Yesterday, Kristi Noem’s campaign sent out a fundraising email claiming that her opponent in the gubernatorial election, Jamie Smith just got $10 million from “the national Democratic establishment”:
“50 grassroots donors… to chip in $25…”—$1,250… Kristi will need a couple hundred more than that to cover her hotel room at her daughter’s wedding in Arizona this weekend. Kristi will get eight times that amount from any couple who attends her Palm Beach, Florida, fundraiser next Friday. That’s one twentieth of the cash she has collected through her federal PAC this year from Ross Perot, and from Harvey Jewett, and from Jim Thares to skirt South Dakota’s $4,000 campaign contribution limit. That’s less than 1/2000th of the $2.5 million she raked into her federal Noem Victory Fund from January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
And $10 million is still about a million shy of the amount Noem raised through her South Dakota campaign fund in 2021 and up to mid-May of 2022.
I am curious, though, what Noem knows about Jamie Smith’s campaign finances that we don’t. As Bob Mercer reports, Kristi Noem is the only candidate getting multi-million-dollar checks from any national governors’ group:
Kristi Noem has received at least $2,680,000 since 2020 from the Republican Governors Association’s Right Turn political action committee as she seeks election to a second term this November as South Dakota’s governor.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Governors Association hasn’t decided yet whether its political action committee, Democratic Action, should spend any money helping her Democrat opponent, state Representative Jamie Smith.
“As Smith continues to run a strong, grassroots-backed race, the DGA is constantly evaluating the best ways to ensure we deploy resources when they have the biggest impact,” DGA deputy communications director Sam Newton said Wednesday [Bob Mercer, “DGA Undecided on Helping Smith’s Run for SD Governor,” KELO-TV, updated 2022.10.06].
Wow: if Jamie Smith can get to a statistical dead heat with Noem without any help from the DGA, he should be able to get over the top with $10 million in DGA support!
Pre-general campaign finance reports are due October 24; perhaps we’ll find out then whether the Democratic Governors Association or any other members of the “national Democratic establishment” are matching the millions Noem is getting from her national GOP establishment friends.
Notice also how Noem says she’s facing “Attacks, attacks, attacks” from Smith when she’s been filling the Web-waves with at least as many negative attacks on Smith as Smith has launched against her. Why do Republicans project so much?
South Dakota is near the top of the list for annual disasters so Mrs. Noem isn’t about self-reliance because she’s wedded to moral hazard. Recall US Representative Noem voted against federal disaster assistance when acts of god ravaged blue states. A tornado hit her home town of Castlewood and Noem praised her god for sparing her campaign war chest because science karma chickens came home to roost where the governor is a climate change denier.
Because YOU’RE the real victim in this election, Kristin? PuhLeeze …
How dumb do you have to be to receive this message, believe it, and then send her cash? Seriously. Humans do not deserve to be the top of the food chain. I hope aliens are real so there’s a chance that life has evolved beyond our stupidity.
Yes, we sure are seeing attacks. Kristi Noem started attacking five years ago and never stopped. Her targets change from time to time. South Dakotans know who is doing the attacking.
But we are supposed to believe that Kristi is the victim? Ha. She is so unserious. You are exactly right, P.Aitch
Here’s what gets me as she describes herself: “…an independent-minded conservative woman who actually believes and acts in the foundational principles of this nation….”
Uh, no. That ain’t Noem. I’ve known plenty of “independent-minded conservative women.” None of them would ditch South Dakota values to jet-set to Texas and Arizona to take campaign checks from swindlers and hook up with Corey Lewandowski. Noem has a very twisted understanding of who she is. She may “believe” in those values, but acting those values is out of her abilities.
I think many South Dakotans have a better understanding of Noem than she does. For someone with an “R” behind her name, she’s far and away the least popular governor in South Dakota since Frank Farrar. And you know what happened to Farrar.
