
Conflicting legislation
The bill that would forbid public access to voters’ phone numbers and emails passed 40-28.
Rep. Mike Weisgram, R-Fort Pierre, proposed that bill. He said the goal is to limit the number of political texts and emails voters are subjected to during elections.
The bill would prohibit public access to telephone numbers and email addresses on voter registration forms, in addition to existing protections for Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and full dates of birth.
Weisgram said the bill ensures that disclosures of voter registration information cannot be exploited by campaigns or commercial interests.
Opponents said the bill is unnecessary because providing a phone number or email address on voter registration forms is already optional. But supporters said many people feel obligated to fill out all the blanks on the forms.
Rick Weible with South Dakota Canvassing — a group that says it advocates for “election integrity” — spoke against the bill during its committee hearing. He said the data is already available through other sources, so barring the state from giving it out does little good.
“Cat’s out of the bag, because I’m also aggregating data from Facebook, X and all the other social media where, oh yeah, your phone number is part of your account,” Weible said.
Weisgram said those arguments ignore the intent of the bill.
“What’s more important? A campaign, or the people’s personal information?” he said.
Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, voted against making the voter registration list available for free online and in favor of the bill restricting access to voters’ contact information. She told South Dakota Searchlight she was frustrated to see the bills pass in an unreconciled form.
“We should be figuring it out,” she said. “And obviously today, we did not, by passing two bills that conflict with each other.”
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