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Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls

Looks like we are having a June municipal election in 2026

l3wis 7Comments

As you know, the council and mayor have to pick a new election date because our brain dead, barely on life support, clem, hillbilly, theocratic morons of a legislature decided they needed to f’ck with local control, and gerrymander an election. They really want cities to have their elections in June when mostly Republicans show up essentially gerrymandering a non-partisan election. They also know that most cities will pick the June date because their lazy ass public servants don’t want to stick around for a couple more months (like our mayor has been crying about for weeks). Also, June primaries are bad for voter turnout, mostly because only half of the constituents show up. So voter turnout would not be improved (their argument to move the election).

I took a poll of the council on this, and the results are NOT good. I will break you the news, the votes are just not there for a November election. I know some councilors are supporting a November election, but they have asked me to keep that to myself, which I will respect. Our mission is to convince at least 4 more councilors to support a November election and give good reasons why. You can CONTACT them HERE. Leave voicemails and emails telling them to support a November election. Time is of the essence, I think this will be on the agenda for the first meeting in May.

I think cities should have stand alone elections and if they promoted them properly they would be well attended. But when you have a Militant Closed Government Bozo running the city, the public is not only mis-informed, but simply NOT informed. Ignorant people only vote by accident.

David ZoKaites Elections Sioux Falls

Zokaites Launches Bold Campaign for Sioux Falls Mayor: A Vision for Practical, Caring, and Honest Leadership

l3wis 9Comments

Press Release | April 18, 2025 | by David Zokaites   DavidZokaitesMayor@gmail.com | 605-251-0691

2215 E. Mulberry St. | Sioux Falls, SD  57103-0536

The race has begun—and David Zokaites is leading the charge.

David Zokaites is officially the first and only candidate to declare his bid for the 2026 Sioux Falls mayoral race—and he’s not just tossing his hat into the ring, he’s coming in with fire, focus, and a future-forward vision for the city we love. He’s the only candidate so far to register a campaign committee with the city clerk, making his run not only the first—but the boldest.

For more than a decade, Zokaites has been laser-focused on local government. He’s spoken at City Council meetings a jaw-dropping 190 times, presenting deeply researched ideas on everything from tackling homelessness and addiction to planting more trees and strengthening police training. When others stayed silent, Zokaites stood up—for transparency, for solutions, and for people.

Born near Pittsburgh, Zokaites holds a Bachelor of Science from RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and built a career in scientific computing, digital imaging, and database management. His technical mind, paired with a passion for community, has led him to treat politics like systems engineering: “Understand the process. Fix the process.”

His mission? A government that truly serves “We the People.”

Zokaites believes our leaders must honor the Constitution and fight for the “Blessings of Liberty” for every generation. That means civil rights protected, compassion practiced, and police equipped to serve with both strength and understanding. He doesn’t just talk the talk—he walked into federal court without a lawyer in a 2019 civil rights lawsuit, standing against city government to defend personal freedom and public accountability. He’s gearing up to file another lawsuit addressing false arrest, injuries from handcuffing, and inhumane jail conditions—because justice shouldn’t require a fortune to pursue.

And at the heart of his campaign? Compassion.

An Eagle Scout, Zokaites has policies that echo the teachings of Jesus—caring for the downtrodden, housing the homeless, and offering practical solutions that benefit everyone, including taxpayers. He proposes zoning reforms to reduce construction costs and make housing more affordable, especially for young adults starting out. It’s smart. It’s fair. And it doesn’t cost the city a dime.

Zokaites doesn’t just bring policy—he brings heart.

In 1998, he co-won the JCPenney Golden Rule Award for teaching karate to kids in a local school. They learned to fall, to fly, and to believe in themselves. That spirit—of teaching, empowering, and uplifting—infuses everything he brings to Sioux Falls.

Now, he’s ready to serve.

With energy. With integrity. With bold ideas and a backbone of steel.

“I want to create practical, caring, honest government to help all the citizens of Sioux Falls,” Zokaites declares. And he means all—rich or poor, young or old, struggling or thriving.

Let’s build a city that works—for everyone.

P.S. True to form, Zokaites adds a moment of beauty to every message. This release features a serene “Enjoy Sioux Falls” landscape by his daughter Elizabeth—an artist, writer, and entrepreneur—reminding us that even in the fight for better governance, we should always remember to appreciate the world we’re working to improve.

Curt Soehl Elections Mayor TenHaken Paul Ten Haken Sioux Falls

It’s going to get a lot more expensive to run for local office

l3wis 3Comments

I didn’t say that, our mayor did. A few weeks back there was an article in one of the local circle jerk publications where they interviewed Curtis the Blurtist and Poops about the change in local elections (I support a November election though the council may be leaning towards June, which is bad because of the partisanship). Since most of the council is Republican I have no doubt that a majority including the mayor support a June election because it is mostly attended by Republicans so if they do just a little bit of research they will figure out who the conservative Republican is running for council and pick them based solely on that. If we move council elections to June, we will never have an indy or dem on the council again. And that was the ultimate goal of the legislature by doing this. Let’s just say they are gerrymandering using an election instead of a district.

