Latest news with #JonHansen
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
One year away: SD's 2026 gubernatorial primary
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — One year from South Dakota's gubernatorial primary in 2026, the race is beginning to take shape. 'I've been there advocating for the people, for their rights, for their families, for their freedoms, and I don't back down,' Republican Jon Hansen of the Dell Rapids area said May 28. Hansen, who serves as speaker of the House of Representatives in Pierre, has officially thrown his name in the ring. Structure damage, split trees left behind after storm 'As we go out and we spread the message about putting the people first in South Dakota again, the reception is just overwhelmingly positive,' Hansen said. 'We're really happy to see it.' The 39-year-old lawyer, who formally announced his candidacy in late April, says voters want relief from property taxes. 'The people of the state want to see their government trimmed down, trim the fat,' Hansen said. 'They see what's going on in Washington with DOGE, and they want a South Dakota DOGE, and that's something that we've committed to doing.' Toby Doeden of Aberdeen, chair of the conservative political action committee Dakota First Action, has also filed paperwork to run for the governor's office. He has not responded to interview requests from KELOLAND News to talk with him about his gubernatorial plans. His website describes him as 'a proven conservative,' and Doeden Investment Group's website lists him as its president. As far as who might join Doeden and Hansen, some bigger names in South Dakota politics are potentially in the mix. For one, there's the current occupant of the governor's office: 66-year-old Republican Larry Rhoden. He rose to the position following former Gov. Kristi Noem's departure to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security with the federal government. 'I think campaigns are too long and too expensive, and I think people get really tired of them,' Rhoden said May 29. 'So, I've really focused on just doing a good job and getting around the state and meeting people. So, we're not going to make any announcements anytime soon.' The man whom Noem defeated in South Dakota's Republican gubernatorial primary in 2018, 54-year-old Marty Jackley of Pierre who is currently the state's attorney general, is also on the record as a potential candidate. 'I'm considering it, but right now I'm focused on doing the job that South Dakotans elected me to do, and that is to be the best attorney general I can be to keep our streets and communities safe,' Jackley said May 27. Another possible candidate is the man who has held South Dakota's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington since 2019: 48-year-old Republican Dusty Johnson of Mitchell. 'Certainly getting a lot of encouragement across the state to run for governor,' Johnson said April 22. 'I'm not worried about that right now. I do give it a little bit of consideration every once in a while, but day in and day out, I really need to be focused on my day job.' No Democratic candidates have yet announced their candidacy for South Dakota governor. After the primary election of June 2, 2026, the general election is scheduled for Nov. 3. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A strictly free market would make businesses free to ignore South Dakota
State Reps. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, and Karla Lems, R-Canton, speak to the press after they announced their campaign for governor and lieutenant governor at an event in Sioux Falls on April 24, 2025, at the Military Heritage Alliance. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota Republicans could be choosing from a crowded field when they make their choice for governor in the 2026 primary. With as many as five candidates in the race, would-be governors will need to find a way to distinguish themselves from the pack. The first announced candidate for that race was Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, a Dell Rapids attorney. He declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in April. Hansen was the first candidate for governor to come from the new MAGA wing of the South Dakota Republican Party—referred to as 'grassroots patriots' in his announcement speech. His campaign platform contains many of the topics his wing of the party has made a priority: cutting government spending, allowing school choice, protecting private property rights, opposing abortion and tightening election laws. First candidate for governor focuses on property rights, spending and halting 'corporate welfare' Another topic that Hansen touched on was ending 'corporate welfare.' That's the name he has given to the practice of using taxpayer dollars to boost private business. His example of corporate welfare gone bad was Tru Shrimp. The company was given a $6.5 million loan of state and local funds six years ago to build a facility in Madison. While the company did manage to change its name to Iterro, it has yet to break ground. 'I think it's just unnecessary government mingling, and it's risky business, and they're wasting our taxpayer dollars to do it,' Hansen said in a South Dakota Searchlight story. 