Finally, it happened. Primary voters finally rose up and ousted a critical mass of one-party Republicans in a Republican-dominated state primary. Combined with mounting vacancies in both houses of the Legislature, the Freedom Caucus and its allies are now the dominant force in the state, poised to change the leadership of the Legislature and pressure Governor Kristi Noem to move to the right.
What is the secret to success where everyone else who has walked the “RINO hunting trail” has failed? Let’s thank the angry landowners and greedy green energy pipeline entrepreneurs who got mobilized.
While the top leaders of both houses retained their seats, the overall dynamics of Parliament have changed.
Brown County Farmers Jared Bosley Facing an eminent domain lawsuit from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wanted to use his land for a “carbon capture” pipeline under Joe Biden’s Green New Deal, he turned to Noem for help. “Do I have to fight all of your fights?” the governor said. RefutedThis is despite the fact that it was her former head of state who signed the court filing.
In the end, landowners fought their own battle, without the help of Noem and her allies, donors and lobbyists, resulting in the defeat of 13 liberal incumbents in primaries and an influx of conservatives willing to fight the nonsensical pipeline.
The RINO bloodbath included the entire House Majority Whip team: JD Wangsness, Gary Cammack, Becky Drury, and Kirk Chafee. In the Senate, four weak Republicans were defeated, including Appropriations Committee Chairman Gene Humhoff, David Johnson, Erin Tobin, and Michael Walsh. Also, current Senate Majority Whip Ryan Maher tried to switch to the House but was defeated by conservatives, with a much more conservative challenger winning the Senate seat.
These are all Senate and House Supporters or allies of SB 201. This bill would allow carbon capture pipeline companies to ignore local ordinances and exercise their power of eminent domain to build pointless pipelines on private land.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives Rejected Rep. John Hansen’s bill to ban the private taking of carbon pipelines. All of the House incumbents who lost Tuesday night were on the wrong side of that vote. In addition, the Senate has at least four vacant Liberal seats, and even more have won in the House.
While the top leaders in both chambers kept their seats, the overall dynamics of Congress have shifted and they are unlikely to retain their leadership positions. Republicans control the Senate 31-4, but only 10 Republicans opposed the pipeline bill. There are now easily nearly 20 votes against the pipeline, and perhaps a majority of the caucus will reject the current leadership altogether.
In the House of Representatives, conservatives are in a stronger position going into the election, so a leadership change should be easy. Twenty-four of the 33 candidates from the Freedom Caucus were elected, but it’s amazing how underfunded and mostly novice candidates have such a high success rate against a party organization backed by Summit Carbon Solutions, which has received funding from China. Only seven of the 70 House members are Democrats, but several of them are in a vulnerable position given the likelihood of a Trump landslide victory in the general election.
Now, conservatives have a chance to unite around new leadership and prepare for the 2026 gubernatorial primary. Perhaps someone like former Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. John Hansen, a lawyer from Dell Rapids, would be a great candidate for speaker or beyond. He played a key role in recruiting many of these candidates and has led the fight against the tyranny of pipelines and COVID-19.
But before South Dakota grassroots activists prepare for next year’s legislative session, they have unfinished business to do ahead of the November election. The bill was signed Allow Summit to override all local ordinances when building carbon pipelines. Relief cannot wait until next year. Landowners have two weeks left to collect signatures to repeal SB 201 on the November ballot. What better way to shape the course of a general election than to put property rights at issue and give voters the opportunity to choose freely?
So far, this year’s primaries have been disappointing. Apathetic voters have generally renominated all liberal Republicans, especially at the federal level. Will South Dakota turn the tide midway through primary season?
