Our Focus
"As a career military man, I fought hard for justice and democracy around the world. Now it is time that I fight for the people right here at home."
Article for week of October 5th, 2026
Greetings:
Well, election season is going strong. I don’t know about you, but the 3rd of November can’t get here soon enough for me. Everyone asks if I have an opponent and I tell them yes. There are two House Reps in each district, so Rep. Trish Ladner and I are running against a democrat opponent. Senator Amber Hulse is unopposed on the ballot, so she, for sure, is our District 30 senator for another two years. Congratulations Senator Hulse!
I’ve had the pleasure of attending 3 Lincoln Day Dinners in as many weeks. What we do in the Republican Party in South Dakota is to have Lincoln Day Dinner (LDDs) to unite the party after, in some cases, a grueling Primary Election in June. I enjoy LDDs. The first one I attended was hosted by Pennington County Republicans at the Ramkota in Rapid City. It’s always a great gathering of like-minded individuals coming together for the common good of the party. Our guest speaker went over each framer, or in other words, each signer of our Declaration of Independence. Now, I know you’re thinking “boring”, but it was actually quite interesting and he covered a lot of things I didn’t know. Next, I went to Fall River County’s LDD, held at the Legion Club in Hot Springs. It’s sponsored by Fall River GOP (Grand Ole Party) which is quite active. Instead of a guest speaker, they let all the candidates who attended speak. I thought U.S. Senator Mike Rounds had an especially good presentation. Sen. Rounds sits on the Senate Military Affairs Committee and went over the anticipated arrival of the B21 Radar Stealth Bomber coming to Ellsworth. I think I mentioned we are getting two squadrons. I think that’s a brigade in the army.? Each will have 20 bombers AND there is a good chance we are receiving a 3rd squadron equipped with another 20 bombers for a grand total of 60 of the most sophisticated aircraft ever made. All are nuclear equipped with the best stealth measures ever invented. I might add that one of the squadrons is going to be a training squadron, meaning every person from the pilot down to the maintenance and fueling technicians. I think 66 different military occupation specialties have to be trained at Ellsworth before moving on to their duty assignments. Lastly, I went last night, Oct. 3rd, to Custer GOP’s LDD held in Custer. This was another great event with some of THE best prime rib I’ve ever had. I even had the good fortune of winning the drawing for a Pres. Trump engraved 0.357 pistol. Now I need another weapon like I need a hole in my head, so probably I’ll give it to one of my sons for a Christmas present. Timmy, I hope you don’t read this article as if you do I’ve let the cat out of the bag!
I’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding the four ballot measures that are on the ballot. I said in an earlier article I was a “yes” for I, J, and K, but was undecided on L. After doing much homework, I’m a definite YES on L as well. So, here’s a cheat sheet that you don’t even have to write down. I’m voting yes on all four ballot measures, I,J,K and L and on the candidates, I’m voting a straight republican ticket. So, here’s your ballot memorization: Vote yes and vote Republican. Early voting is taking place now through Nov. 2 at your local courthouse.
Please vote.
Representative Tim Goodwin, District 30
U.S. Army Lt. Colonel, retired Chair Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Ag. And Natural Resources and Transportation Committee
