Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin by Thad Titze
I helped campaign for Kristi Noem in 2006 for the District 6 seat she holds in the SD House of Representatives. Her work in the Legislature has been a complete disappointment.
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin is by far the better of the two candidates to represent South Dakota's interests in Washington, D.C.
Stephanie is smarter and better prepared than her opponent. I attended a candidate forum in the beginning of September.
Representative Herseth-Sandlin was clearly more knowledgeable on not just the general issues, but how specific programs are funded, why they are funded that way, and why she voted the way she did.
Noem's responses demonstrated both an inability to think on her feet, as well as a lack of preparation.
Congresswoman Herseth-Sandlin recognizes that "when schools flourish, all flourish."
Students at Augustana have concretely benefited from her work. Stephanie voted in Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant award.
In addition, she supports expanding the Pell Grant and Perkins Loan Programs. Kristi, as assistant majority leader in the House, voted for a state budget that denied South Dakota schools the increases they were promised.
At the same time, she voted in favor of wasteful state spending we all could have done without.
The most destructive thing in politics is building barriers and not bridges. Stephanie works with Republicans and Democrats to get things done.
She does what she thinks will be best for South Dakota. South Dakota and Washington do not need Kristi's partisan attitude.
Additionally, Kristi holds herself above the law and wastes taxpayer's money by failing to show up in court and having warrants issued for her arrest.
Now, perhaps more than ever, we need a strong, independent voice in Congress.
That is why I'm voting for Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin.
Kristi Noem By Tyler Crissman
As John Quincy Adams once said, "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you must cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
On Nov. 2, South Dakota voters will be faced with a choice. Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin has represented the state of South Dakota for the last six years.
However, in that time, Representative Herseth-Sandlin has been changed by the culture of Washington D.C.
Rather than representing the largely conservative electorate that sent her to Washington to replace former Governor Bill Janklow after his second-degree manslaughter
conviction in 2003, Representative Herseth-Sandlin has moved more and more to the left, voting against the wishes of the people who sent her to Congress.
Representative Herseth-Sandlin's challenger in this congressional race is State Representative Kristi Noem. Kristi served in the state House of Representatives for four years, and was even elected the leadership position of Assistant Majority Leader before she began her campaign to become the next congressional representative from South Dakota.
She is a mother of three children and ranches with her husband on a farm that has been in her family for two generations.
If given the opportunity to become South Dakota's next representative, Kristi promises that she will not forget the people who have sent her to Congress and will consistently vote to represent them, and will not be a rubber stamp for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (keep in mind that Representative Herseth-Sandlin has voted with Speaker Pelosi over 91 percent of the time).
Kristi also makes promises that are applicable to the Augustana campus as well. Kristi will not vote to extend more debt to our generation (we currently can expect to hold a whopping $42,000 share of the national debt).
She will also help vote to repeal and replace the abhorrent national healthcare "reform" legislation, which has already seen companies begin to rethink their insurance policies and the way they insure their employees.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly to South Dakota, she will carry her traditional Midwestern values to Congress and will view her service in Congress as public service, not a career like Representative Herseth-Sandlin has.
is a member of the 
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