District 9 and District 25 candidates to review

Tammy Chamley | Editor

On Tuesday, June 7, the District 9 and District 25 Senator and Representatives will be decided at the polls. Below you will find the candidates for District 25 and their responses to a select few questions to assist with the voting process.

District 9

Brent (B.R.) Hoffman

Have you previously served on a governing board of any type (business, government, non-profit organization, church, etc) or as a leader in any organization? If so, please briefly describe the organization (s), your role, and the number of years served in that capacity below.

United States Military (Air Force) (20)

Small business owner, Real Estate, Contractor (15)

Christian Church (Greeter, Deacon, Elder) (20)

Chair, Economic Development Committee (2)

Teacher and Associate Professor (4)

City Council (4), School Board (2), Volunteer Organizations (5) (15)

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

I believe the three greatest strengths of the state senate are unity, deliberation and responsiveness. I think most of us are very proud of our great state and our motto, “Under God, the People Rule,” and I see a unity of purpose in our state culture, despite disagreements that can sometimes prove bitter. In addition, I think our state senate has a strong record as a deliberative body, with time to study, discuss and debate issues in-depth. And lastly, though even families will have disagreements on issues, our elected officials should always be responsive, and I’ve always found our state senators understand the role of representative government and have been responsive to my concerns or questions. It would be an honor to serve my fellow residents in the state senate.

Does your interest in serving the state of South Dakota as a senator stem from a personal interest or goal? Is there something in particular you hope to accomplish while serving, and why is serving important to you? Please elaborate.

There are plenty of ambitious people who dream of being in politics, but I’m not one of them. In my case, my friends and family encouraged me to run, so I prayed about running and felt called to it. It’s not something I take lightly, as I believe public service is a high calling. If elected, I intend to work hard to make a difference while always being accountable to the people whom I represent. Though I have many goals and policy ideas, I’d first like to tackle Term Limits, as it’s a systemic issue and very important to voters.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 9 with the decision-making process in our state?

The best way to make your government more responsive and accountable is to simply vote for people who’ve shown you they are responsive and accountable. By knocking on doors, visiting over coffee, listening, asking for opinions, attending forums and debates, writing and speaking, I hope I’ve demonstrated I will represent you with character and consistency. Representative government is a two-way street, and if elected, I’ll continue to visit voters to get their feedback, write a column, send updates, encourage participation and questions, and always respond to phone calls and emails from the people I work for…that’s you.

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state in any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

As a conservative Republican, my first inclination is always to return any monies to the people who were taxed for it. That said, since this is a theoretical grant, I’d propose to use it to fund education and training for our youth, perhaps in the form of college scholarships or technical training. I believe citizens would be supportive, as our youth are the future of our great state.

What is something you would like to see changed in the Senate?

In addition to Term Limits, I’d like to see an improved collegiality or level of respect among the members of the senate. It has been frustrating to see the name-calling, false charges and misrepresentations, even within the senate and within the same party. We should demonstrate civility and respect, as that’s what our bosses, the voters, expect from us, and how we can best set an example and move forward in progress.

Jesse Fonkert

Have you previously served on a governing board of any type (business, government, non-profit organization, church, etc.) or as a leader in any organization? If so, please briefly describe the organization(s), your role, and the number of years served in that capacity below.

While I haven’t been elected to a public office before I have experience serving on a wide variety of boards

Current

South Dakota Development Corporation – Secretary

Furniture Mission of South Dakota – Board Member

Sioux Falls Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) – Committee Member

Downtown Hartford, Inc – Vice-president

Mid-America Economic Development Council – Board Member

Sioux 52 Steering Committee – Member

Past

West Central Education Foundation

Hartford Jamboree Days

Junior Achievement of West Central

Augustana Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Council

St. John American Lutheran Church Council

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

Serve as a check on the Executive Branch

Acts as the people’s voice in state government

Appropriates dollars responsibly

Does your interest in serving the state of South Dakota as a Representative stem from a personal interest or goal? Is there something in particular you hope to accomplish while serving, and why is serving important to you? Please elaborate.

Growing up in a family that served through other means, I have had an interest in public service. My father served in a faith-related capacity and my mother in a mental health needs capacity. They served their community well and I want to do the same albeit in a different way. The only thing I hope to accomplish in office is to serve the citizens of District 9. My agenda is their agenda and I hope the citizens of District 9 come to me with their questions and concerns so that I can address them and hopefully help resolve them.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 9 with the decision-making process in our state?

