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Kristi Noem Wins Re-Election In South Dakota’s Gubernatorial Race

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem cruised to re-election on Tuesday night and defeated her Democratic challenger Jamie Smith in the gubernatorial race.

Noem recently held a rally alongside former Hawaii Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and spoke about the importance of the midterm elections.

“The Democrat Party has become a party that has thrown our Constitution in the trash,” Gabbard said at the rally. “Governors serve as a check and balance on federal mandates that are being pushed and forced on the people. There is such a clear contrast and a clear choice for voters here in South Dakota between Kristi Noem’s leadership and her opponent. He will basically be a rubber stamp on whatever the Biden Administration wants to impose on people here in South Dakota.”

“It matters who sits in leadership positions – they impact our lives every single day,” Noem said at the rally. “Tulsi Gabbard is absolutely fantastic and a woman of integrity. She’s a patriot and a freedom fighter, and I’m honored to have her support.”

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In September, Noem announced in a video she had to leave the campaign trail temporarily after she had back surgery.

“Several weeks ago, about two months ago, I sustained an injury to my back. I’ve been working with excellent doctors here in South Dakota over those weeks to try to alleviate the situation. Unfortunately, this week, I ended up having surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,” Noem said in a video posted to Twitter this week.

“I won’t be able to stand for more than 10, 15 minutes at a time, I won’t be able to get out and about South Dakota like I love to do so much,” the governor said in the video. “And you know that about me; that I’m very hands-on and will miss being able to do my normal activities.”

Noem said there was good news and bad news to share.

“The person who performed that surgery was a neurosurgeon who specializes in spine injuries, and it was a complete success,” she said. “I’m very grateful for all of their expertise and help and just arrived back home here in Pierre.”

“But I did want to let you all know that I’m going to be very limited in what I will be able to do for the next several months,” she added.

“I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate all your support and your prayers. That I’m still working hard here in Pierre every day, and that I’m still campaigning. I’ll do a lot of video updates and a lot of chats with you this was as well, but my ability to get around the state is going to be pretty challenged for the next several months,” she added.

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Noem added, “I have to abide by certain limitations on my activity in order to allow my back to heal properly. In the short term, this will include amount of standing I can do and the amount of travel that I can partake in around our great state.”

“I am grateful for the doctors’ and nurses’ steady hands — and God’s grace — as I am now back home in Pierre and on the mend,” she said in the statement.

Noem, who is well-known as a close ally of former President Donald Trump, defeated Steve Haugaard, the former Republican speaker of the state House, in a June GOP primary.

Earlier that month, Noem made headlines when she pushed back on a Biden administration threat to withhold education funding from states that refuse to adhere to a new Title IX interpretation.

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“President Biden is holding lunch money for poor Americans hostage in pursuit of his radical agenda,” Noem said in a statement Thursday morning. “He is insisting that we allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports or else lose funding for SNAP and school lunch programs.”

“South Dakota will continue to defend basic fairness so that our girls can compete and achieve. I would remind President Biden that we have defeated him in litigation before and are ready to do so again,” the GOP governor added, making reference to her state’s lawsuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandate, which the Supreme Court struck down in January.

“Mr. President, we’ll see you in court,” she added.

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