But I want to talk about a quote in the article by Poops. He basically said that local elections will get more expensive when they have to compete with campaign advertising space with legislative candidates, etc. He isn’t wrong, it will get more expensive, but guess who started us down this ‘expensive’ road? TenHaken. This is a guy who handpicked council candidates then created his own PAC so he could funnel thousands of dollars towards his preferred puppet candidates and now he questions the cost of running in a local race. LMFAO! You are part of the problem PAUL! Not to mention this is a guy who attained a large part of his personal wealth designing websites for campaigns and getting his DSU ‘Doxxing Team’ on it. So now you are complaining about MONEY in politics?! Money is what got you and your puppet show elected, because it certainly wasn’t leadership skills.

Downtown Sioux Falls Elections Erica Beck Former Mayor Jim Entenman Mayor TenHaken Sioux Falls

So Erica Beck wants to run for mayor? LOL.

l3wis 4Comments

Not sure what is going on, but several months ago I was told she was running and had the endorsement of Poops. Then this Micah guy showed up and I thot the Beckster was done. Now she is resigning in June and said, “I want to hang with the grandkids.” Oldest excuse in the book. We know you are running. You have been running the city since you have been COS as one of the first thing’s Jumping Jack Flash did was give her the authority to sign mayoral documents when he is ‘absent’ and she has been running the city ever since.

What I find completely arrogant is as her tenure as our shadow mayor nothing has gotten accomplished except shipping dusty monkeys to the East Coast. So many failures under her leadership it is hard to keep track.

But this is what happens when you pull authoritarian leadership and the people (the council) tunes you out.

I have written in the past the former folks who worked with Beck at Lloyd Companies have told me the same thing, SHE IS NOT A CONSENSUS BUILDER. I have also heard from multiple current and past councilors that she is a brow beater when it comes to the mayor’s agenda proposals, and they ain’t happy about it.

The irony of all this is Erica reached out to me after she quit the city and we had coffee and a long chat (mostly her talking). She was a different person. She told me she quit the planning department after MMM forced her to write the Sanford TIF in which she said to me, “This TIF was precedent because this has never been done before for a recreational event center.” Oh, and she was completely opposed to it. She also tried to bring a casino to Sioux Falls (Flandreau Tribe) to use their revenues to pay for the event center in which they pledged $10 million a year towards the bond payments but Mike refused to meet with them because he didn’t want a ‘casino’ in town. LOL. The town is nothing but casinos, but I digress.

She had a good head on her shoulders, but after tasting the power of working for Lloyd she seems to think she has the Chutzpah to do the job. Not even F’ing close!

Besides the horrible management of the city, Beck embraces non-transparent government, which costs taxpayers $$$$. She can’t even say why she is quitting. So I guess your mayoral campaign strategy is to keep this secret as long as you can then surprise people? Weird. If you are running, you tell everyone and your sister, and you continue to let that steam out. Huether won because he was relentless and not mysterious (what a weird dude, and this is coming from a weird dude). The one thing I learned about running successful city campaigns is you come out early and you pound constituents with information about your candidacy. I guess Beck’s strategy is to keep it a secret until election day and hopefully peeps will be confused and vote for her. I can’t believe we are letting this putz run our city (into the ground).

My hope is that she will run for mayor, spend $500K and come in dead last. The chamber folks might think you are the best thing since sliced bread, but their 100 votes won’t get you past the finish line. Can’t wait for you to announce. Jim Entenman part II.

Curt Soehl Downtown Sioux Falls Elections Mayor TenHaken Riverline District SF City Council Sioux Falls

We may have the ‘Trots’ for another few months

l3wis 5Comments

It seems Poops and Curtis the Blurtist are in a tizzy over moving our city Spring elections. The state legislature, in all their insanity, changed state law so the city election has to be in June (during primaries) or in November (general). I’m okay with that, but I would support the election in November instead of June. Primaries are partisan and would only confuse voters to see a mayoral and council candidate with NO party affiliation on a ballot with legislators that are partisan. I do believe it will help voter turnout, but I will be curious as to how many undervotes (non-votes) are recorded in the city races if we move the election. Of course the city may have to call a special election asking voters to choose either June or November for the election. I think Curtis and Poops will support a June election. It will be interesting to see if Sioux Falls voters get to choose the date or if we are just approving what these two clowns want. I think the Charter Revision Commission will have to weigh in on this. Like I said, I support moving the election to November, but I am not looking forward to 5 more months of the ‘Trots’.

DID THE CONVENTION CENTER GET KILLED BECAUSE IT’S MAIN CHEERLEADER IS NO LONGER WITH US?

A reader pointed out to me that the CC at the Riversh!t Pisstrict was probably dropped from the Mayor’s agenda because it’s main cheerleader (not Paul) has died, Craig Lloyd. I kind of agree and never really thought about it, but Lloyd had a lot of weight behind the project, and I have a feeling after his passing, the leadership team at Lloyd said we got enough irons in the fire we don’t need to fart around with this. The company is also rumored to be under ‘reorganization’ which started last summer (this has been confirmed to me by several sub-contractors to Lloyd). I’m glad it’s dead, for now, but we will have to watch this. I’m sure future council and mayoral candidates won’t touch this topic with a ten foot pole. I think major discussions will be had about property taxes and the homeless in the next city campaign. I would love it if at least one council candidate and one mayoral candidate (I’m talking to you Christine) bring up transparency in city government and especially the information coming from the SFPD. A closed government doesn’t function properly, and until we fix that, we won’t accomplish anything in city government.

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