Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (South Dakota News Watch) – Nearly two-thirds of South Dakotans said Gov. Kristi Noem damaged her credibility in her latest book rollout, and nearly half said they have an unfavorable view of the second-term Republican, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch.
As for Noem’s bid to become former President Donald Trump’s vice-presidential nominee in 2024, nearly 60% of South Dakotans said she should not be chosen, including 55% of Republicans. The poll was also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.
The governor’s favorability based on personal popularity was 39%, down 13 points from a similar poll conducted in October 2020. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they had an unfavorable opinion of Noem, which is double the number from 2020.
Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy conducted the statewide survey May 10-13, several days after the governor cut short her book publicity tour and returned to South Dakota. “No Going Back,” her second book, was published May 7.
Media coverage focused on revelations in the book about Noem killing an unruly family hunting dog and fabricating a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The controversy, and Noem’s response, has sent her political prospects into a spiral not just nationally but in the Mount Rushmore State, said Jon Schaff, a political science professor at Northern State University in Aberdeen.
“These numbers are worse than I expected, quite frankly,” said Schaff. “What it tells you is that some of the issues coming out of the book not only damaged her national ambitions, but they put a serious damper on future statewide ambitions she might have had.”
Noem did not respond to News Watch interview requests for this story made through Ian Fury, her chief of communications.
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