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South Dakota Dems Have a Theory About Kristi Noem’s Flackery

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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.”

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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“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.

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South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with $69 million surplus

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South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with  million surplus











South Dakota ends 2026 fiscal year with $69 million surplus | DRGNews











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SD Lottery Millionaire for Life winning numbers for July 12, 2026

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The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at July 12, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 12 drawing

12-21-39-46-48, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

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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.
  • Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

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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Incarcerated women to move into new Rapid City prison to alleviate overcrowding

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Incarcerated women to move into new Rapid City prison to alleviate overcrowding


RAAPID CITY, S.D. — Incarcerated women will start moving into a new $87 million prison in Rapid City next month, a South Dakota Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed this week.

The medium-security prison will be the state’s second for women. The South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre has operated beyond its capacity for years, with dozens of people serving their sentences at the Hughes County Jail or in halfway house facilities.

The new prison in Rapid City, which was approved by state lawmakers

in 2023

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, will add 288 beds to the state’s capacity. The Department of Corrections will begin transferring women there next month, according to spokesperson Michael Winder, who said the exact date of full operations won’t be released for security reasons

The prison includes a work release area, a mother-infant building that lets new moms stay in a home-like environment with their babies, a vocational training facility to be staffed by instructors from Western Dakota Technical Institute and 96 beds for chemical dependency treatment.

The majority of the women held in South Dakota prisons are incarcerated on nonviolent drug charges, and 97% have a substance use disorder diagnosis.

“Drug addiction is a disease that must be treated,” Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb said at Friday’s ribbon cutting, adding that “Through dedicated treatment space and the therapeutic community, women will receive the counseling support and skills that they need to break the cycle of addiction and successfully return to their families and communities.”

The mother-infant program

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mirrors one launched a few years ago in Pierre

.

Mothers who qualify under security guidelines stay in a group home separate from the main prison facility with other women and children for the first few years of their child’s life. The program was launched by former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko and was championed by Lamb in his first public conversations with lawmakers on the state’s budget committee during the 2026 legislative session.

From left, South Dakota Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb, Warden Eric Aldridge and Gov. Larry Rhoden cut a razor wire at an event to mark the completion of an $87 million women’s prison in Rapid City.

Photo courtesy Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office

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At Friday’s event, Gov. Larry Rhoden said family connections and parenting skills are key factors in rehabilitation. He framed the program as an extension of a commitment to the well-being of South Dakota families.

“This program gives mothers and their children the opportunity to build that foundation from the very beginning,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden also called out the vocational training, drug treatment and work release programs as vital to rehabilitation — and to public safety by extension. The state recently broke ground on a new $650 million men’s prison in Sioux Falls, which is set to replace the state penitentiary and is also designed to expand programming and rehabilitation.

When combined with pending policy recommendations from the state’s correctional rehabilitation task force, Rhoden said, the new prisons will help improve public safety statewide by reducing the number of people who return to prison within a few years of their release.

“At the end of the day, every person in our corrections system is a human being,” Rhoden said. “They are sons and daughters. They are mothers and fathers. People who’ve made mistakes but also have the capacity to change.”

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Winder, the corrections spokesman, told South Dakota Searchlight that staff will spend the next few weeks training at the new facility in preparation for the arrival of inmates in August.

The state hired Eric Aldridge

to serve as warden in March

. Aldridge, who came to South Dakota after a stint as warden of a medium-security women’s prison in Troy, Virginia, said Friday his goal is to “to facilitate an environment, an atmosphere, a culture where people learn, they grow, they heal, and where people develop through dignity and respect.”





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