'It's the sort of stuff that we want to say 'no more' to. Let's get back to the free market, low tax and low regulation.' South Dakota got serious about using state dollars to entice and build business in 1987 when Gov. George Mickelson helped to create the Revolving Economic Development and Initiative Fund. Mickelson was able to convince the Legislature to implement a 1% sales tax increase that would sunset once it had raised $40 million for the REDI Fund. Since then the Governor's Office of Economic Development has made loans and grants worth millions of dollars to new and existing businesses and industries in the state. Taking state government loans and grants out of the marketplace would certainly be one way Hansen could approach his new role if he were elected governor. That tactic, however, fails to consider the fact that a financial boost from the state is sometimes what it takes to get the free market interested in investing in South Dakota. Putting an end to low-interest government loans would certainly put the state at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with other states for business and industry. A recent news release from the GOED showed just how invested the state has become in helping businesses grow. The news release noted a $3.4 million grant for the Big Stone Energy Storage Project thermal energy facility, a $2.6 million grant for a Bel Brands expansion and a $250,682 grant to Dakota Line Energy for a lagoon digester. The news release said the grants would result in $419 million in capital expenditures and create 180 full-time jobs. In essence, the state is betting $6 million in hopes of getting a $419 million payoff. That kind of 'government mingling,' as Hansen called it, seems to offer pretty good odds. It is, however, as he noted, 'risky business.' At its heart, investing in economic development will always be a bit of a gamble. That's why we expect government officials to place safe bets, though there is always the chance for a bust like Tru Shrimp. That's the nature of any gamble. Hansen won't be the only 'patriot' in the Republican primary for governor, with Aberdeen businessman and political influencer Toby Doeden also declaring his candidacy. If 'corporate welfare' is going to be an issue in the GOP primary, the people who like to use state loans and grants to boost their local economies have got to do a better job of telling about the benefits of government investment. One way to do that would be to keep telling their story after the initial news release has been issued. Beyond the cliched photo of local officials with hardhats and shovels for a groundbreaking, taxpayers deserve regular updates on capital expenditures and job creation. This would add a layer of government transparency to the use of tax dollars. It would also soften the criticism from people like Hansen when an outfit like Tru Shrimp is slow to pay off on its state investment. Politicians often like to tout the benefits of the 'free market.' By curtailing state grants and low-interest loans, that market will be free to invest in states that are more financially welcoming. In 1987, the state's economy was badly in need of a jump-start, and it got one from Gov. Mickelson and the REDI Fund. Since then, that gamble has paid off more often than it's gone bust. What Hansen calls 'corporate welfare' has been a usually sound investment for South Dakota. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislature's property-tax panel sets work plan
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The special panel that will look at cutting South Dakota property taxes has decided to search for ways to reduce spending by public schools and state, county and local governments, as well as seeking new revenue sources and making state government responsible for a larger share of K-12 funding. State committee discusses possible SNAP cuts The Legislature's Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force set that plan Friday during a free-flowing teleconference that saw Republican Sen. Chris Karr chosen as chair and Republican Rep. Jon Hansen as vice chair. They were prime sponsors of the resolution establishing the panel. 'Before the session started we knew there was growing concern by our citizens of South Dakota,' Karr said. He said achieving 'meaningful tax relief for South Dakotans' would be one of the bigger issues for the 2026 Legislature. 'I believe there is a solution,' Karr said. 'I think we can do better.' The 16 legislators will split into three work groups — five lawmakers for schools, six for local governments and five for state government — and be assigned based in part on their preferences. Five public meetings are planned, starting on June 25 in Sioux Falls and followed July 17 in Rapid City and August 13 in Aberdeen. The final two will be in Pierre on September 23 and October 22. 'Everything needs to be on the table. We need to stay as broad as possible,' Republican Sen. Taffy Howard said, including tax-increment financing districts, optouts, spending cuts, and state government taking on more K-12 aid. Property-tax relief for homeowners is being emphasized by Hansen, who's running for governor in 2026. Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who worked with a group of legislators and got a property tax measure passed in the 2025 session, hasn't said yet whether he'll be a candidate. Representing Rhoden's administration as non-voting members on the panel are state Finance Commissioner Jim Terwilliger and former legislator Kirk Chaffee, a retired Meade County director of equalization. Terwilliger will be part of the state government work group, while Chaffee will be on the local government group. Howard, who traveled to Aberdeen earlier this week where she introduced Republican gubernatorial candidate Toby Doeden at his campaign announcement, said the task force should aim high. She posed a goal that she admitted might be 'pie in the sky.' 'Ideally,' she asked, 'what if we could eliminate property taxes on homeowners?' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican leaders first candidates to announce run for SD governor, lieutenant governor
