Neal Tapio
Neal Tapio (Republican Party) was a member of the South Dakota State Senate, representing District 5. He assumed office on January 10, 2017. He left office on January 7, 2019.
Tapio (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent South Dakota's At-Large Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on June 5, 2018.
The Republican primary for South Dakota's At-Large Congressional District decided which Republican would likely replace U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R), who did not seek re-election in order to run for governor in 2018. The general election was not expected to be competitive.
First elected to the South Dakota State Senate in 2016, Neal Tapio ran for Congress based on his opposition to South Dakota elected officials like U.S. Sen. John Thune and Gov. Dennis Daugaard for what he what he said was their inadequate support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign and by drawing a connection between violent extremism and Islam. Tapio said he would put $300,000 of his own funds into the race because his self-described outsider status would not attract Republican donors. He also said he "will be President Trump’s staunchest supporter" during his campaign.[1]
In his statement announcing his run, he said, "If [U.S. Sen.] John Thune and [Gov.] Dennis Daugaard had their way, Donald Trump would have been off the Republican ticket and Hillary Clinton would be our President today, God help us.” [2][3] He later called for abolishing Native American reservations, saying government corruption on the sites had contributed to crimes against children, drug use, and poverty.[4]
In the 2018 session of the South Dakota State Senate, he introduced measures drawing a connection between Islam and violent extremism and called for a ban on refugee resettlement in South Dakota for persons coming from the Middle Eastern and North African countries implicated in Trump's executive order restricting entry to the United States.[5] He also expressed support for the tariffs on Chinese goods that Trump announced in early 2018.[6]
Tapio served as Donald Trump's state director for South Dakota in the 2016 presidential campaign. His professional experience includes working in the industrial cleaning industry. He attended Moorhead State University and worked for U.S. Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.).[7]
For more information about the Republican primary election: United States House election in South Dakota (June 5, 2018 Republican primary)
For more information about the general election on November 6, 2018: United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota, 2018
Biography
Tapio's professional experience includes working as a business owner and as president of NT Sales and Leasing, Inc.. He graduated from Moorhead State University.[8]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| South Dakota committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Energy |
| • Government Operations and Audit |
| • Health and Human Services, Vice chair |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District
Dusty Johnson defeated Timothy Bjorkman, Ron Wieczorek, and George Hendrickson in the general election for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dusty Johnson (R) | 60.3 | 202,695 |
 | Timothy Bjorkman (D) | 36.0 | 121,033 | |
 | Ron Wieczorek (Independent)  | 2.2 | 7,323 | |
 | George Hendrickson (L) | 1.5 | 4,914 | |
| Total votes: 335,965 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District
Timothy Bjorkman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Timothy Bjorkman |
| ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chris Martian (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District
Dusty Johnson defeated Shantel Krebs and Neal Tapio in the Republican primary for U.S. House South Dakota At-large District on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dusty Johnson | 46.8 | 47,120 |
 | Shantel Krebs | 29.3 | 29,551 | |
 | Neal Tapio | 23.9 | 24,040 | |
| Total votes: 100,711 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Eric Terrell (R)
- Matt Johnson (R)
Endorsements
| Click here to see a list of endorsements in the Republican primary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Campaign finance
Campaign finance disclosures from May 16, 2018 showed the following:
- Dusty Johnson had raised about $686,000 and had about $306,000 in cash on hand.
- Shantel Krebs had raised about $634,000 and had about $224,000 in cash on hand.
- Neal Tapio had raised about $168,000 and had about $37,000 in cash on hand.
The table below contains data from FEC Quarterly January 2018 reports. It includes only candidates who have reported at least $10,000 in campaign contributions as of December 31, 2017.[17]
Republicans
2016
Elections for the South Dakota State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 29, 2016. Incumbent Ried Holien (R) did not seek re-election.
