South Dakota
Trump visits South Dakota for rally that Gov. Kristi Noem’s allies hope is vice presidential tryout
WASHINGTON (AP) — As his rivals hold town halls and meet-and-greets in early voting states, Donald Trump will head to South Dakota Friday for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state’s governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick.
Trump will join the South Dakota Republican Party for a “Monumental Leaders Rally” in Rapid City. Noem will appear alongside the former president and is expected to endorse him, creating an image of the pair that Noem’s allies hope looks like a presidential ticket, according to two senior Republicans familiar with her thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because she had not yet made her endorsement public.
Trump’s decision to headline the event underscores his dominance of the Republican race even as he faces four separate indictments and 91 felony counts. South Dakota holds a late primary and isn’t competitive in a general election. But with a huge lead, Trump is skipping much of the traditional primary campaign. Instead of large-scale rallies, he is relying on state party events that offer large, friendly audiences at no cost to his campaign, while his political organization pays millions of dollars in legal expenses.
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Friday’s event is something of an audition for Noem. She planned the event as a way to both offer her endorsement and maximize face time with Trump as he eyes potential 2024 running mates and cabinet members, according to one of the Republicans who spoke on anonymously. A spokesman for the governor declined to comment.
Noem will be term-limited in 2026 and, after declining to run for president this year, is eyeing her next move to maintain prominence in the GOP.
“I think Donald Trump has a 50-50 shot of getting elected at this point, so why not hitch your wagon to him if you can?” said Michael Card, a longtime observer of South Dakota politics who suggested Noem might also make a future National Rifle Association president or conservative commentator.
Voting won’t begin for several months and Trump’s indictments and upcoming criminal trials create an unprecedented situation that many strategists argue could influence the race in unexpected ways. That hasn’t stopped those who are keen to be considered as Trump’s running mate from openly jockeying for the position and trying to curry favor with him and his aides.
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Aides caution it is far too early for serious discussions. But Trump has indicated in conversations that he is interested in selecting a woman this time around. Among the other names that have been floated: New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Sen. Tim Scott have also been mentioned.
Trump will be in Iowa, the first state on the GOP nomination calendar, on Saturday to attend the college football game between Iowa and Iowa State.
“What we’re focused on is just locking up this primary and pivoting towards the general election,” said campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
Noem was long considered a potential White House contender in her own right and had told The New York Times in November that she didn’t believe Trump offered “the best chance” for the party in 2024. She has since said she saw no point in joining the crowded field running for the nomination given Trump’s dominant position.
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“I will tell you that of course I would consider it,” she told Fox News host Sean Hannity when asked recently about whether she would join a potential Trump ticket if asked. “If President Trump is going to be back in the White House, I’d do all I can to help him be successful.”
It will be Trump’s first visit to South Dakota since the summer of 2020, when he headlined a Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day. The then-president had been looking for a venue to turn the page after a summer of pandemic lockdowns and racial justice protests. Noem’s event at Mount Rushmore was notably devoid of pandemic restrictions.
She also gifted him a miniature replica of Mount Rushmore with his likeness carved alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
“I don’t know exactly,” Trump said Thursday when asked if Noem will endorse him. “But I am going. I like her a lot. I think she’s great. Kristi’s done a great job.” He has often praised her handling of the pandemic, saying again Thursday she had done “a fantastic job.”
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A former member of Congress, Noem in 2018 squeezed out a surprisingly close win over a Democratic challenger to become South Dakota’s first female governor. She rose to national prominence with a mostly hands-off approach to the pandemic and tacked closely to the urgings of Trump to return to life as normal.
She handily won reelection last year, even as she performed worse than other Republicans on the ballot.
Despite not running for president, Noem has continued to position herself nationally. She has been an outspoken champion for the National Rifle Association, even bragging at a spring convention for the gun-rights group that her 1-year-old granddaughter “already has” firearms. She has also defended South Dakota’s abortion ban and will appear at a Michigan fundraiser later this month to support Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
During the first GOP presidential debate, she appeared in an ad to encourage businesses and families to move to what she calls “the freest state in America.”
