Elections, Impeachment, Community and Events

May was another month on the move starting with Elevate Rapid City’s Critical Issues luncheon on Tourism, a trip out to Watertown to speak at Lake Area Technical College’s Governor’s Luncheon and to visit with folks at the Codington County Lincoln Day Dinner. Back in Rapid I attended a legislative candidate meet and greet and that weekend ended with a special ceremony for (what would’ve been) the landing of the B25 and donations of $35,000 each for Douglas School District and Rapid City Area School District from Northrop Grumman Corporation. This money will be used for STEM opportunities at the schools and South Dakota Mines summer camps. I attended the Ellsworth Air Force Base Air Show, the Pennington County Lincoln Day Dinner, and more candidate socials. The following week I gave a presentation on Amendment C for Elevate Rapid City’s Public Policy Committee and attended Pennington County Republican Women’s luncheon where I recapped that presentation and heard from candidates for Pennington County Sheriff. May wrapped up with an event with South Dakota Strong featuring Jim Scull speaking on economic development and the groundbreaking for the B21 Pride Hangar. This past week I was in Pierre for the trial of the attorney general, headed east to Watertown for the Republican state convention and will finish June back in Pierre for the first meeting of the legislative summer study on property tax. The primary election is over, the SD GOP convention has concluded, and the legislature is back to business. It was an ugly election for many in South Dakota with hundreds of thousands of dollars invested to pursue personal interests of lobbying groups and individual legislators. I did not have a primary, and I am not being challenged in the general election. It is vital to be aware who is running in your districts and being able to discern fact from fiction as we move into November. Thank you for the opportunity to serve District 35 and the State of South Dakota for two more years!