We live in a constituonal republic which has set up a system of representative democracy. As your Representative, I plan to serve the interests of District 9 citizens while in Pierre. During session, I will be available both via phone and email while. On the weekends, I plan to be part of or host my own Cracker Barrel or Legislative Coffee to take questions from District 9 citizens and listen to their feedback. District 9 voters, please know that I am available and will continue to make myself available to you! Email: elect@jessefonkert.com Cell: 605-848-9828

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

Unfortunately, with rising prices across the board, $1 million doesn’t go far across the state. To put that money to use effectively and to maximize its longterm potential, I would grant it back out to the communities across South Dakota so that they can study their current and future infrastructure needs. While it might sound boring, thorough understanding of one’s current and future infrastructure needs is one of the best ways to save tax payers money. We need running water. We need adequate waste water treatment. We need good roads. When infrastructure isn’t properly maintained nor planned, the costs can be a burden on the taxpayers.

What is something you would like to see changed in the House?

As a potential freshman legislator, I don’t have a thorough understanding of any reforms that might be needed to make the institution stronger. I hope for your vote so that I can learn and be in a position to answer that question thoroughly if ever up for reelection.

Bethany Soye

SEFSA Board Member and Head Coach for a 14U fastpitch team, AWANA Small Group Leader, President of the William & Mary Federalist Society, Treasurer of William & Mary Students for Life

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

One of our greatest strengths is that our House and Senate are composed of citizen legislators. Our legislative session only lasts 40 days so legislators must have other jobs and lives outside of the political world. This helps us to be more connected to the communities we represent.

Does your interest in serving the state of South Dakota as a Senator stem from a personal interest or goal? Is there something in particular you hope to accomplish while serving, and why is serving important to you? Please elaborate.

My parents instilled in me a love for America and taught me how important it is to be involved in the political process. My goal is to keep South Dakota free. Considering the current national cultural and political environment, we need a return to our founding principles of limited government, separation of powers, individual liberty, and personal virtue. The states are the best bulwark we have against federal encroachment on our rights. We need strong state leaders who will stand up for traditional values and against tyranny, no matter the source. My record shows that I have done this for two years and I will continue to do so.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 9 with the decision-making process in our state?

I would like to revive the monthly legislative coffees that used to be held in Hartford during the legislative session. We should advertise these events in both the Hartford area and the Sioux Falls portion of District 9. Sioux Falls makes up a larger portion of the district than it used to and I would like to see residents of the city come together with Hartford and Wall Lake area residents to talk about the issues that matter to them.

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

First of all, I would like to know where the money is coming from and what strings are attached. There is no such thing as a “free lunch.” If this is more stimulus money from the Federal Government, I would propose that it be used to provide taxpayer relief. This is money that our citizens paid to the Federal Government and it should be returned to them via refund check or a tax holiday of some kind. In a time of rising inflation our citizens need to keep more of their own money in their pockets. If the money is from a private source, I assume that it would have an intended use attached. We should be very careful not to use the funds to create a new program or project that will need to be maintained with state funds.

What is something you would like to see changed in the House?

I would like to see more unity within the Republican Caucus. I would like to see each Republican Member affirm our party principles as spelled out in our party platform and be held accountable. When we are debating a specific policy, we should be able to answer how it supports our Republican principles of limited government, personal responsibility, lower taxes, family integrity, and the sanctity of life.

District 25

Leslie “Doc” Heinemann

I have served on many different governing boards, including past and present. This is my second year serving as a Board of Director for Sioux Valley Energy and SD Right to Life. I am also the Medical Director of the SE Technical College Dental Assisting Program. I have been involved in the past with the SD Dental Association (Board of Trustees member), Flandreau Indian School Chaplaincy board, Knights of Columbus [Grand Knight], chairman of the Moody County Library board, and many others.

I was elected to the SD House of Representatives in 2012, and served for 6 years representing Moody County, the last 2 of which I was selected for a leadership position as the Majority Whip. I also served on the Watershed Task Force, Mental Health Summer Study, and was Vice Chair of the House Health and Human Services committee.

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

The Senate is a citizen legislature, meaning its makeup is from people from various aspects of our society, that live and work in our state, and make their livelihood outside of being a legislator. That brings a wide variety of backgrounds and experience to the table when considering and dealing with the issues that come before the state. I see that as a strength.

The second thing is we require a balanced budget, meaning we cannot spend more than we bring in in revenue. You only need to look at how uncontrolled the federal spending is to see how that budget process is devastating our economy with inflation and no control over money being spent, creating shortages and concern for what tomorrow will bring. I think requiring a budget and a budget process are good things.

The third strength is there are 3 entities to “go through” before anything becomes law. A bill, or potential law, must first start in either chamber, the House or Senate, and then must pass 5 steps under great scrutiny before it is signed into law by the Governor. I believe that is a good and necessary process to have ideas properly vetted before a change is made in our state laws.

Does your interest in serving the state of South Dakota as a Senator stem from a personal interest or goal? Is there something in particular you hope to accomplish while serving on the Senate, and why is serving on the Senate important to you? Please elaborate.

