South Dakota
Tim Walz garners support from South Dakota Dems as Kristi Noem labels him a ‘radical’
South Dakota’s top Republican leaders are attacking the newly announced Democratic presidential ticket.
Gov. Kristi Noem and Sen. John Thune took to social media after the news broke Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Walz’s elevation to the campaign post was quickly criticized by Noem, who wrote Tuesday morning that her Midwestern counterpart was “no leader.”
“He’s a radical,” Noem wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I served with him in Congress. He pretended to be moderate, then showed his true extremist colors as soon as he became Governor.”
Noem and Walz served in Congress together from 2011 to 2019, and were elected to governorship for their respective states in 2018.
Noem also claimed South Dakota has been beating the neighboring blue state economically for years. In a follow-up post, Noem labeled Walz as “terribly radical” based on a failed state bill brought by two Republican legislators that would have allowed Minnesota counties to essentially leave the state.
“Last year, nearly 7,000 Minnesotans moved to South Dakota because Walz took his people’s Freedom away. Harris-Walz will be the most radical left-wing ticket in American history,” Noem wrote.
The second-term South Dakota governor was once herself considered a contender for former President Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick. She received international criticism when she admitted to killing a 14-month-old hunting dog in a recent memoir, which hurt her public image within her own party. The book also had errors and exaggerations regarding meetings with foreign leaders, including a fabricated account of a meeting between the governor and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Thune echoed Noem’s sentiment and called the Harris-Walz ticket “the most radical and liberal presidential ticket in history.”
“We can’t turn the country into California. Vote Trump-Vance,” Thune wrote on X.
Conversely, South Dakota Democrats were quick to back Harris’ choice.
State Party Chair Shane Merrill lauded Walz in a Tuesday statement, calling him a “proven leader.”
“He’s shown that he can work across party lines, including when he flipped his district for US Congress. And, with a slim Democratic majority in the Minnesota legislature, he’s worked on bipartisan policies for the betterment of his state,” Merrill wrote. “I’m thrilled to see the Midwest and small town America represented on the Democratic Presidential ticket.”
He also compared the second-term Minnesota governor to Noem on the topic of youth food programs. South Dakota has resisted the use of federal funding meant to combat child hunger, while Walz earned the goodwill of teachers and children by signing a universal free school meals bill into law in 2023.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.
Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.
She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.
“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”
Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.
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South Dakota
USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.
“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.
“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.
For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen unveil a plaque for retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams in the Hall of Honor at the Capitol in Pierre on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.
One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.
“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”
President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.
“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.
The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.
Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.
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