Noem speaks in Redfield while campaigning for Governor

Noem speaks in Redfield while campaigning for Governor

By Shiloh Appel
On Thursday, October 11th, Republican Congresswoman Kristi Noem met with Redfield economic and business leaders at Leo's Good Food to discuss issues pertinent to Redfield and South Dakota and inform citizens on how her race for Governor of South Dakota is going so far. Those present brought up issues such as the future outlook for SDDC, school funding, healthcare, the need for better opportunities on South Dakota reservations, agricultural needs and small businesses. Noem addressed each issue that was brought up and described her plans going forward.

"I want you to know why I am running. A lot of times when people look at South Dakota, they say we are small. We have small towns that are dying. That we are spread out and we are rural. They talk about it like it is a detriment to us. I believe those are advantages for us. Because we are small, because we don't have a lot of people, we can do things in South Dakota that other places can't do. And that is really what I am interested in pursuing here in South Dakota. We can do things that California, Florida, Illinois — those states can't do," said Noem. " I spent eight years in Washington D.C. and I am just convinced that we can't fix this country and do the big stuff in Washington. When it comes to welfare reform, strengthening families and really doing innovative education things…I think we need a couple of strong governors in the states to go after those big things in their states and show how it makes a difference in their families and creates opportunities for their kids and future generations — and then hold that up as a testimony to the nation."
Noem also talked about her four pillars: protection from tax increases, protection from government growth, protection from federal intrusion and protection from government secrecy.
"We have successfully pushed back on things that the federal government was pursuing that would have changed our way of life," said Noem."Obama was coming after our second amendment rights through regulations and we stopped him on it.We stopped the dust regulations…. and the working on labor regulations against our kids. Now the Corps of Engineers, for the last two years, has been trying to charge us for water that we pull out of the Missouri River. It has always been our water, but for some reason the Corps thinks they own it now. So we have been successfully pushing back on that."
Noem went on to explain the differences between herself and Democratic candidate for governor, Billie Sutton.
"We have a Democratic candidate running for governor that has more money than any Democrat running for governor in the history of South Dakota. The reason for that is because the National Democratic Party is pouring money into his campaign and activists from out of state are pouring money into his campaign. He is a young guy with a fresh face and a powerful story. And they think that they have an opportunity to dump a lot of resources into this state and convince everybody that he is a Republican and that he is conservative, but I'm here to tell you that he is not," said Noem."The number one thing that people need to know is that they have a very clear choice on November 6th. Billie and I are not alike. He is advocating for an income tax in South Dakota. He said that he wants one. He says he is pro-life, but he has got Planned Parenthood giving him money and they are hosting fundraisers for him. There is a reason the NRA has endorsed me and not him in this race. We are going to fight and we are going to win, but the one thing that I need is I need your help."
Noem's meeting wrapped up at about 4p.m. Thursday. In closing, Noem talked with individuals one-on-one and handed out sunglasses and bumper stickers.