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Friday’s event is expected to draw protesters targeting both Trump and Noem, said Annie Bachand, CEO of the South Dakota-based group Liberty & Justice for All.
“The reason that we show up is to demonstrate to other people that we’re not alone,” Bachand said. “Kristi Noem has spent more time out campaigning for I don’t know what than she has in South Dakota. She has more interest in her own self-interest than she does in taking care of the people of South Dakota.”
South Dakota GOP chair John Wiik said he expects about 7,000 people to attend the sold-out fundraiser. The event was first planned as a Lincoln Day-style fundraising dinner commonly held by local Republican groups, Wiik said, but it later ballooned into a rally with proceeds going to the state party.
“I did get a lot of questions at first,” Wiik said about Trump’s decision to travel to his state just as the primary season kicks into its traditional post-Labor Day overdrive.
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“But the more you look at it, Trump is a media event wherever he lands,” Wiik said. “He could do a rally on the moon and he’d spread his word and get just as many people, so I’m just glad he chose South Dakota.”
Colvin reported from New York.
South Dakota
Western South Dakota’s ample sunshine comes with caveats for solar energy
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Climatologically speaking, Western South Dakota is one of the sunniest parts of the Nation.
“The eastern side of the Black Hills is kind of notorious for having a lot of sunshine,” Dr. Darren Clabo, South Dakota State Fire Meteorologist, said, “300 some-odd sunshine days a year.”
With that in mind, our fusion reactor in the sky can be a lucrative energy source.
Jacob Van Cleave is a grad student studying wildfire growth in the meteorology program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where Dr. Clabo teaches. He used his research and a forecasting internship with an energy company to study the impact of wildfires on renewable energy.
“We have longer periods of those clear skies,” Van Cleave says, “We have more direct contact with peak solar heating; we’re pretty similar in the rate of the energy production you would get in Florida.”
But with all the dry weather and sunshine that’s happened, there is a caveat, Dr. Clabo explains.
“Over the past ten years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of fires across the Western United States,” Clabo said, “And so, the smoke production has also gone up considerably.”
And the longer this pattern goes on, those looking to capitalize on solar energy have some things to consider because of how solar cells work.
“If you cover up a solar panel, think of a three-by-three or four-by-four sized solar panel with a penny, you reduce (the solar panel) to one percent of generation,” Van Cleave explained, “The way the cells work … they’re interlocked together. If you block one cell, you only get the charges that jump from the one cell to the next.”
When you relate these effects to wildfires, this is how smoke and ash affect solar panels:
“When you get wildfire smoke, those particles not only stick if they fall and act like a sediment – stick on to the panel – not only will they affect how efficiently that panel can absorb energy from the sun, you’ll also have solar rays hitting those particulates in the atmosphere and reducing production 20 to 50 percent depending on how extreme the smoke case is,” Van Cleave said.
There is at least something those using solar panels can do to take care of what touches the panel during a smoky wildfire. Van Cleave says they can work with the Environmental Protection Agency to find a company that can professionally clean them.
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South Dakota
8 things to know about UND football's next opponent South Dakota State
GRAND FORKS — The UND football program will try to snap out of a two-game road losing skid by returning to the Alerus Center to face the two-time defending national champions South Dakota State.
Here are eight things you need to know about the Jackrabbits.
1. Hagen, Preston on SDSU roster
Two former UND players are on South Dakota State’s roster in offensive tackle Sam Hagen and wide receiver Marcus Preston.
Preston, a senior, caught 29 passes for 285 yards across his first three seasons of college football at UND.
The Kansas native has never become a major factor in Brookings. He has one catch this season for 4 yards – a touchdown against Youngstown State on Oct. 12.
Hagen, a Fordville, N.D., native, transferred to SDSU after the 2023 season as UND lost its offensive line coach (Joe Pawlak to Montana) and offensive coordinator (Danny Freund to SDSU) in the offseason.
Hagen has been slotted as the starter for the Jacks all season, although he missed a few games with an injury in the middle of the season. He’s expected to play against his old team on Saturday.
2. Two coaches with UND backgrounds
The Jackrabbits will have two coaches with UND backgrounds in the Alerus Center this weekend.
