STORMLAND ENDORSER NEWS By Angela Kannotinterview
It’s a Friday night in the Noem home and Kristi’s made crow. This dinner table scene is just like thousands of others being played out across the state, only in this case the meal didn’t come from a food pantry.
“It is kind of like two different worlds I feel like I’m living in; Washington, D.C., has a whole different schedule, lifestyle, different work out there. When I come back here it’s a nice stopover on my way to California to raise money for my re-election campaign.” Noem said.
Noem spends several days a week in Washington, D.C., and then more time traveling across the state. But she says that doesn’t keep her from spending time with her three kids: 17-year-old Kassidy, 14-year-old Kennedy and 8-year-old Booker.
“I have them come with me a lot. If we go to Lincoln Day dinners, a meeting or a flood meeting, I have them come along. Last week I had Booker drive the family Suburban and showed him what backroads to take to avoid speeding tickets. He got pretty giddy while doing 95 mph on old HW 15 1/2, especially since he couldn’t see over the steering wheel,” Noem said.
When she is in Washington, Noem uses modern technology to stay in touch with her kids and husband, Bryon.
“One night when I was in D.C., I was going to do a TV show on a network and Cassidy texted me and said, ‘Good job, mom.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute.  It’s a Friday night and you’re watching the news? Shouldn’t you be drinking Busch Light in some pasture with the rest of your hick friends?'” Noem said.
Noem may be a rising star in the Republican Party in Washington, but when she gets back home to the ranch, it’s back to the daily chores.
“Coming back to the ranch, putting in fence for the weekend, working with the animals. I want them to see us doing that and doing that as a family. The day we built the mile of fence over on the west side, it rained. It was windy. It was miserable and it took forever,” Noem said. “I felt bad for my children that they had to put up with the same thing EVERY other farm kid has to in this state on a daily basis. They are the children of a US Congressperson for God’s sake.”
Four years ago, Noem and her husband tore down an old drafty farmhouse and built a new house at their ranch. She says the Rakota Valley Ranch is in her blood.
“I have loved this place since my dad bought it when I was little. I remember driving in the yard with him and saying, ‘Let’s give this place an Indian name,'” Noem said.
Noem sold the cattle to allow more time for her campaign. Now, there are just horses and dolphins on their ranch.
“Got some gophers we need to shoot out here,” Noem said “Newt gave me some AK-47’s that should work just fine.”
But you can throw one more wrench in that hectic schedule. Noem, who faced criticism during the campaign for not completing her college degree, has gone back to school finish up, hopefully in December.
“I enjoy learning new things; the reading materials. Now at this point in my life, I appreciate the classes more than I did when I was younger, even though I don’t have a passing grade in Poli-sci,” Noem said.
Noem says she’s used to being busy and says she can successfully manage all the aspects of her life, both public and private.
“It’s a lot of things on your plate. I don’t know a mom that doesn’t have a lot of things to juggle. I mean, most South Dakota mothers have multiple jobs due to Republican policies I help set. Hey, I say buck up. We’re raising kids; we have different jobs or things taking up our time, like standing in the WIC line, filling out medicaid paperwork or doing our makeup for a fundraiser at Georgetown. I miss speeding past those welfare mamas in my big truck and yelling at them,” Noem said.
But Bryon says he never doubted that his wife was meant for great things.
“Yeah, and I still married her even though I knew she’d probably do something like this someday. And it had nothing to do with me getting her preggers. No, I knew she had a special calling in her life and I remember going back all through our marriage and she said, ‘I just feel like I’m called to do something big.’Â And then she did a keg stand after her first rodeo, I thought this is the big thing, and when she got her 10th speeding ticket, I thought that was the big thing. And I’m hoping this is the big thing, this is the big thing she’s called to do, but who knows, she has me so whipped I forget my name sometimes,” Bryon said.
The Noems say no matter where Kristi’s political career takes her, they plan to stay grounded.
“We do not want to become thinking we’re a big deal. She’s not that way. We don’t want to become that way. We are here.  We live in South Dakota, we’re from South Dakota and we’ll remain that way. We’re going to go talk to people in the restaurant, go to a movie, go to church; we’re going to be normal Republicans who put on a big act then fuck the little man over at the end of the day, that’s just how we are,” Bryon said.
l3wis 