I have been “retired” from being a legislator for almost 4 years, and after being gone from the legislature, I realized how much I missed being involved in matters affecting our state, and the personal relationships I developed while working together. After the redistricting process, the Senate seat in our new district, 25, was going to be open, so I decided if I was going to get involved again, now was the time. I feel healthy and energetic, so decided, with the help of my personal faith and my wife, Libby, to jump in the running for Senate.

I do not have a particular agenda, other than to make good decisions for the citizens of District 25.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 25 with the decision-making process in our state?

My experience of being involved in community activities allows a legislator to interact with his or her constituency, and that type of feedback is very beneficial. Attending sporting events and hosting coffees during Legislative Session is another way to get feedback from our citizens. Encouraging citizens to participate in various governing boards and provide input in local decisions on the school board are also important to engage residents in your district.

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

There are so many different areas of need, so I would split the grant to help 2 entities. First, I would invest in resources to help develop the mentally disabled find homes to live in their own communities while addressing their complex needs. My brother falls in this category, and when confronted with the problem of where he fits in, a person realizes our state needs a lot of resources to help those vulnerable citizens that have no place to go. The second half of this grant would go to helping the St Francis Mission on the Rosebud Reservation. I have worked as a dentist at this mission, and a person quickly realizes that the US government is doing a very poor job of caring for the health and well being of our Native Americans citizens. This mission is a private mission that was formed to help the reservation population with their daily needs, including dental care, and this grant would be a great help in providing dental materials and equipment to this dental and medical facility.

What is something you would like to see changed in the Senate?

There seems to be such a deep rooted division in the makeup of the Senate’s members. I observed that developing during my last years as a House member. I would hope I could bring a culture of acceptance to the chamber, and a level of respect that I think is lacking today. I know the issues we would face have become more complex and divisive, but we need to stay focused on our duties as representatives of the voters of our district. That is not an easy task, but with the voters help and encouragement, I believe we can make it happen.

Lisa Rave

Throughout my pharmacy career, I have served in several leadership capacities including a retail pharmacy manager and Pharmacist-in-Charge. I also had the professional privilege of serving on the South Dakota Board of Pharmacy from 2010-2019 and served as president during my tenure. The board’s mission is “to protect and promote the health and safety of the public … through licensing, legislation, regulation, and enforcement.” I am currently the Vice President of the Board of Directors of Heartland Energy and have served on that elected board since 2009. Heartland provides wholesale reliable affordable power to 29 cities and municipal electric systems in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. As a lifelong member of my church, I have served in a variety of positions including church council.

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

1) Citizen legislators 2) Adopted rules ensure all bills receive a hearing 3) Balanced budget

South Dakota’s citizen legislature completes its work within 40 days each year. In addition to being efficient, legislators spend the rest of the year living and working in the communities they represent. While in session, the rules that govern the legislative process have produced, until recently, a well ordered process that had ensured that every bill introduced had a hearing in a committee and if passed out of committee had a hearing in the full chamber. Finally, every year the South Dakota legislature debates and passes a balanced budget. These strengths have allowed the legislature to complete their work in a timely manner year after year.

The headlines coming from the legislature in the last few years portray legislators more concerned with self promotion and personal agendas than constituent concerns and were willing to discard established rules and norms to score political points. We need legislators that are not self-promoting, but hard-working and accessible. My goal is to use my leadership experience to bring back civility and stability to the state legislature and focus on constituent concerns,

How do you plan to involve residents in District 25 with the decision-making process in our state?

As a pharmacist, accessibility is one of the qualities that set us apart in healthcare and I plan to provide that same level of accessibility for the residents of District 25. The best ideas come from the people at home. I will be available to sit down and listen to their concerns and talk about their ideas.

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

I would partner with private industry to leverage the $1 million into seed money and increase the amount of money that could be used to invest in needed workforce and business development and affordable housing. By partnering with private industry, this money can be multiplied and have a greater impact on our district and state.

What is something you would like to see changed in the Senate?

Only a handful of legislators are privileged to serve on the leadership team in the Senate. As a freshman legislator, I will build relationships and establish trust with my Senate colleagues to ensure the residents of District 25 have a strong voice in the legislative process and the decisions affecting the district.

Tom Pischke

I’ve been a State Representative for District 25 for the past 6 years. During that time, I’ve served on the Agriculture & Natural Resources committee, the Commerce and Energy committee, the Judiciary committee and served as Vice-Chair on the House Taxation committee. I’ve also been a member of the Dell Rapids Ducks Unlimited Chapter for the past 5 years and I’ve been involved with blood drives and various other organizations through my employer.

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota?

Our state government never spends more than we have. We balance our state budget every year without a state income tax and a low state sales tax.