Former UND quarterback and assistant coach Danny Freund now shares offensive coordinator duties for SDSU, while former UND running backs coach Robbie Rouse is a running backs coach for the Jacks.
After leaving UND, Rouse spent one season at Cal Poly before joining SDSU in 2023.
As a player, Freund was 16-6 as a two-year starter for the then-Fighting Sioux, finishing his career as the program’s most accurate passer (68.9 percent). He threw for 5,239 yards and 47 touchdowns.
Freund coached running backs (2011-12), quarterbacks (2013), wide receivers (2014-18) and was then elevated to offensive coordinator following the 2018 season.
Freund spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the associate head coach label.
3. Tip of the cap to Belquist
South Dakota State head coach Jimmy Rogers paid a compliment to UND wide receiver Bo Belquist during a weekly press conference in Brookings.
“I think they have arguably the best wide receiver in FCS football in Bo Belquist,” Rogers said. “He should be an All-American the way he competes and plays.”
Belquist, a fifth-year senior who became UND’s all-time receptions leader earlier this season, has 48 catches for 754 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
4. Gronowski poses dual threat
South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski is beating teams with his arms and legs – a trait that hurt UND in the latest back-to-back road losses.
Gronowski enters the weekend with his hand in 114 career touchdowns: 82 passing, 31 rushing and one receiving.
In 2023 in Brookings against UND, Gronowski threw for 167 yards and a touchdown and ran for a touchdown.
In 2022 at UND, Gronowski threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for two touchdowns.
In a loss at UND in the spring of 2021, Gronowski threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted twice – the only two-interception game of the season.
South Dakota State has become an NFL pipeline in recent years with six former Jacks on opening day NFL rosters in 2024, led by tight ends Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles and Tucker Kraft of the Green Bay Packers.
SDSU had two players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft with Mason McCormick taken in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Isaiah Davis taken in the fifth round by the New York Jets.
Davis has returned seven kickoffs for 179 yards this season. He has four carries for 18 yards.
6. SDSU expecting a hungry UND
UND enters the weekend coming off back-to-back losses and Rogers knows that could create a desperate opponent.
“They need this win, and they know that,” Rogers said. “We have to play with a certain edge. It’s a tough environment. We have to be prepared for a 60-minute game.”
The Jackrabbits trailed 14-0 the last time SDSU came to Grand Forks. The Jacks, however, used an interception return for a touchdown to flip momentum in a 38-21 victory.
7. Angel Johnson has home-run capability
With Isaiah Davis now in the NFL, SDSU has new opportunities in the backfield and Angel Johnson has emerged as a threat.
Johnson ran for a career-best 132 yards on just seven carries last week in a dominant win over Murray State. He scored on a 67-yard run late in the first quarter.
Of Johnson’s nine career touchdowns, six have covered 50 or more yards, including all three this season.
He scored on a 50-yard touchdown run against UND in 2023.
8. Wilde is the new go-to WR
South Dakota State’s 2023 standout wide receivers – Jadon and Jaxon Janke – have graduated, opening the door for a breakout season for sophomore Griffin Wilde.
Wilde had seven catches for 150 yards in the season opener at Oklahoma State.
Wilde had 10 catches the following week against Incarnate Word.
For the season, Wilde has 44 receptions for 571 receiving yards.
Wilde has cooled on his torrid start but still had three catches for 78 yards last week against Murray State.
South Dakota
Kamala Harris underperformed Biden's numbers with women. South Dakota's governor thinks she knows why.
In her quest to become the first female president, Vice President Kamala Harris portrayed herself as a champion of women’s rights, putting abortion rights at the forefront of her campaign.
But she fell short, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem explains in an interview, because in doing so, Harris and the Democrats failed to meet voters where they are.
“I think what was so interesting during this campaign is we consistently saw Kamala Harris and the Democrats try to put women in a box,” Noem told Fox News Digital. “They tried to define women as only caring about abortion and their health care. They didn’t really give them due credit for being the individuals out there that are raising families and caring about their children’s education and paying their bills and pursuing their careers.”
