Dang—Jason’s friend Wanda Howey-Fox won her committeewoman primary; now for whom will she vote at convention?
At 1:43 CDT this afternoon, the man who killed Joseph Boever finally announced that he will not seek a second term as Attorney General:
Goss reported last week that Ravnsborg was telling people close to him that he would not seek renomination at the Republican convention in Watertown June 23–25. Ravnsborg’s too-long-delayed public acknowledgment that he’s not worthy of public office comes eleven days before the Senate convenes for its impeachment trial of South Dakota’s worst and deadliest Attorney General.
We now wait two weeks to see if Ravnsborg’s crony and DCI director David Natvig will persist in his bid for the A.G. nomination or if he will follow his incompetent chum in surrendering to the inevitable nomination of former Attorney General and better lawyer and driver Marty Jackley. We will also see whether Ravnsborg’s concession inclines Senators to go easy on him and let him return from impeachment suspension to suck his thumb behind the A.G.’s desk until January or whether Senators will stick to their guns, convict Ravnsborg for breaking the law, killing a man, and abusing and discrediting his office, and remove Ravnsborg from government immediately and for good.
Doesn’t hand over any defense materials for impeachment and announces he won’t seek second term? I smell under the table dead fish deal.
Noem ads from 2018:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgPtAVgU4cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPD7OJ7NhvU
Jonathan Ellis articles from 2018:
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2018/05/22/judge-orders-dci-director-bryan-gortmaker-appear-court-over-unpaid-verdict/632913002/
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2018/05/23/ex-dci-agent-marty-jackley-spar-over-facts-1-5-m-payout/637995002/
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2018/05/24/ex-dci-laura-kaiser-agent-hold-press-conference-marty-jackley-accusation/642165002/
The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics isn’t DPS secretary Craig Price using false accusations to destroy Jason Ravnsborg’s reputation, or even Marty Jackley pulling us back toward an attorney general’s office that runs cover for Price and other corrupt law enforcement agents. The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is Governor Noem misrepresenting Jesus Christ and misleading His followers.
Richard Benda. Tiffany Campbell. This should be interesting.
Kurt Evans: “The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is Governor Noem misrepresenting Jesus Christ and misleading His followers.”
Would this be by refusing refugees; refusing to help the poor, the hungry, or the sick; perpetuating income inequality and obscene wealth; or did you have other specifics in mind? I asked this once before, but will pose it again to you here, who in the MAGA/GOP is Not guilty of this criticism of misrepresenting and misleading?
The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is hiding trillions of dollars for bad men like Denny Sanford and Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud with the blessings of pink slime like Dan Lederman and the law enforcement industry.
I tend to avoid commenting publicly, but since someone finally decided the Noem 2018 Campaign adds with Laura Kaiser and the Jon Ellis Argus news articles from 2018 were worth posting ~ I decided it was time to speak up.
Upon reading the February 17, 2022 news release stating Governor Kristi Noem would be supporting Marty Jackley for Attorney General, I simply could not believe my eyes. Kristi Noem paid for the May 2018 adds featuring Laura Kaiser and without any doubt, those adds took Kristi Noem across the finish line in the 2018 June Republican Primary in what previously had been a very close race between her and Jackley.
Governor Noem is well aware of Laura Kaiser’s story along with many others. Apparently, none of that seems to matter to Governor Noem in June of 2022, which for me is disappointing beyond words, so I will just leave it at that.
We knew Ravnsborg wasn’t running months ago. This isn’t news.
Brendan Johnson can beat Marty Jackley and not have to move his family to the sewer in Pierre.
Algebra, who is “we”? Show me one piece of evidence from months ago indicating Ravnsborg was not seeking re-election. Five months ago Ravnsborg was in Brookings and Sioux Falls rallying delegates for his reëlection bid. Ravnsborg has maintained his campaign website and continues to solicit campaign donations online.
And most importantly, Ravnsborg did not make any public statement declaring his non-candidacy until yesterday. Ravnsborg’s statement Goss is thus very much news.
As Mike recognizes at the top, Ravnsborg’s announcement less than two weeks before his trial before the Senate is also big news because it could change the tenor of the Senate trial and perhaps even signal that the Republican caucus is working out a secret deal to turn the trial into a pre-arranged sham, just as it did for Brock Greenfield and Kris Langer’s disciplinary hearing in April 2020.
Corey, Ravnsborg wasn’t at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Brookings. While he showed up for Central Committee meetings he wasn’t working the room; he wasn’t running for anything.
Algebra, why are you so interested in arguing that Ravnsborg’s public announcement does not matter? No one knows for sure until the candidate says he’s running or not. Ravnsborg has now said it. That is news. If you knew it because of your special knowledge and attention to events, why didn’t you say so at the time?
Sure, I noticed that Ravnsborg wasn’t attending events, like the “South Dakota Strong” candidate mixer back on April 13 where Jackley spoke. I speculated then that Ravnsborg’s absence could have signaled not just that he recognized the bad optics of campaigning the day after his impeachment. I recognized that Natvig’s announcement in May was also a strong signal (but not proof) that Ravnsborg would stand down.
