Steven Haugaard launched his campaign against Kristi Noem for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Sioux Falls building that houses his law office, at 1601 East 69th Street. That same building is also home to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which appears to have violated its IRS non-profit status by hosting Haugaard’s partisan event and which now has provided Americans for Prosperity with its new director of South Dakota pro-corporate lobbying, Keith Moore, a well-connected Republican with lots of experience SDGOP crony corruption. Wow—how much more Republican intrigue can we fit in one building not in Pierre?
Plenty.
1601 East 69th Street is also the Lincoln County headquarters of the Minnehaha County Republican Party. That office may not be entirely friendly to the Haugaard campaign: the Minnehaha Republicans Facebook page took a break from its generic national-level propaganda to post with an exclamation point about Governor Noem’s reëlection campaign announcement on November 12, but it made no similar mention of Haugaard’s announcement on November 17.
1601 East 69th Street also appears to be home to Schieffer Consulting Inc., run by former U.S. Attorney and longtime SDGOP Republican donor and influencer Kevin Schieffer, and Border Plains LLC, managed by Sioux Falls banker and state Banking Commission chair Jeff Erickson.
The man who replaced Schieffer on the Board of Regents this, Tony Venhuizen, also works at 1601 East 69th Street, for the Standard Companies. One part of that corporate cluster, Standard Services LLC, lists Venhuizen as its contact on its Sioux Falls Chamber membership page and provides “Professional services for Trust and Family financial services.” Standard Trust, LLC, is the actual entity licensed by the state of South Dakota to do trust business. Venhuizen started at Standard last spring after cycling in and out of the Noem Administration and working on trusts for Noem’s favorite lawyer, Matt McCaulley.
According to the City of Sioux Falls, the South Dakota Fellowship of Christian Athletes owns the entire 1601 building. Boy, for being a non-partisan non-profit, SDFCA sure rents to a lot of prominent Republicans.
Hmmm… if Haugaard is really interested in transparency in South Dakota, maybe he could put a glass to the wall to overhear which dictators, drug dealers, and other democracy-eroding plutocrats may be hiding their wealth in the South Dakota trusts Venhuizen helps manage. But Haugaard should be careful: through his listening glass, he might hear Venhuizen clunking a tumbler against his own office wall trying to capture secrets from the Haugaard campaign to beam back to Team Noem.
At my high school the students president of the FCA had parents who were the biggest pot dealers in town.
FCA is as partisan as the NRA. Name one thing the FCA has done that Jesus Christ would be proud of.
Good work Corey, uncovering this nest of vipers.
Excellent word choice, Arlo.
Boy that’s a tiny space for Raymond James. At least their at the top and the Republicans are at the bottom. Sportsmen without grace or pedigree.
Does the strip mall all these outfits share also have a common lobby area for them all to have morning breakfasts and coffee? Can you imagine this Mr. Venhuizen running into the Messrs. Scheiffer and Haugaard waiting for their stroodles to pop out of the toaster and the awkward period of silence as Haugaard hunkers lower and lower, he being the shorter of the bunch by a foot.
Want to help the Democrat who enters the gubernatorial race? Join me in sending Lora Hubbel some money.
Now eat a hearty breakfast so you’re warmed up for your feast, and stay out of political arguments with your Uncle Bob at the dinner table. They’ll be coming to pick me up for my feastings in a few hours. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
sincerely, with love and kindness,
grudznick
Larry Kurtz, you know how to win. It’s all about strategy.
Hi Tara! It’s high time to end the SDGOP hegemony in my home state!
I wonder if there’s enough money in the state to make Lora Hubbel look like a Democrat.