VIEWPOINT | Kristi as Trump’s VP pick: what would it mean?
Guest column by Tony Venhuizen, Republican state representative & author, and publisher of SoDakGovs.com
Gov. Kristi Noem is on former President Donald Trump’s “short list” of potential running mates. The buzz around Noem’s prospects took off when she endorsed Trump’s candidacy at a South Dakota GOP rally in Rapid City. The New York Times reported on the rally that the “Race to be Trump’s running mate begins as Noem endorses him,” and rally goers made their support clear as well, prominently waving signs that read “Trump Noem 2024.”
That buzz has only increased since then. Trump has mentioned Noem as a possibility on several occasions, including last week. This weekend, Noem won the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) vice presidential straw poll, winning 15 percent and tying with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The Dakota Scout reported Monday that, amidst the VP buzz, Noem extended her travels to Florida after CPAC, to meet one-on-one with Trump.
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A vice-presidential nomination for Noem would be a historic milestone for South Dakota. The only native South Dakotan to receive such a nomination was Hubert H. Humphrey, a native of Doland and Huron who was a US Senator from Minnesota when he was elected in 1964 on a ticket with President Lyndon B. Johnson.
U.S. Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota was the Democratic nominee for President in 1972. He lost in a landslide to President Richard Nixon, not even carrying South Dakota as Nixon carried forty-nine states.
No South Dakota official has ever been nominated for vice president, and no South Dakota official has ever been elected on a national ticket. Noem has the potential to set both milestones.
And though some political observers dismiss the prospects of a VP selection from South Dakota – a solid Republican, three electoral vote state – recent history shows these factors not to be disqualifying. Five of the last 12 major party nominees for vice president have been from three electoral votes states: Cheney from Wyoming in 2000 and 2004, Palin from Alaska in 2008, and Biden from Delaware in 2008 and 2012. Another four of the twelve came from non-competitive states: Lieberman from Connecticut in 2000, Pence from Indiana in 2016 and 2020, and Harris from California in 2020. Only three of the past twelve came from “swing” states: Edwards from North Carolina in 2004, Ryan from Wisconsin in 2012, and Kaine from Virginia in 2016. Only Kaine delivered his state, and all three of these tickets lost the general election.
The election of Noem as vice president, or her acceptance of any other role in a new Republican administration in 2025, would also elevate Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden, making him the 34th Governor of South Dakota. He would be the third lieutenant governor to succeed to the Governor’s Office.
Such speculation is just that. But as the national press takes note of Noem’s deft handling of her national prospects so far, one cannot help but at least consider the possibilities.
This column originally published on SoDak Governors.
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She's exactly what "The Donald" likes; a tootsie who inflates his tender ego, spews MAGA lies, blames immigration for all of America's problems, hates POC, embraces religiosity but lives a less than moral life. Right up defendant Trump's Dumpster alley!
First, Tony, not all history makes for good history. Second, I think constantly beating her own drum, as Noem has done, doesn't qualify as "deft handling" of anything but her now massive ego. What is so amusing about all of this is the same Kristi Noem expressly rejected Trump as the party's best choice in the early going. But I guess politicians have conveniently short memories, which, itself, is shameful.