Noem will host rallies with Gabbard and Youngkin

October 29, 2022

Gov. Kristi Noem will host campaign rallies Wednesday with former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, but Noem’s campaign said she will not attend a rally featuring former President Donald Trump on Thursday in Sioux City.

Trump will appear with Iowa Republican politicians, just across the border from South Dakota. The Noem campaign said she’s busy elsewhere.

Gabbard recently announced she was leaving the Democratic Party due to “extreme positions,” but did not say whether she would join the Republican Party.

“Extremists like Jamie Smith are why I left the Democrat Party,” Gabbard said in a new campaign ad for Noem. “Kristi Noem is a friend of mine. We believe in defending freedom and protecting what makes this country so special.”

Gabbard will appear with Noem at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Rapid City Downtown Convention Center, and at 6 p.m. the same day at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls.

Gov. Youngkin will attend a rally with Noem at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown in Sioux Falls. In a news release about the event, the Noem campaign touted Youngkin’s opposition to Critical Race Theory.

Noem is challenged by Democrat Jamie Smith and Libertarian Tracey Quint in the Nov. 8 gubernatorial election. An early poll showed Noem with only a slight lead, but a more recent poll said she had a 19-point lead.