Billy Mawhiney

10/03/2026

So President Trump is promising $5,000 for every adult citizen, but only if Republicans keep the House and Senate? (In addition to the past promises of DOGE checks, Tariff checks, Obamacare refund checks).

I have questions for anyone who thinks this is a reality.

Questions One, Republicans spent years blaming COVID relief spending for inflation. There is truth to that. We overstimulated the economy (it was a guess and the alternative was to under stimulate, which would have ended in a bigger disaster than we had.) That spending did contribute, alongside supply shortages and other factors. BUT Now another massive round of checks is good economics because Trump’s name is attached? Explain the math.

Question Two, where is the money coming from? What’s the total cost? Who pays for it? This president has added more to the deficit than any other president, EVER.

Question Three, if you can afford to help Americans, why wait until only Republicans win? Bring a funded proposal to Congress NOW. Make Democrats vote No on the record. Get families help in time for the holidays.

People are struggling today. Their bills aren’t waiting for election results. “Vote for us and then you get paid” sounds like a sales pitch for votes.

Our tax dollars aren’t a campaign reward. Show us the money. Show us the legislation. Show us the plan.

10/01/2026

We are a month out from election and each week I'm going to drop a few races to watch and preferably volunteer or donate to. Their FB pages are tagged for you to follow and their donation link is also posted, even if it's $5, $10 or $2.

This week:

Terrence Davis — SD Secretary of State - Republican incumbent Monae Johnson endorsed him over Republican nominee which could be a meaningful sign of potential crossover support. Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/terrence-davis-1

Representative Nicole Uhre-Balk — SD House, District 32 - She won her seat in 2024 in a district that hadn’t elected a Democrat since 2006. That history makes her reelection even more historic and necessary. Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nicoleforhouse

Ali Rae Horsted for SD — SD Legislature - She received 42% running for the district’s Senate seat in 2024. She’s now competing for one of two House seats, giving her an established base for another run. Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/aliforsd

Two US Senate Seats that Democrats have a chance to win and flip the Senate as well as the House:

James Talarico — U.S. Senate, Texas Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jt-tx-web?refcode=web-hdr

Josh Turek — U.S. Senate, Iowa Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bs_ads_tur_0726_obama?source=ADS_BS_TUR_GS_OBAMA_SITELINK&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23410599096&gbraid=0AAAABCdrMkR5J3wcHUcLtcXSSIKBOUJ95&gclid=CjwKCAjwifjVBhBKEiwAYx4K9M7B-Vos8XbiORyxjNXrwLX7mJQSQcmU7_aBLhPH3GpkX0Kv-samNxoCv14QAvD_BwE

Show your support with a contribution.

09/22/2026

This is a local vote about future votes in the most populated county in the state. Take a look at Curt for Minnehaha Co. Auditor , he's the guy we want running and honest fair elections in our future.

09/22/2026

I’m going to say this out loud for anyone who needs to hear it: you do not have to vote in every race on your ballot.

If you support Brian Bengs, vote for him. If you don’t support him, you can leave it blank. It's called an undervote, and your votes in every other contest will still be counted. Leaving that one specific race blank is not a vote for either candidate or either party.

Please don’t let one race keep you from participating in the rest of the election. Your ballot includes county commissioners, state House and Senate candidates, and other state and local offices. Those local elections directly affect your life in so many more ways. A friend reminded me Democrats do this every election cycle. We get caught up in statewide races, because of the headlines when we need to be investing to win these local races.

This election Democrats could easily pick up 5-7 seats in state legislature, so don't get caught up on a race that at best has a 7% winnable potential.

Write the permission slip, because you are allowed to make each choice separately. You do not owe any candidate your vote simply because someone tells you the alternative would be worse.

09/09/2026

In a "Who's on First" Missouri moment. There’s a reason congressional maps are normally redrawn after the census every 10 years. Changing them in the middle of the decade can create real disruption for voters, candidates and election officials. Missouri is now a pretty incredible example of exactly what can happen when you do it.

Missouri Republicans drew a new congressional map that could move the state from the current 6 Republican and 2 Democratic seats to potentially 7 Republican and 1 Democratic at the President's request because they were worried about losing majority in the US House. Opponents went out and collected more than 300,000 signatures to put that new map before Missouri voters, but Secretary of State Denny Hoskins denied their referendum petition, arguing that congressional maps could not be challenged through the referendum process.

Here’s the timeline:
• Sept. 2025: Republicans pass and Gov. Mike Kehoe signs the new congressional map.
• Dec. 9, 2025: Opponents submit 300,000+ signatures to force a statewide vote on the map.
• Aug. 4, 2026: Missouri holds its congressional primaries using the new map. That same day, Hoskins rejects the referendum petition, about an hour before the deadline.
• Sept. 3: Missouri Supreme Court rules 7-0 that Hoskins was wrong, orders the referendum onto the November ballot and says the old map remains in effect.
• Sept. 8: Republicans ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. Justice Brett Kavanaugh (Trump appointee) declines.
• Sept. 8: A federal judge (Stephen R. Clark) then issues a conflicting order saying Missouri must use the NEW map for the November election because the August primaries were already held under it.
• Now: After Hoskins directs election officials to proceed with the new map, the Missouri Supreme Court orders him to explain why he should not be held in contempt. He has also been ordered to personally appear before the court Thursday.
• Now: The federal ruling has been appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The federal judge’s reasoning is because Missouri already held its August primaries using the new districts and switching maps before the general election could violate voters’ rights. That argument is subjective considering this entire map was rushed through to intentionally dilute a left-leaning district, so haven't we already violated voters rights?. The biggest target of the new map was Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th District, and Cleaver didn’t even have a Democratic primary opponent. The contested primary there was on the Republican side, where six candidates ran under the new boundaries.