Yikes!! Governor Noem pleading poverty….Now that’s a horse of a different color. She’s already packed away 20 million bucks, squirreled away for her “Presidential campaign” and she’s traveling coast to coast pandering for more. She can take every KELO and KOTA advertising spot at every local newscast, plus the local spots on the Bachelor and America’s Got Talent, and NFL Football, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. She hasn’t forgotten injecting her attack ads on Fox News cable either. If money wins elections, She has nothing to fear. Her problem is that the voters are tired of her act. Too much nonsensical drama. I think she’s less popular than Frank L. Farrar.
$10,000,000? Could Jamie Smith even spend ten million dollars in a month? I don’t believe her. I doubt he gets anything near that much. But, if he does, it would be one of those very rare occasions when Kristi Noem told the truth.
The t ad that Noem is running on tv is nothing short of being vile, disgusting & shows the work of someone who is basically a gutter rat. The ad shows that of someone who should NOT BE IN THE GOVERNOR’S MANISON. What Noem has in that email has further confirms my opinion that Noem will stoup down to the gutter level to elevate herself.
Turns out this was an outright lie from Kristi Noem and her campaign. Jamie Smith confirmed to Austin Goss at Dakota News Now that he never received $10 Million dollars that she falsely claimed in her fundraising letter.
REPUBLICANS FOR JAMIE SMITH!
When are you guys going to get fired-up for your candidate?
Let’s talk about that platform ..
I like governor Noem’s platform.
She governs in a closeted socialist state, and may be the only thing standing between us and hell on Earth.
Smith?
He’s a real bundle of joy.
Like Santa Clause.
He really really really wants to spend that surplus the left-of-center uniparty wants to blow, doesn’t he?
Wants to just gobble it up!
John Dale, I don’t vote for liars.
Go Jamie Go! Thank Goodness he decided to run.
Exactly right, Guy. Goss does good work getting Smith to make a simple statement of fact that shows Noem is flatly lying to her potential marks, the same way Annette Bosworth did to turn a quick buck in the 2014 election cycle.
If Jamie Smith had gotten $10 million from the Democratic Governors Association or any other national Democratic establishment, you can bet we’d be hearing about it. The national Dems have never to my knowledge invested that kind of money in South Dakota and likely never will. Making that kind of investment in a South Dakota race would be huge news that the recipient candidate and his patrons would want in the headlines, as a declaration of their confidence and their Republicans opponent’s weakness.
Jamie Smith also tweets that Noem’s $10M claim is phony baloney:
Oooo—but notice Smith says “We weren’t.” Maybe the DGA and DNC are going to give him $10M on Monday!
Fired up about our candidate? John, who says we’re not fired up up about our candidate? Maybe your advice needs to go to the Republicans are leaving a 17-point gap between their support for Kristi and their support for John Thune. Thune’s and Noem’s platforms are identical, so those voters must be thinking about something other than her platform when they abandon her and back Smith.
Noem herself is the one endorsing Smith’s platform of repealing the regressive food tax. But we Smith backers recognize that Governor Smith would be much more likely to actually support and sign a food tax repeal, not make it a last-ditch political stunt to stay in office.
Similarly, Smith wanted to convene a Special Session this summer to put forward real legislation to support women and children; Noem only said she’d call a Special Session if the Alito Court overturned Roe v. Wade, then chickened out of her political stunt when she realized the Special Session might not boost her campaign.
Smith’s platform includes prosecuting corruption; Noem’s platform is about committing and hiding corruption.
Smith offers a platform of smart government for the general welfare; Noem has demonstrated a platform of inattentive government for her personal gain. Why would anyone be more fired up about Noem’s proven poor performance than Smith’s proven public service?
Go Jamie Smith! Typical Noem speak, “There are more of us than there are of them”. She’s constantly dividing. She doesn’t represent all of South Dakota and never will. Jamie Smith will represent all South Dakotans. Let’s get Jamie Smith to be our next Governor so we can be done with her divisiveness.
Other than being a compulsive (and not very smart) liar, have you noticed that Noem is both the victim and the hero in her own narratives?
Republicans don’t know when to weep for Kristi or cheer her. This is what happens at the end of a first term and the incumbent has nothing of merit to claim as an accomplishment. Zero.
Kristi Noem. It’s a wah thing.