Republican Party

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, participate in the FOX Business Republican Primary Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sept. 27, 2023, in Simi Valley, California. Seven presidential hopefuls squared off in the debate as former U.S. President Donald Trump declined again to participate. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

GOP presidential hopefuls tear into each other and absent Trump at second debate

BY: and - September 27, 2023

The candidates polling from second to eighth in the race for the Republican nomination for president largely agreed on policy, fought over their records and took aim at former President Donald Trump at their second debate of the year Wednesday night. Trump, who leads polls of the race by substantial margins, skipped the event at […]

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum participate in the first debate of the GOP primary season hosted by FOX News at the Fiserv Forum on August 23, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump absent but still dominates as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

BY: , and - August 23, 2023

Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known […]

South Dakota's all-Republican congressional delegation, from left: Sen. John Thune, Rep. Dusty Johnson and Sen. Mike Rounds. (Photos courtesy of Thune/Johnson/Rounds offices; composite by South Dakota Searchlight)

State’s all-Republican congressional delegation will not attend Trump’s SD event

BY: - August 22, 2023

When the South Dakota Republican Party hosts former President Donald Trump on Sept. 8 in Rapid City, the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation will not be there. All three have scheduling conflicts, their offices said. South Dakota’s senators have endorsed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott in the Republican presidential primary, rather than former President Donald Trump. […]

Members of the crowd bow their heads in prayer at the start of the Faith & Freedom Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton on June 23, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Where the GOP presidential candidates stand on national abortion bans, restrictions

BY: - June 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — The 2024 Republican presidential primary marks the first time in half a century that candidates will debate whether abortion should be restricted or banned at the federal level without the Roe v. Wade ruling making most of their proposals moot. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer to overturn the nationwide, constitutional right […]

COMMENTARY
Voters line up to cast early ballots on Nov. 4, 2022, at the Minnehaha County Courthouse in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Open primaries should be part of debate over candidate nominations

BY: - March 10, 2023

As the legislative session wound down, Republicans had a tough time deciding the fate of Senate Bill 40, a bill that originally called for primaries, rather than political party conventions, to decide on top state candidates. In the end, Republicans couldn’t agree on how to change the system. In its original form, SB 40 called […]

Legislators in the Senate Chamber during the 2023 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Senate scraps bill to switch nominations from conventions to primaries

BY: - March 7, 2023

An effort to change the way many statewide candidates are nominated has failed, after it pitted factions of the Republican Party against each other for much of the current legislative session. Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre, the Senate decided not to support House amendments to the bill or appoint a conference committee to work […]

During a 2023 press conference at the Capitol in Pierre, state Sen. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids, announces a complaint against senators who voted to suspend Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, R-Rapid City, who is pictured to the left of Pischke. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight).

Republican leaders flip the script this session, go on offensive against insurgents

BY: - March 4, 2023

The traditional narrative about the split in the South Dakota Republican Party is outsider driven — people on the edges of the party working to gain influence by becoming delegates to the state party convention, running in primary elections, and engaging in online activism. But during this year’s legislative session, it’s the insiders, not the […]

The 2023 House floor vote for speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Speaker vote makes history and reveals extent of Republican rift

BY: - January 12, 2023

When Jon Hansen was passed over for speaker of the state House of Representatives this week, he made history and revealed a rift of historic proportions in the Republican Party.  Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, was the speaker pro tempore last year. That should have made him a shoe-in for speaker of the House when representatives needed […]

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, speaks during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo Sarah Silbiger-Pool/Getty Images)

Rounds criticizes Trump’s call for ‘termination’ of the Constitution

BY: - December 5, 2022

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, is criticizing former president Donald Trump for proposing the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution. Rounds issued a written statement by email Monday afternoon. “Americans have a deep appreciation for the Constitution and our Founding Fathers who risked their lives to establish it,” Rounds’ statement said, in part. “As elected […]