Dissatisfaction with the 'status quo' is driving Jon Hansen and Karla Lems to run for South Dakota governor and lieutenant governor, they said. The pair officially announced their 2026 campaign to hundreds of supporters Thursday at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. The crowd included property rights advocates against eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines, 'election integrity' activists and over a dozen Republican lawmakers. Hansen, who currently serves as state House speaker, will seek the Republican Party's nomination for governor, with Lems, his second in command in the House, running to serve as his lieutenant governor. The two, along with speakers who introduced them, said elected officials too often put the 'people's interests' second to special interests. To resounding applause, they said that's caused a wave of opposition to establishment politicians, a referred state pipeline law that voters rejected in November, and ousted incumbent state lawmakers in last June's primary election. 'Grassroots patriots from all across the great state of South Dakota are standing up and we are saying in record numbers, 'No more corruption, no more waste and abuse, no more tax on our land and our liberties and our way of life,'' Hansen said to the crowd. 'Today renews the coming of the end for all of that.' If elected, Hansen pledged to 'clean up' the system by cutting state government and spending. He also promised to create 'education choice grants' for alternative and private school education, and sign an executive order to 'define man and woman, end the woke and restore common sense.' Hansen said he plans to stop offering 'corporate welfare' as well. Republican governors and lawmakers for decades have invested millions of tax dollars in bonds, loans and grants to entice businesses to build and expand in the state. That includes funding for farmers and value-added operations, as well as support for larger investments such as Tru Shrimp. Hansen cited the Tru Shrimp deal as an example of 'corporate welfare.' More: Democrat Julian Beaudion announces US Senate run against Republican Mike Rounds in 2026 State and local officials committed $6.5 million in taxpayer money for a low-interest loan six years ago for Tru Shrimp to build a facility in Madison. The company has not built the facility, even though it was expected to break ground in 2024. The company, which has since changed its name to Iterro, announced it's 'more than halfway' to its fundraising goal to begin the Madison project earlier this year. 'I think it's just unnecessary government mingling, and it's risky business, and they're wasting our taxpayer dollars to do it,' Hansen said of the deal. 'It's that sort of stuff that we want to say 'no more' to. Let's just get back to the free market, low tax and low regulation.' A Dell Rapids lawyer, Hansen has spent a decade in the South Dakota House of Representatives. The 39-year-old was elected House speaker for the most recent legislative session after serving as speaker pro tempore from 2021 to 2022. Lems, from Canton, owns a coffee shop and property management business. The 56-year-old entered the state political fray in 2022 and was elected as House speaker pro tempore during the most recent legislative session, the first woman to hold the position in state history. The two are riding the momentum of private property rights and anti-abortion successes in the last year. Both have been leading forces on property rights in the Legislature, culminating in an eminent domain ban for carbon capture pipelines signed into law this year. The legislation contributed to the Public Utilities Commission's recent denial of Summit Carbon Solutions' second permit application to build a portion of its $9 billion pipeline through the state. Hansen would sometimes be introduced as 'our governor' during rallies in opposition to Summit's pipeline. He told attendees at the event Thursday that under his leadership, the 'only thing that's going to get sequestered are leftist climate policies' — a reference to Summit's planned underground 'sequestration' of carbon dioxide in North Dakota. Meanwhile, Republican President Donald Trump championed carbon capture and storage this week, highlighting it as part of his agenda to improve American energy production. When asked about Trump's support of carbon sequestration, Hansen said 'when it comes to taking people's land and using it without their consent in order to build a risky pipeline across their property, that's a big no.' Hansen has also focused on anti-abortion legislation and tightening South Dakota's election laws in the Legislature. Now vice president of South Dakota Right to Life and co-chair of the Life Defense Fund, he organized a campaign last year that fended off a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Hansen and Lems are the first to announce their candidacy for the governor's race, though other prominent South Dakota politicians have said they're considering their own bids, including Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson. Other Republicans frequently mentioned as possible candidates include Attorney General Marty Jackley, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, who briefly considered a run against Johnson for U.S. House last year. Rhoden, who formerly served as lieutenant governor, changed the name of his campaign fundraising committee to 'Rhoden for Governor' in February. His lieutenant governor, Tony Venhuizen, created a new campaign fundraising committee the same month. The Legislature changed the process for choosing lieutenant governor nominees this year. The new law allows candidates for governor to choose their running mate, rather than relying on political party conventions to nominate them. If more than one person from each party seeks the nomination, party voters will choose their nominee for governor in the primary election on June 2, 2026. The winners will advance to the general election on Nov. 3, 2026. Rhoden is currently serving the remainder of the second term won by former Gov. Kristi Noem, who would've been term-limited at the end of 2026. She resigned earlier this year to accept the top job at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: First candidates announce run for SD governor, lieutenant governor
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
First candidate for governor focuses on property rights, spending and halting ‘corporate welfare'