The craziest part, but oh so Missouri (yes I can say that since I was born and raised there). Missouri voters are still scheduled to vote November 3 on whether they actually approve the new map. So voters could potentially elect members of Congress using a map that, on the very same ballot, they are being asked whether they want in the first place.

09/01/2026

I support healthy food, and I cannot argue soda is nutritious. However, South Dakota prides itself on letting people live their own lives.

We are now asking for a federal waiver to ban soda and SNAP recipients will face rules on how they can spend their benefits. This is all in the name of tax payer dollar accountability.

Legislators receive an annual per diem benefit of $6,764 each, which is over 2.5 times as much annually with no receipts required. We simply trust them to use it for the intended purpose. They can spend the money however they choose.

If taxpayer accountability is the argument, it should apply to everyone, not just people who need help buying groceries.

08/06/2026

I have two separate things to talk about. First, I don't want people to confuse what happened in Nebraska with South Dakota and Idaho. In Nebraska Osborne (Independent) was the progressive candidate. A MAGA person registered as a Democrat to infiltrate the election, therefore the Democratic Party created a primary to win the primary and then bow out of the race. It was intentional for Osborne from the start, that was not what happened in South Dakota.

Secondly, let's talk about what "coalition" is.

Julian is a man of the people. He didn’t show up to events just to take a picture and stand in the corner. He immersed himself in communities. He listened. He understood that people don’t owe you their vote.

He knew a three person race made the path harder, yet Julian never once asked Brian Bengs to step aside. Not once (if someone has something to contradict this please let me know). From what I saw, he believed that if someone was willing to put in the work, they deserved to make their case to voters. He even spoke to how he respected the process enough to let the people decide.

Julian also understood South Dakota politics. He knew no progressive has ever won statewide without investing heavily in Native communities. He started making that investment because he believed those communities deserved to be seen, heard, and valued.

Julian owns the choices he made. He chose conversations over call time. He chose community over nonstop fundraising. In modern politics, that comes with a price, and eventually that price caught up to the campaign. (If it was just money, I believe he would still be fighting but as everyone read it was much more than that)

Brian Bengs made choices too. His campaign chose consolidation over coalition. Instead of asking how to build something bigger, it focused on becoming the only campaign. Those are not the same thing. Coalition building invites people in. Consolidation asks everyone else to get out of the way. Listen to how he speaks and how a lot of his supporters comment. It's all about consolidation.

Now there are fewer than 90 days left. Bengs has to make his case to South Dakota, but he also owns the responsibility of earning the trust of the progressive voters who were inspired by Julian.

That trust is not automatically transferred because one campaign ended. It has to be earned.

08/05/2026

Julian’s words break my heart.

Politics slowly takes away ordinary life. It asks a lot of the people who love you. Your spouse. Your children. Your parents. Your friends. They never chose to run for office, but they carry some of the same sacrifices.

I know a lot of people are frustrated today. I am too. There will be time to talk about what this means politically. There will be time to debate strategy, candidates, and where we go from here. Right now doesn’t feel like that moment.

If you feel like you need to do something today, do it. Volunteer for a candidate you believe in. Knock on doors. Make phone calls. If your heart is with Julian, remember you can still support his campaign. (https://secure.actblue.com/donate/julianforsd?amount=500&refcode=website) Help them close this chapter with one less burden to carry.

Regardless, I hope our community wraps its arms around the Beaudion family. Give them some grace. Give them some space. Let them simply be a family for a while. Julian, Inkka, and the girls deserve the chance to exhale and rest.

08/02/2026

As the deadline for withdrawal gets closer, I’m thinking a lot about why I left my own race. Yesterday was a prime indicator of how everyone wants there to be one reason. We want to point to fundraising, polling, political pressure, endorsements, family, or strategy and say, “That’s why.” I heard the whispers of some of those after I stepped aside. However, running for office is one of the few experiences where every part of your life gets put on the same scale at the same time. Your family, your career, your finances, your health, your supporters, your social media (past and present), your volunteers, your values, and the responsibility you feel to the people who believed in you all compete for your attention. None of this exists in a vacuum, and they rarely all point you in the same direction. It’s quite stressful and confusing. I blame my 20lb weight gain on this (and the gas station food because I didn’t always plan ahead).

What I forgot from being involved in campaigns until I became a candidate is how easy it is for the public to assign motives to a decision they weren’t part of. We see these same FEC reports, endorsements, polling numbers, and social media posts because those are public. We don’t see the conversations around the dinner table, the sacrifices made by spouses, the grandmothers picking up the slack with the kids, the stress of taking time away from work, the weight of asking volunteers to keep giving, or the moments where you sit in your car, alone, and ask yourself if you have anything left to give. I’m a reality show ju**ie so I understand the psychology of how people feel they know why someone stays in or drops out. I can admit I am just as much of the problem sometimes, but it doesn’t justify or make it right.

So as another withdrawal deadline approaches, I find myself with a lot more empathy than I had before I ran. Whatever decisions candidates make over the next few days, I hope people remember that those decisions are almost always more complicated than they appear from the outside. We can debate campaigns all day long, but only the person making that decision knows everything that went into it. ALWAYS the hardest choice in politics isn’t deciding to run. It’s deciding whether to keep going.