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TenHaken Interrupts Father’s Day Weekend Getaway to Endorse Noem

One may reasonably assume that Burke Democrat Billie Sutton chose Sioux Falls Republican (until this month) Michelle Lavallee as his running mate to appeal to Sioux Falls voters and Republicans.

One Sioux Falls Republican not falling for that appeal is Lavallee’s friend and the man she helped elected mayor of Sioux Falls, Paul TenHaken:

Fake photo representing Paul TenHaken's real endorsement of Kristi Noem
Winning the Sioux Falls vote…

Mayor Paul TenHaken will not support the Democratic gubernatorial ticket that contains his former mayoral campaign committee co-chair Michelle Lavallee.

…”My support for governor is with Kristi Noem,” TenHaken wrote in an email to KELO.com News. “She is also a great friend and we share similar values and policy ideas to move Sioux Falls and South Dakota forward.”

TenHaken also says Lavallee is “a very good friend and has a tremendous heart for the people of South Dakota” [Todd Epp, “TenHaken Backs Governor Ticket with Noem, not Lavallee,” KELO Radio, 2018.06.16].

That’s funny: family-values Mayor TenHaken said his commitment to his family’s Father’s Day camping trip meant he would be out of town and couldn’t make time to attend the Sioux Falls Pride Festival yesterday, but he did have time to e-mail Todd Epp for a Saturday news story to throw water on the Democratic nomination of his friend Lavallee and endorse Kristi Noem.

9 Comments

  1. o 2018-06-17 15:30

    This should not surprise. After introducing partisanship into a non-partisan election, party-identity politics will certainly win out in a party identified major election like Governor. Now the question is will the rank and file South Dakota voter follow TenHaken’s lead to always, ALWAYS put party first.

  2. mike from iowa 2018-06-17 15:46

    Noem’s bonafides are she lied about her family farm situation over and over. She was adept at getting government subsidies for the family farm. She was more adept at cutting welfare for the poorest because the wealthy needed taxcuts.

    She also has done nothing about the state of corruption in the government run by her party, which she now wants to govern with more failed partyline programs. Such impressive accomplishments.

  3. South DaCola 2018-06-17 18:15

    Paul was never going to Pride, no matter his excuse. He already thumbed his nose when he wouldn’t read a Pride week proclamation at the City Council meeting. I’m willing to see how this plays out as mayor, but eventually he is going to have to show all his cards, and it’s going to be interesting to hear what people say at public input about diversity.

    As for Michelle, as I understand it Michelle was brought into Paul’s campaign for the same reason she was brought into Billie’s; Lots of connections to raise lots of money. Michelle is well liked and good at it. I really do believe Michelle doesn’t belong to either party, she’s a corporatist just like Former Mayor Bucktooth and Bowlcut.

  4. John Kennedy Claussen, Sr. 2018-06-17 21:51

    But for the most part most Republicans are “corporatists” and sadly some Democrats too, I guess.

    And most of the major problems today can be linked to the decline of the American middle class due to the lack of adequate wages, and it is the “corporatists” who are to blame, are they not?

  5. Sam@ 2018-06-17 22:12

    Like birds flock together

  6. Debbo 2018-06-18 00:00

    What is on that shirt? “Kristi for Queen”!?!
    Does she want to reign with King Animal Sh*thole?

    Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

  7. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-06-18 07:58

    Connections, money, corporatism—would it be fair to say that more members of Sutton’s base shrink from that paradigm than do members of TenHaken’s base?

  8. mike from iowa 2018-06-18 10:53

    Noem for Queen? Sorry, but she doesn’t look or sound anything like the late, great Freddie Mercury.

  9. Debbo 2018-06-18 15:16

    I’d rather have Freddie for Queen. Thanks for the suggestion Mikey.

Comments are closed.