Meet the Candidate: Kevin Jensen
Longtime House lawmaker looking to make switch to Senate
Rep. Kevin Jensen is looking to switch from the House to the Senate in District 16 due to term-limit restrictions. He faces local businessman Eric Hohman in the primary.
District 16 is just south of Sioux Falls and includes the communities of Canton, Lennox, and Beresford in it.
The Dakota Scout sent a series of questions to all legislative candidates running in contested races for the state House and Senate in the June 4 primary election. Candidates were asked to limit their responses to each question to 150 words or less.
Age: 69
City of residence: Rural Canton
Profession: Business owner, Quik Response Training. I am a SD state and NRA Certified firearms instructor and concealed carry instructor. Former Corporate IT director for a pharmaceutical wholesale company managing 6 data divisions in 5 states. I am the past owner of an IT consulting company, Innovative Systems. I have been a monthly contributing author for the Outdoorsmen Magazine for the past 8 years. Former Law Enforcement in Lincoln County.
Public service/community service experience: I served on the Canton School Board 15 years just prior to my eight years in the House of Representatives, I was a 4-H leader and shooting sports instructor for over 15 years and served on the Lincoln County 4-H executive board for many years, I coached youth football and baseball in Canton for 10 years and assisted with youth wrestling for a while. I have been a music and worship leader for many years (M.Div.from SF Seminary). I have been a deacon in two of the churches I attended. I volunteer with a nonprofit organization doing community substance abuse prevention, I have been doing this for 25 years and continue today, I also volunteer to provide IT, FB and web design for two organizations involved with juvenile addiction and substance abuse prevention. I have volunteered as the state field representative for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association for over 20 years.
Family information: I am married to Darcy Jensen, we have three married sons, two sons are involved in agriculture in the Canton area and one is a full time firefighter and paramedic in Billings, MT. He is an air medic for the Montana Air Guard. We have 6 grandchildren in the Canton area and love attending their football, basketball, soccer, baseball. wrestling and track events.
1) What's the government's role in facilitating economic development in South Dakota?
In a true free market society the government’s role should be limited, not creating new regulations that hinder start-up entrepreneurs. When possible, government should reduce regulations that stifle growth of businesses. Of course some regulations should be in place for the safety of employees and general public but we seem to have created a ‘bubble wrap’ society where government attempts to protect people from every possible hazard even if their own common sense should prevail. The government should not create situations where it picks winners and losers with direct involvement with those businesses in the form of grants and tax incentives, let the market decide who flourishes and who fails. I have no issue with low interest loans as long as the taxpayers money is eventually paid back. Keep in mind the government has no money, they have OUR money.
2) If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
The list of people I would want to visit with is long, but at the top of the list would be my father. He was a man of few words but every word he spoke had meaning and went straight to the heart of the issue. Being a young overachiever I would sometimes disagree with his assessment of the world stage but he would let me think for myself and many more times than not, he was right. I was only 28 when he passed away but his quiet demeanor and wisdom was consistent with someone much older. I learned many things from him but the most important was the value of hard work and never giving up. He was never a wealthy man but I learned from him that it is not how many things you possess that is important, it’s possessing the things that are important that matter.
3) Does the "Landowner Bill of Rights" -- adopted by the Legislature amid opposition to carbon pipeline companies using eminent domain -- strike the right balance between the interests of property owners, counties and the ag industry - and should voters get a say when they head to the polls in November?
The “Land Owner Bill of Rights” gives absolutely no rights to landowners they did not already have. The bill was ‘branded’ with a name that made it easy for those on the fence to vote for SB201 because after all, who can vote against a ‘bill of rights?’ Most voters have no clue what is in the bill and the title “sounds good” so some question why we want to let the people decide. The truth is it stripped the landowners’ right to build any structure on or near where the pipeline runs. It potentially destroys housing eligibilities and future development near the pipeline route. Who would want to build near a potentially dangerous pipeline? The greater threat is that it strips the county commissions of any local authority to control pipelines and electric transmission lines for wind and solar farms, and gives that authority to the state PUC.
