Skip to content

Noem’s Son-in-Law Seeks to Oust Anti-Schoenbeck Paulsen from Watertown City Council; Redemske Notes Peters’s Short Tenure in Town

Published 2023-05-25 by Cory Allen Heidelberger

Last year Watertown city councilman Colin Paulsen unsuccessfully campaigned against Senate king Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Watertown) in the Republican primary. In response to that unwise political move, Watertown Republicans apparently have recruited Governor Kristi Noem’s son-in-law and ag-crony-capitalist Kyle Peters to oust Paulsen from that seat.

But Peters doesn’t have a clear path to vanquishing a scourge of the GOP establishment. Peters and Paulsen are on the June 20 ballot with a third candidate, former councilman Jason Redemske, who lost his seat to Paulsen in 2021 and now wants that seat back. Redemske whacks Peters as a carpetbagger:

Jason Redemske, campaign FB post, 2023.04.30.
Jason Redemske, campaign FB post, 2023.04.30.
Peters did move to Watertown from Pierre just a couple years ago, when he moved from the public branch of the GOP to its private branch. Peters has recently added real estate to his primary gig promoting CAFOs. Peters’s wife, the Governor’s daughter Kassidy, just started a new job alongside her brother Booker helping groom children for theocracy. Redemske, who got a degree in welding at Lake Area Tech in 1986 (back when we called such schools vo-techs), has done real work at Terex since he graduated from Watertown High School. Pauslen graduated from Watertown HS in 2008, studied in North Dakota and engineered for a bit in Washington State before returning to Watertown. Redemske thus wins the “who’s been here longest?’ battle, but longevity and experience in the community didn’t stop Paulsen from beating Redemske in 2021.

Published in South Dakota

5 Comments

  1. Donald Pay

    Are there any actual real issues being addressed by the candidates in this race? Whether you are a new resident or have been stuck in a city for a lifetime means little or nothing. I suppose a long-term resident knows more about what used to be, and probably has more contacts in the city, but elections are about the future. What do you want to do?

    These are supposedly non-partisan races. And there are, supposedly, no religious tests for holding office. Maybe it’s me, but I prefer to vote for candidates who have a platform of ideas, rather than a lot of political gripes and pretend religious credentials. Tell me how you’re going to make life better for all citizens, not just satisfy your own egos.

    2023-05-25
  2. Robb

    One main issue is the flooding that happens about every 5 years in Watertown. Along with all the chemicals and cow manure that washes into the lake from the farms up north. We need a candidate who is going to represent the citizens of Watertown and not the farmers. We need a dam built before there is no more lake. I believe Collin Paulsen is the best man for the job. Redemske would be my 2nd choice. Being a farm/ag lender Peters is gonna do whats best for the farmers and not the people of Watertown.

    2023-05-25
  3. Charles A Larkin

    What is Peters educational background? You never mentioned that?
    Thanks

    2023-05-25
  4. Donald Pay

    Robb, Now that’s an actual issue. How are candidates addressing that issue?

    2023-05-25
  5. Arlo Blundt

    Yes, Watertown sits as a huge agricultural sump and Lake Kampeska, which could be a jewell of a focus area for the City, is green with algae.

    2023-05-26

Comments are closed.