Remember what I said last month about how Marty Jackley may be able to beat Kristi Noem by saying she’s “gone Washington” and is out of state too much? USD Professor Julia Hellwege sees the same potential:
Hellwege said Noem is well-known in South Dakota, but the fact that she spends much of her time outside of the state could create an opening for Jackley to campaign hard across the state’s counties.
“As a largely rural state, many people here feel a distance both geographically and politically from D.C., and Noem will need to respond to constituents who feel like she has become disconnected from the state and the state’s issues, in favor of dealing with national issues,” Hellwege said [Bret Hayworth, “1 Year Away: South Dakota Governor Race Tilts Republican,” Sioux City Journal, 2017.11.05].
Jackley ally Lee Schoenbeck knocks Noem hard down exactly that track:
Running for South Dakota Governor, but holding a fundraiser in our arch-enemy state, our very antithesis, evil socialist income-taxing Minnesota? And not even in some nice rural place that smells like home, but in the den of debauchery that lures our impressionable young people away to lives of music, diversity, and Al Franken, the heart of downtown Minneapolis?! Kristi, call your opticsian!
But careful, Lee: all the mentions I can find say the big Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner in Sioux Falls is Wednesday, November 8. Kristi could bug out of Congress early (though she bugged out of this entire term when she declared for Governor a week after winning reëlection), fly to Sioux Falls for dinner tomorrow night, and still make her swanky fundraiser in the Twin Cities Thursday evening.
But odds are, Schoenbeck is right: Noem will miss cop chow, while Jackley wisely spends Wednesday evening feting South Dakota police officers and the scheduled star speaker, his counterpart from Florida, Donald Trump’s perfectly ethical friend Pam Bondi.
Not only is Kristi hanging out in Minneapolis raising money, she’s raising money with one of America’s richest families. The Davis family of St Paul is in Forbes magazine as one of the country’s richest. Gotta go where the money is, Kristi, we know, we know.
http://www.startribune.com/no-14-under-the-radar-st-peter-family-among-richest-americans/284917381/
Good catch, Jenny! Davisco Foods owns the Lake Norden cheese plant, just fifteen minutes from Kristi’s house on Highway 81.
They also own Sun Country Airlines and Cambria quartz countertops.
That’s our girl! She learned the ways of the political “ins” very quickly! Now, do we expect her to go to the gutter like the GOP gent from Virginia when it comes time to splatter some Trump mud?
It seems like they go out of their way to find the most horrible people to speak at the law enforcement dinner. People like G. Gordon Liddy, Oliver North, and Joe Arpaiao. Now Pam Bondi. These people are the antithesis of law enforcement, which is why I have never gone to this event.
Ror, when’s the last time the organizers of the dinner brought in a Democratic figure? Or even a non-controversial, non-partisan lawman or prosecutor? Why not Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch? Why not Louis Freeh or James Comey?
Captain Phillips from the Maersk Alabama was an outstanding speaker. Spoke of leadership and training. Best speaker thus far at the annual event.
Ah! Good example!
I’m not any more in love with Noem than anybody else on this site, but would it hurt Mr. Schoenbeck to call her ‘congresswoman’ instead of ‘congressperson’? Seems a bit disrespectful.
Well, well, well! I live in South Dakota but am currently living in a student apartment at my graduate school in the twin cities so that I can finally focus on finishing, and I’m actually not too far from where this shakedown will be. I’m gonna check the two major papers here on Friday morning to see if they have any articles on it. It’ll also be interesting to see the spin of each of the papers. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is ‘hipper” than the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which is stodgy and ploddingly conservative, like St. Paul itself. Both papers mirror the differences between the two cities. I’m actually kind of surprised that the NOem is having her shindig in Minneapolis instead of St. Paul, where she and those whose pockets she’s picking would likely feel more comfortable. Then again, last night, St. Paul just elected its first black mayor (who happens to be the brother of a classmate of mine!), so maybe they WOULDN’T be more comfortable there.
But I’m trying to figure out why in the you-know-what some Richie Rich Bags in the Twin Cities should even care about a governor’s race in South Dakota (which is considered major Hicksville here), let alone open their big fat wallets for it.
I also don’t understand the thick-headedness of NOem’s advisors. Even if she herself isn’t smart enough to understand the damaging optics of this, and the open door it gives Marty the Jackal, her advisors should at least understand that and should have tried to put the kibosh on this. Whatever she’s paying them, it must not be enough.
St Paul conservative? Both St Paul and Minneapolis are progressively liberal so I don’t know what you’re talking about Laurisa. Ramsey County (St Paul) voted across the board Democrat in last yr’s election from Hillary Clinton to Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum. These weren’t close races. Trump only got 26% of the vote in St Paul.
It’s all about control. The Davis family probably wants to cozy up to Noem so they can send some more of their Dairy Plants to SD so they can pay them dirt wages and not have to worry about Unions.
Chip, three of Noem’s Republican female colleagues refer to themselves as “Congressman”. Does the use of “-person” inherently convey any more disrespect than other gender-neutral replacements—chairperson, mailperson…?
Jenny, maybe Davisco wants Noem to restart South Dakota’s EB-5 program so they can recruit more foreign investors to build dairies.