On April 10, the American News editorial board gave Gov. Dennis Daugaard a “solid B” for his accomplishments during his first three months in office.
To be sure, Daugaard has accomplished much of what he set to do at the beginning of this year’s legislative session. Daugaard’s actions, however, are very different from what Daugaard presented to voters during his campaign.
As lieutenant governor during his campaign, Daugaard consistently praised South Dakota’s fiscal integrity. Daugaard, in fact, was the only candidate among Republicans in the primary election and his Democratic challenger in the general election who denied South Dakota’s budget crisis. He assured voters during the campaign that “South Dakota is heading in the right direction … Despite what some may say, South Dakota is not broken.” In a fundraising letter to his donors, Daugaard declared, “there is NO ‘budget crisis’ in South Dakota.”