I’ve clearly gotten through to Jon Hansen. The Speaker of the House evidently called a ceasefire in the Republican war against initiative and referendum, bringing no bills this Session to take away citizens’ right to put vote on laws and amend the state constitution and even resisting efforts to curtail petition circulation.
And now on economic development, the gubernatorial candidate from Dell Rapids sounds like he’s reading right from Dakota Free Press:
State House Speaker Jon Hansen, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, has called the state’s economic development grants and loans “corporate welfare.”
Hansen said this week in a statement issued in response to South Dakota Searchlight questions that the difference between him and the other Republican candidates is that he opposes the state’s current economic development model. He said the model is run by state officials who use taxes collected from South Dakota businesses to “hand out the money to any big corporation of their choosing, including many who then donate back to future political campaigns.”
“I think this is unfair to our South Dakota businesses and entrepreneurs and, as we’ve seen, is a breeding ground for corruption and backroom deals,” he said.
…“If there are any programs that are salvageable, it will be those that are fairly available to every South Dakotan — not those massive tax giveaways where politicians and bureaucrats in Pierre pick their favored corporation to sometimes attract future political contributions,” Hansen said [Joshua Haiar, “Governor Candidates Differ in Evaluating $15 Million of State Aid for Brookings Project,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.04.06].
Hansen’s campaign will be over in two months when he comes in third in the Republican primary behind Dusty Johnson and Larry Rhoden. But I hope he’ll continue pushing the free-market critique of South Dakota’s crony capitalism that I’ve maintained since the first decade of this millennium.
There’s something in the Sioux River water that reacts to the stone as it flows through Dell Rapids. For some it takes decades.
A runoff between Howdy Doody Dust and Jon Hansen seems increasingly likely.
Howdy Doody Dust has name recognition, at least around here. He should have, he’s been keeping the USPS open with his political propaganda for years, paid for by good old South Dakotans.
Hansen is absolutely correct on this issue. The GOED approach to economic development was one of Mickelson’s worst ideas. It was a slush fund insulated from transparency and checks and balances. Most of the money goes to political cronies, who then donate to back to the Governor.
It’s too bad South Dakota has kept this failed approach to economic development long past the time when it was proved to be a failure. What is needed is an immediate switch to a citizen board approach with much more citizen input and far, far more transparency. Mickelson did a great service in reforming the water development and environmental funding approach, and he should have used that model in his economic development approach.
Cory writes: Hansen’s campaign will be over in two months when he comes in third in the Republican primary behind Dusty Johnson and Larry Rhoden.
Did Doeden drop out?