BRANDON ON THE ISSUES.

Our number one industry will only remain number one if we are diligent in protecting it.  I will be able to speak with authority on the needs of ag producers and have a great list of contacts and relationships to fill in the gaps in my own knowledge.  Our state is blessed with some great, honest brokers of information in the ag space, as I’ve learned firsthand.  In addition to supporting our home-grown firms, we need to make sure that South Dakota remains an attractive place for businesses looking to relocate from less-friendly geographies.  I hope to play a key role in fostering strong relationships between developers and communities that will lead to long-term, sustainable growth.

I want South Dakota to continue its focus on trade education—particularly that which prepares for jobs AI cannot do.  Across District 22, labor shortages are costing our economy big time.  Huron businesses alone usually have a dozen or so welding vacancies at any given time. Multiply that by the income those families would be earning in our community, in addition to the value of the economic output their labor would have. Huron is missing out on millions of dollars in economic activity each year, simply because of a labor issue.  And this is not a unique case.

My default position will be deference to what law enforcement tells us they need in the interest of public safety.  Having both urban and rural areas in my district, we have complex law enforcement needs and a wide area to cover.  I see the importance of continually reaffirming our community’s belief in the rule of law by supporting it with policy and funding.

Only a few of my high school classmates remain in our community, a fact which really bothers me.  My class turned out computer programmers, commodity traders, social workers, Marines, and fitness experts, and they all moved away.  Great people, many of them I haven’t seen since graduation day.  That’s a lot of children not in our local schools, a lot of grandparents and grandchildren separated by long distances, incomes not being spent in the local economy, etc.  It’s been a mass exodus for many years now because we didn’t build a future big enough for everyone.  Will we fail future generations in the same way?  Not if I can help it.

Even if the rural population declines, the need for ambulance and fire services, good roads, etc., does not.  Given the aging community and fewer people to split the costs, we need to be working now to make sure our needs are met into the future.

Consensus is the most important thing to have for long-term success.  That doesn’t mean getting complete agreement from everyone on every issue, because that’s just not possible.  My commitment to bringing all sides to the table and try to make each side understand the others’ concerns has yielded success many times in my life.  When we all feel like our concerns are being heard and addressed, our communities can rally around any cause or opportunity.