Gov. Kristi Noem Wins South Dakota’s GOP Gubernatorial Primary

Gov. Kristi Noem Wins South Dakota’s GOP Gubernatorial Primary
Martin Walsh, June 7, 2022

Gov. Kristi Noem has been declared the winner of South Dakota’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

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 the race on Tuesday night.









Last week, 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.

“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.



The Daily Wire adds:

Noem’s warning draws on a promise from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that it will interpret “the prohibition on discrimination based on sex found in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 … to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

This would mean that schools that do not allow biological males in women’s sports, women’s locker rooms, or women’s restrooms would be considered to be discriminating against students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA and FNS are issuing this interpretation to help ensure its programs are open, accessible and help promote food and nutrition security, regardless of demographics,” the USDA noted in a statement.

“This action is in line with President Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, and is consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the Court held that the prohibition on sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” the department noted further in a release.

State and local agencies, as well as program operators and sponsors that receive federal funds from FNS will be required to “investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation,” the USDA said, adding that the organizations are also required to update their policies and signage to “include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted in a statement as well that his department “is committed to administering all its programs with equity and fairness, and serving those in need with the highest dignity.”

“A key step in advancing these principles is rooting out discrimination in any form – including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” Vilsack said. “At the same time, we must recognize the vulnerability of the LGBTQI+ communities and provide them with an avenue to grieve any discrimination they face. We hope that by standing firm against these inequities we will help bring about much-needed change.”

Jay Richards, Director of the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family, told The Daily Wire that the South Dakota governor “has this exactly right.”

“Biden told us last November that gender ideology would be a central theme of his administration, and he’s making good on that promise,” Richards told the outlet. “States such as Florida, Alabama, and South Dakota are starting to push back against this ideology, at least when it comes to kids.”

He also noted that several Republican-led states have begun introducing laws to “reserve girls’ sports for girls.”

“The Biden White House is committed to fighting such states who resist the gender juggernaut,” he said. “The threat from the USDA, to withhold funding for poor public school students in states that don’t surrender, shows just how radical the Biden Administration is on this question. And it’s a terrific opportunity for politicians who claim to defend families and parents’ rights to show their mettle.”