Reps. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, and Karla Lems, R-Canton, will run alongside each other in the 2026 gubernatorial race. They kicked off their campaign in Sioux Falls on April 24, 2025, at the Military Heritage Alliance. Hansen will run for governor with Lems running for lieutenant governor. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Dissatisfaction with the 'status quo' is driving Jon Hansen and Karla Lems to run for South Dakota governor and lieutenant governor, they said. The pair officially announced their 2026 campaign to hundreds of supporters Thursday at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. The crowd included property rights advocates against eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines, 'election integrity' activists and over a dozen Republican lawmakers. Hansen, who currently serves as state House speaker, will seek the Republican Party's nomination for governor, with Lems, his second in command in the House, running to serve as his lieutenant governor. The two, along with speakers who introduced them, said elected officials too often put the 'people's interests' second to special interests. To resounding applause, they said that's caused a wave of opposition to establishment politicians, a referred state pipeline law that voters rejected in November, and ousted incumbent state lawmakers in last June's primary election. 'Grassroots patriots from all across the great state of South Dakota are standing up and we are saying in record numbers, 'No more corruption, no more waste and abuse, no more tax on our land and our liberties and our way of life,'' Hansen said to the crowd. 'Today renews the coming of the end for all of that.' If elected, Hansen pledged to 'clean up' the system by cutting state government and spending. He also promised to create 'education choice grants' for alternative and private school education, and sign an executive order to 'define man and woman, end the woke and restore common sense.' Hansen said he plans to stop offering 'corporate welfare' as well. Republican governors and lawmakers for decades have invested millions of tax dollars in bonds, loans and grants to entice businesses to build and expand in the state. That includes funding for farmers and value-added operations, as well as support for larger investments such as Tru Shrimp. Hansen cited the Tru Shrimp deal as an example of 'corporate welfare.' State and local officials committed $6.5 million in taxpayer money for a low-interest loan six years ago for Tru Shrimp to build a facility in Madison. The company has not built the facility, even though it was expected to break ground in 2024. The company, which has since changed its name to Iterro, announced it's 'more than halfway' to its fundraising goal to begin the Madison project earlier this year. 'I think it's just unnecessary government mingling, and it's risky business, and they're wasting our taxpayer dollars to do it,' Hansen said of the deal. 'It's that sort of stuff that we want to say 'no more' to. Let's just get back to the free market, low tax and low regulation.' A Dell Rapids lawyer, Hansen has spent a decade in the South Dakota House of Representatives. The 39-year-old was elected House speaker for the most recent legislative session after serving as speaker pro tempore from 2021 to 2022. Lems, from Canton, owns a coffee shop and property management business. The 56-year-old entered the state political fray in 2022 and was elected as House speaker pro tempore during the most recent legislative session, the first woman to hold the position in state history. The two are riding the momentum of private property rights and anti-abortion successes in the last year. Both have been leading forces on property rights in the Legislature, culminating in an eminent domain ban for carbon capture pipelines signed into law this year. The legislation contributed to the Public Utilities Commission's recent denial of Summit Carbon Solutions' second permit application to build a portion of its $9 billion pipeline through the state. Hansen would sometimes be introduced as 'our governor' during rallies in opposition to Summit's pipeline. He told attendees at the event Thursday that under his leadership, the 'only thing that's going to get sequestered are leftist climate policies' — a reference to Summit's planned underground 'sequestration' of carbon dioxide in North Dakota. Meanwhile, Republican President Donald Trump championed carbon capture and storage this week, highlighting it as part of his agenda to improve American energy production. When asked about Trump's support of carbon sequestration, Hansen said 'when it comes to taking people's land and using it without their consent in order to build a risky pipeline across their property, that's a big no.' Hansen has also focused on anti-abortion legislation and tightening South Dakota's election laws in the Legislature. Now vice president of South Dakota Right to Life and co-chair of the Life Defense Fund, he organized a campaign last year that fended off a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Hansen and Lems are the first to announce their candidacy for the governor's race, though other prominent South Dakota politicians have said they're considering their own bids, including Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson. Other Republicans frequently mentioned as possible candidates include Attorney General Marty Jackley, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, who briefly considered a run against Johnson for U.S. House last year. Rhoden, who formerly served as lieutenant governor, changed the name of his campaign fundraising committee to 'Rhoden for Governor' in February. His lieutenant governor, Tony Venhuizen, created a new campaign fundraising committee the same month. The Legislature changed the process for choosing lieutenant governor nominees this year. The new law allows candidates for governor to choose their running mate, rather than relying on political party conventions to nominate them. If more than one person from each party seeks the nomination, party voters will choose their nominee for governor in the primary election on June 2, 2026. The winners will advance to the general election on Nov. 3, 2026. Rhoden is currently serving the remainder of the second term won by former Gov. Kristi Noem, who would've been term-limited at the end of 2026. She resigned earlier this year to accept the top job at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
