Every candidate loves free publicity. A South Dakota Republican firebrand running for Legislature in south-central South Dakota gets the Mellette County sheriff to gin up his free publicity the week before the election.
Joel Koskan is challenging Democratic Representative Shawn Bordeaux for the Senate seat in District 26, which covers Todd, Mellette, Lyman, Brule, and Buffalo counties and southern bits of Hughes and Hyde counties.
The Dakota Scout reports that Koskan is under investigation for child sex abuse and will be arraigned next week:
A South Dakota senate candidate in Mellette County is under investigation in a child sex abuse probe, The Dakota Scout has confirmed.
Joel Koskan, 44, is set to be arraigned on charges next week, Mellette County Sheriff Mike Blom said. Blom said the case is open, and he referred questions to the clerk of courts, where a complaint is expected to be filed on Thursday [Joe Sneve and Jonathan Ellis, “Senate Candidate Under Investigation in Chld Abuse Probe,” The Dakota Scout, 2022.11.02.
Koskan appears to be relying on Sheriff Blom for all of his publicity during the remainder of the campaign. Koskan’s vociferous and punchy Twitter account has been deleted. (Best remnant I can find online is Koskan’s August tweet of a couple of kids flushing a badger out of its hole.) Koskan’s campaign website has been locked down and set to private. Koskan’s FB campaign page is gone. And all the SDGOP spin blog can find to say is “There are no words at the moment… we all need to wait and see what’s going on. But it’s more than troubling to say the least.”
Koskan should have spent more time cozying up to his local bankers and less time drawing the attention of law enforcement.
Koskan endorsed Marty Jackley for governor in the 2018 primary against Kristi Noem. Koskan tried and failed to oust incumbent District 26 Senator Troy Heinert in 2018 and 2020.
That SDGOP spin blog touted kiddy diddlin’ Koskan as a “Republican political scion.” Pat sure knows how to pick his heroes. A year before he was arrested for egg experiments with his foster daughters, the spin blog touted big Ted Klaudt, convicted rapist, farmer, rancher, and former Republican member of the South Dakota House of Representatives (1999–2006), as “a rising star” in the SDGOP.
Pat sure knows how to pick his scions of conservative Christian family values and personal responsibility.
Now, if only Koskan and Klaudt were governor like Kristi Noem, they could just sweep their violations of law under the rug, just like Kristi did last month. Kristi, Klaudt and Koska, three Ks who ignore the rule of law.
Koskan deleted his twitter account and Pat Powers is still irrelevant.
Does this mean we can hang on in district 26? Shawn deserves that senate seat far more than an actual child predator…
Hey, Joel Koskan could rape someone in downtown White River and he wouldn’t lose any voters.
There is something pervy/touchy/rapey about all the Americans who vote and advocate for Trump. ALL Trump supporters are a part of his sex abuse enterprise. So, if a+b=c, then a=c-b. Therefore, the proof concludes Kristi Noem is an accomplice in Trump’s criminal rape ring. People in the party who support these guys need to understand they are all guilty when they’re affiliated with a child predator. By not denouncing your nominees, you’re emboldening them. You might as well put your kids on an offering plate.
Exactly. That Herr Trump normalizes sexual exploitation ignites his base at the rally in Sioux City where hammers are the latest weapons of mass distraction.
Flush the GOP.
One commenter over there has already suggested this was interfering with the election. Yes, they are already developing conspiracy theories. We are through the looking glass, people.