Republican Knives Are Out for Kristi Noem in South Dakota

South Dakota Republicans haven’t lost a statewide election since 2008. They have slapped Democrats around in just about every campaign, even running unopposed for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010 and U.S. House seat in 2020.

Now it seems like they’re so desperate for a good fight that they’ve picked several among themselves.

Gov. Kristi Noem, who has been riding high in polls in her state, has never lost an election. She served four terms in Congress before being elected governor in 2018. The South Dakota legislature has supermajorities in both chambers, with Republicans holding 94 of 105 seats. No Democrat holds statewide office.

But Noem has suddenly found plenty of opponents with whom to wage bitter political battles: fellow Republicans.

Conversations with experts and political insiders from both parties suggest that while it’s far too early to suggest she’s in danger of losing her re-election bid this fall, Noem may emerge bloodied, with any national ambitions in some jeopardy.

University of South Dakota political science professor Michael Card told The Daily Beast that Noem has raised hackles in part by the very nature of how she performs duties essential to her job. Specifically, he pointed to her repeatedly referring to South Dakota issues with terms like “my bill” and “my budget” in a state with old-school lawmakers who like to maintain their fiefdoms.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-republican-knives-are-out-for-south-dakota-gov-kristi-noem?ref=home
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Kristi, the "white bread" Nikki Haley