Our state retirement system is fully funded and provides our teachers and state employees with an outstanding retirement package.

Our state parks are beautiful and some of the best maintained in the upper Midwest.

At this point in my political career, my interest in serving in the State Legislature just stems from serving other people and ensuring that we have solid conservative leaders who are going to hold true to the Republican platform and vote for conservative values. For the past 6 years, we have had a super majority of Republicans in the State Legislature, but far too many of these legislators are not conservative or just simply give into the woke, leftist agenda.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 25 with the decision-making process in our state?

I have been one of the most transparent and accessible legislators out in Pierre. My personal cell phone number and email address are both published on the state legislative website, I’ve written weekly newspaper articles during this past legislative session that included my contact information and I welcome any constituent to give me a call at 605.999.2948 to talk about any issue at any time. If you have a question or concern, please call me!

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

If the amount is $1 million or $200 million, I believe additional revenue to the State of South Dakota should be put towards property tax relief. Having served as the Vice-Chairman on the House Taxation committee, I’ve seen firsthand the struggles of homeowners who find it difficult to make ends meet with our rising inflation and property taxes. One of my top priorities as your next State Senator would be to advocate for property tax relief.

What is something you would like to see changed in the Senate?

In recent years, the South Dakota Senate has become less and less friendly to our Christian, Conservative values. I want to bring stability, decorum, civility, and strong Conservative Republican values back to the Senate. For far too long, the South Dakota Senate has been a place where good Conservative legislation goes to die. I, along with many other District 25 residents, have been disheartened by the many negative tactics and postcards that have been used this election cycle. I believe that South Dakotans deserve better, which is why I’m 100% committed to running a clean campaign that is focused on the issues that will improve the lives the people of South Dakota.

Kevin R Crisp

Our parents taught us to pay back at a young age. So right after high school my older brother went into the Air Force and my twin brother and I went into the Army after our graduation. After service during my undergrad years at SDSU, I was the SDSU Veterans Coordinator and member of the Veterans Club and president for one term. After leaving Brookings to return to Dells area to start farming, I spent many years going through Township Treasure, Township Clerk and Township Supervisor. Allows accountability to township members. At one point I was President of Minnehaha Co Township Assoc. Working with the Minnehaha County Commissions, I did serve on the original Washington Pavilion Task Force. Minnehaha County Crop Improvement had me go through several officer positions and working with farmers and SDSU. I did do a short term with Minnehaha Extension Board. Did many years and ending with President of Southeast Experiment Farm at Centerville. This is a farm we have a board of directors and work with SDSU staff and their workers doing research to gain knowledge for agriculture. The one that comes to mind today is our work with dicamba drift. The product name at that time was banvil. Later spent two terms as director on SD Corn Utilization Council with a term as President. My term was a second-generation member and today we are at 50% of corn stays in SD and processed. Five of those years I spent on US Grains Council and was Chairman of Long Range Planning working on future markets for corn. How the SD corn has changed since those days. Last to mention is the local Dells Lumber Co.

What do you believe are the three greatest strengths of the governing body of South Dakota? Three greatest strengths for SD are individual House chamber, Senate chamber and a Governor’s office. So, what may start as an idea for a bill, either dies or gets better with time.

My first is “accountability” of past and present things in the state and our district. Examples of the top Ag subjects for 2021 were: 1. Dicamba, the farmer that sprayed it was not wrong, the farmer and non-farmer that received the damage had no option. Neither side was wrong so what happens? 2. SD Corn fails audits, a six million dollar a year check off and no one is accountable? Every corn farmer pays the check off and this is wrong. 3. The creation of the Teachers Tax (.5%) was to be removed with the internet tax. What happened, we still need that revenue for education but where did the promise and the shift go? There are other past things that need to be explained to the SD taxpayers that I’ll address in the future. My list of progressive ideas gets added on to with campaign visits but time is running out to visit all unfortunately.

How do you plan to involve residents in District 25 with the decision-making process in our state?

I have served my country. To many of today’s politicians think they are serving their country being a legislator. As legislators we represent our districts and communication with those voters is a must. I so look forward to listening to voters in my district, I have stressed that is a must when elected.

If you received a $1 million grant to use for the state any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

Right now, the only thing I can think of that would benefit the majority of SD would be toward water projects. It will be a future concern.

What is something you would like to see changed in the Senate?

The biggest change came in the 70’s with I’m told Piersol and Lebrun leading the charge to require legislative committees to have and follow scheduling and following the calendar of bills. Hard to imagine that was not in place and abused in SD. Today On SDPB had heard of one or two members who may not even live in the state full time. That along with former Attorney General Mark Barnett standards of conflict of interest need to be brought back into action.

Mark Willadsen and Kenneth Teunissen could not be reached for comment by publication.

District 9 and District 25 candidates to review

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