Neal Tapio ran unopposed in the South Dakota State Senate District 5 general election.[18][19]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 5 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Neal Tapio (unopposed) |
100.00% | 6,838 | |
| Total Votes | 6,838 | |||
| Source: South Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
David G. Johnson ran unopposed in the South Dakota State Senate District 5 Democratic primary.[20][21]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 5 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | David G. Johnson (unopposed) | |
Neal Tapio defeated Roger Solum in the South Dakota State Senate District 5 Republican primary.[20][21]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 5 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Neal Tapio |
54.34% | 1,102 | |
| Republican | Roger Solum | 45.66% | 926 | |
| Total Votes | 2,028 | |||
Campaign themes
2018
Tapio's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Gun Rights I’m a strong and unwavering supporter of our 2nd Amendment rights. As a hunter I value the importance of gun rights, and understand that hunting is a part of our heritage. But the 2nd Amendment isn’t just about hunting, it’s also an important part of South Dakotans right to self defense. As a State Senator, I am proud to say that I have an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and the National Association for Gun Rights. As your Congressman, I will work tirelessly to defend the 2nd Amendment as well as the entire Bill of Rights. Right to Life The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are at the core of my beliefs, I am 100% pro life. As your Congressman, I will continue do everything in my power to defend the unborn and work for legislation that defends the sanctity of human life at every stage of development. Taxes Looking ahead I think we need to be skeptical of any new tax increase proposals, two of the past three legislative sessions we have seen significant new tax increases pass. While those dollars have been used to fund critical functions of government it’s important that we allow Americans to keep as much of their hard earned money as possible. Government Corruption South Dakota has done a less than adequate job of preventing corruption in state government. In the last several years we have seen such problems with EB-5 and Gear up, the people of South Dakota deserve answers from those accountable and as your state Representative I will support all efforts to ensure that the corruption we have seen in the past is uncovered and not repeated. Education I am a strong supporter of education and believe that it is best served at the local level. The parent is the most important component in a child’s education and should be the final authority in determining the educational opportunities and tutelage of their children. Each school is unique and their interests are better left to local parents, teachers and school board. As South Dakota’s Congressman, I will continue to work to ensure that our schools receive the necessary funding for our children to thrive, while working to maximize parental control over the educational process. [22] |
” |
| —Neal Tapio's campaign website (2018)[23] | ||
2016
Tapio's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
My Values :
|
” |
| —Neal Tapio, [24] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Dakota scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2018
In 2018, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 26.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2017, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 10 through March 27. The legislature held a special session on June 12.
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See also
- South Dakota State Senate
- South Dakota State Senate District 5
- South Dakota State Senate elections, 2016
- South Dakota State Legislature
- United States House of Representatives
- South Dakota's At-Large Congressional District election, 2018
- South Dakota's At-Large Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Watertown Public Opinion, "Tapio plans to be fourth candidate for U.S. House," September 1, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTapioenter - ↑ The Daily Republic, "State Sen. Tapio enters the race for U.S. House," January 29, 2018
- ↑ KDLT, "US Congressional Candidate Neal Tapio Calls for End of Indian Reservation," June 1, 2018
- ↑ Neal Tapio for Congress, "Tapio Moves to End Refugee Resettlement in South Dakota," accessed March 8, 2018
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rapid City Journal, "Krebs escalates snake fight in House race," April 7, 2018
- ↑ Neal Tapio for Congress, "Meet Neal," accessed March 8, 2018
- ↑ nealtapio.com, "About," accessed July 1, 2017
- ↑ Dakota War College, "Krebs campaign notes endorsement from Congressman Steve King of Iowa," May 24, 2018
- ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Kris Kobach Endorses Shantel Krebs' Congressional Bid," December 14, 2017
- ↑ Sioux Falls Argus Leader, "Letter: Vote for conservative Republicans in primary," May 14, 2018
- ↑ Mitchell Republic, "Rounds declines to endorse 2018 GOP primary candidates," August 18, 2017
- ↑ American Nurses Association, "American Nurses Association Political Action Committee Endorses Ten Congressional Candidates," May 31, 2018
- ↑ Sioux Falls Argus Leader, "Editorial: Dusty Johnson best GOP option for U.S. House," May 24, 2018
- ↑ Roll Call, "Republican Main Street Partnership Backs 10 Recruits," April 26, 2018
- ↑ Rapid City Journal, "Campaign Roundup: House, governor races intensifying," February 7, 2018
- ↑ FEC, "Federal Election Commission", accessed February 13, 2018
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 21, 2016
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Official Results State Canvas," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Candidate List," accessed December 18, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 South Dakota Secretary of State, "State primary results," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Neal Tapio for Congress, “Issues,” accessed March 8, 2018
- ↑ Neal Tapio, "About," accessed May 18, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ried Holien (R) |
South Dakota State Senate District 5 2017 – 2019 |
Succeeded by Lee Schoenbeck (R) |
