Republican Senator Marion Michael Rounds is already using Democratic candidate Julian Beaudion’s graceless withdrawal from the U.S. Senate campaign as an opportunity to raise more money by stoking fears of stealth socialism. The Rounds campaign sent out this alarmist e-mail yesterday declaring that, with the evil Left now able to coalesce around independent Brian Bengs, Rounds’s seat is no longer safe:
Fellow Conservative,
I need you to read this carefully, because the entire race just changed.
The Democrat in my election, Julian Beaudion, dropped out.
That might sound like good news. It is not. Here is why:
With the Democrat gone, the left did not give up on this seat. They simply switched weapons. Their entire hope now rests on Brian Bengs, a fake independent and liberal socialist who ran as a Democrat just two years ago and is now hiding his party label to fool South Dakota voters.
And a fake independent is far more dangerous than an honest Democrat. He can peel off independents and even soft Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat, all while the national left quietly funnels him money under the radar.
This is no longer a safe seat. It is a real race. And I will not pretend otherwise just to make you comfortable [emphasis in original; Rounds for Senate, campaign e-mail, 2026.08.05].
I’m not sure what money Bengs is getting that is any quieter than Rounds’s far greater campaign contributions from fat-cat corporate interests across the country. Bengs and Rounds both have to report their cash to the Federal Election Commission for public viewing.
And I’m not sure Bengs is fooling anybody. The real fools would be the soft Republicans who think Mike Rounds is one of them, even though his support for King Don’s disregard of the Constitution, anti-free-market tariffs, state ownership of private businesses, and expansion of government power to take away the liberties of American citizens makes Smiling Mike a fake Republican and a totalitarian communist.
Recall that in 2013 Reich Mike Rounds pledged to raise $9 million to run for Senate but even today he is struggling to fund his war chest and has just $2 million cash on hand.
https://www.argusleader.com/story/jonathanellis/2015/02/09/rounds-ends-campaign-with-debt/23134963/
Rounds has to do important things related to UFOs. He hasn’t time for silliness.
And I’m not sure the Round Man is fooling anybody.
His odds to win are 92-93%.
If you’re sending him money there’s subterfuge involved.
Mr. Lansing, I would bet one of your greasy-spoon mashed potato plates that Mr. Rounds is not losing much sleep, indeed. You are a shrewed fellow.
$20 says Reich Mike would love to be done with DC. He’s just going through the motions if his FB pages are any indicator. Seeing Professor Bengs towering over Tike Mike on a stage kinda makes me verklempt.
Mr Rounds maybe you should try and figure out why the soft republicans as you call them would vote for an independent. It might be time to reflect on your own voting while in the Senate. You have done nothing but let this administration rob the American taxpayers for pet projects and unnecessary wars. Take a hard look at how the debt has climbed in the last year and a half and realize maybe those soft republicans are fed up with what’s happening in Washington.
Mike Rounds: Governor during the EB-5 scandal, who hired a Dutch national, Joop Bullen, to handle millions of dollars that somehow disappeared in a cornfield when Richard Benda committed suicide by shooting himself in the stomach with a shotgun. I’ll hold my nose and vote Bengs.
Rounds praised the S.D. education system when he was governor. He invited teachers each year from all over the state to praise them for what they did. As senator, he adamantly objected to the Department of Education, demanding it be abolished.
Everyone here is right! Rounds has proven over and over how untrustworthy and cutthroat he is. There should be letters to the editor in every newspaper in S.D. reminding others.
With Congressional approval at an all time low of 8 percent because the Republicans have failed their Constitutional obligation of being a check on the destruction and corruption from the White House, Rounds has no right to expect a single vote.
Yet, Ms. SR, Mr. Senator Rounds will dominate and crush Mr. Bengs in the elections. He has expectations he will get more than his own single vote, and perhaps those of his offspring. You should make a gravy bet with grudznick, and I will breakfast well.
Yep, man-boobs Reich Mike Rounds will crush a man who is 60 percent taller says his imaginary friend.