But Ravnsborg had said at all previous points in his term, even after he killed Joe Boever, that he would seek reëlection. Yesterday was the first time he said in public that he wouldn’t. That is by definition news. The statement formally changes the public political landscape. It publicly signals to all delegates who may not have received whatever whispers may have been circulating previously that Ravnsborg will not be among their choices at convention. It formally signals to Democrats considering a run that there is no chance they will face Ravnsborg and thus affects the calculus they are doing to determine whether they should run.
Anyone who thought Noem really cared about Jackley’s misdeeds in the Kaiser affair or would really work to root out discrimination and unfair employment practices in law enforcement and state government was sorely mistaken, as proven by Noem’s own retaliatory workplace practices… right, Sherry Bren?
I’d like to believe Noem actually cares about the fact that Jason Ravnsborg killed a man, lied about it, and abused his office. But her useful alignment with the right side of this issue is likely just another product of her constant political calculation: Ravnsborg is a liability on the ballot, so Ravnsborg must not be on the ballot. Noem has now achieved that objective, so let’s see if she’s done talking about Ravnsborg.
Somebody must’ve taken a nose count to see if Lee Schoenbeck had a hard count of 21 GOP state senators, or there’s a deal made out there. The latter is much more likely. That makes the June 21 hearing more interesting. Do they vote to convict, or is there some other motion being set up to pass that allows Ravnsborg wiggle room to restore his brand? It’s hard to think of a law firm in South Dakota that would risk hiring someone who’s so radioactive. And where’s his promotion from Lt. Colonel to full bird status setting?
A deal made in advance would allow alot of nervous magats to vote for or against impeachment without fear of voter backlash.
Every magat pol needs to have an ethical adviser joined at their hip every day they are in office.
Pat beat you to this one Cory:
http://dakotawarcollege.com/dakota-news-now-ravnsborg-not-running-for-attorney-general-at-gop-convention/
I wouldn’t put it past Jackley’s firm, ever the opportunists, to bring him on because they could get him super cheap. Real lawyers do the work, anyway. Some state players obviously would enjoy having him as their mouthpiece. People paid to have Blunderbuss Janklow represent them during his private “practice”.
Or as Jayson the lobbiest.
And one day surely Frankenstein will be the AG (despite it below her pay scale) or a Republican judge.
Neal Pinnow is an Earth hater running for the statehouse.
https://ballotpedia.org/Neal_Pinnow
Jonathan Ellis wrote in 2018:
Cory writes:
In 2018, Kristi Noem sharply criticized Marty Jackley’s “poor judgment” after one of Jackley’s cronies attempted to arbitrarily delay Kaiser’s payout until after the Republican primaries.
In 2022, one of Noem’s cronies has arbitrarily delayed Jason Ravnsborg’s impeachment trial an extra 50 days until after the Republican primaries, and I believe it may have cost Spencer Gosch a senate seat.
That isn’t just poor judgment. It’s corruption and abuse of power.
Cory writes:
Do you think Governor Noem cares whether Jason is able to complete the investigation of her alleged misuse of state aircraft? Because I definitely care.
Neal, really? The link you post is from June 1, when SDWC linked to Austin Goss’s story saying that sources close to Ravnsborg said Ravnsborg would not run. That’s a separate story from this one, in which Goss finally gets Ravnsborg on the record saying he’s not going to run.
Goss is the main reporter here, and Goss knows what’s news. It was news on June 1 when he got inside sources to say Ravnsborg had changed his mind and was canceling his reëlection bid. It is new now when Goss gets Ravnsborg to go on the record and admit he’s surrendering.
While Pat ignores this important development in favor of selling more campaign signs, we’re here talking about real political news.
Kurt, Noem doesn’t care if Ravnsborg completes his investigation of her alleged misuse of the state plane, because she knows that even if Ravnsborg is trying, he’ll screw it up and not get the goods on her.
If Ravnsborg had the guts and the goods, he could have fried Noem in the primary with a series of damning leaks about her travel, her use of SDHP officers as bodyguards on her private trips, the works. Instead, Ravnsborg made faint, implied allegations in his eleventh-hour plea before the House impeachment vote that offered no facts, did no damage to Noem, and probably cost him a key vote or two in the House. Ravnsborg knows how to pander to win political favor, but he doesn’t know how to play hardball.
Cory writes:
Maybe Jason is trying not to engage in “RETALIATION” because he saw the ads that carried Kristi Noem to victory in the 2018 primary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgPtAVgU4cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPD7OJ7NhvU
Would Governor Noem ever engage in “RETALIATION”?
“My office has multiple ongoing investigations into the Governor’s alleged activities and people associated with her.”
You’re not the only observer who’d like more facts, but that should probably count as at least one.
Is there any word on the whereabouts of Joe Desilets?