Among the more surprising findings from the 2024 election is that Harris under-performed with women compared to President Biden’s support four years ago.
HARRIS FORMALLY CONCEDES ONE DAY AFTER TRUMP’S SWEEPING VICTORY
President-elect Trump prevailed Tuesday in a decisive victory, sweeping all the key battleground states and winning a majority in the national popular vote – the first time a Republican has done so in 20 years. Voter concerns about the economy and immigration propelled Trump’s triumphant return to the White House. But he also expanded his base with traditionally Democratic constituencies, including Black, Hispanic and young voters, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis.
The election showcased many of the nation’s deep divides, particularly in gender. Men voted for Trump by 10 points, while women supported Harris by 8 points. The 18-point gender gap was slightly bigger than in the 2020 presidential election (17 points).
That widening was due to Trump improving 5 points among men since 2020. But Harris also under-performed with women compared to President Biden, who won the female vote by 12 points.
Harris became the Democratic frontrunner after President Biden suspended his bid for re-election in July amid reports of his declining mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance against Trump in June. Biden quickly endorsed Harris, who made “reproductive rights” a top issue on the campaign trail, a strategy that would ultimately not win over enough swing state voters. Harris was the Democrat nominee for only about four months.
DONALD TRUMP JR., KRISTI NOEM JOIN FRANKLIN GRAHAM IN HELENE-TORN NORTH CAROLINA WITH SAMARITAN’S PURSE
GOP strategists told Fox News Digital that the Harris campaign’s abortion strategy was ineffective against Trump, who had argued the issue returned to the states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Noem added that abortion is just not the only priority for women in America. She campaigned for Trump in Pennsylvania and other swing states, promoting his policies and taking questions from voters.
“We’ve got women running businesses that want their communities to be safe. They want to thrive. And they certainly don’t want a president that doesn’t protect women and the opportunities they have in front of them,” she told Fox News Digital.
The governor also criticized Harris’ team for “minimizing women” in the closing weeks of the election, referencing how Harris surrogate Mark Cuban had said Trump never surrounds himself with “strong, intelligent women.”
SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM SIGNS BILL BANNING SOME GENDER-RELATED MEDICAL, SURGICAL PROCEDURES FOR MINORS
“They even went so far as to call women weak and dumb, you know, by their surrogtates. And I think that was offensive to many of us across the country,” said Noem.
She also said the Democrats’ far-left positions on abortion and transgender issues have made it easier for Republicans to take “common sense” positions that most Americans agree with.
“Kamala Harris and her Democratic Party have become more and more extreme on gender issues, on abortion. It’s easier for Republicans and our candidates and President Trump to use common sense to talk to the American people about truly how extreme the Democrats want to take this country and what we can do to make sure that every single person in this country, whether you’re a man or woman, that you get an opportunity,” she said.
The Trump campaign and associated political action committees leaned in to the culture wars with millions of dollars spent on ads that attacked Democrats and Harris as too liberal on gender issues.
“Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you,” one of Trump’s strongest attack ads concluded. The New York Times reported that Trump’s anti-trans ads shifted the race 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor after viewers watched it.
Noem has also fought the culture wars. In South Dakota, she signed legislation that banned puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments and sex-change operations for transgender individuals under the age of 18. She has spoken repeatedly about keeping biological men who identify as transgender out of women’s sports and protecting opportunities for women and girls.
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“President Trump is not going to let mediocre men take away opportunities for our outstanding women,” Noem said. It was Harris, she argued, who would have women on an “uncompetitive playing field.”
Asked if she had discussed joining the new administration, Noem said she had not had any conversations with the president-elect about a job.
“He knows I’ll help him any way that I can. But I spoke to him today, and he’s in great spirits. He’s looking forward to getting his administration set up. And I think he’s already getting phone calls from world leaders and working with people on his transition team to make sure that he’s ready to hit the ground running.”
“I love being the governor of South Dakota,” she added. “So we’ll continue to be a strong advocate for President Trump. He’s my friend, I’m so happy for him. And if he asks me to do something, well, we’ll make a decision at that time.”
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