Free Republic

On Tuesday Donald Trump closed the door on the Republican nomination for President by winning all five of the remaining primaries — New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and California. Trump won the last 16 Republican contests. Trump has 1,536 delegates and counting. Trump may also be the first candidate in the modern era to have funded his campaign by himself during the primary season. Although his results are much more impressive, he only spent a quarter the amount of money as Democrats Clinton and Sanders. He proved to be the real capitalist in the primary while Clinton and...

Trump closed out the primary election season with wins in South Dakota, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, and California. While Sen. Bernie Sanders remains actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump became the GOP’s presumptive nominee shortly after winning Indiana’s May 3 primary election. The American businessman surpassed 2012 nominee Mitt Romney’s and 2008 nominee John McCain’s primary election vote totals by late in April according to Politico calculations. Previous record holder George W. Bush received just 10.8 million votes in 2000, a number far surpassed by Trump’s over 13 million votes with...

Tuesday, June 7th primaries California – 546 delegates Montana – 27 delegates New Jersey – 142 delegates New Mexico – 43 delegates South Dakota – 25 delegates North Dakota – D Caucus – 25 D delegates

You are cordially invited to attend a post-election press conference with Donald J. Trump When: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 @ 9PM EDT Where: Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Westchester, NY Attire: PJs (Black Tie Optional) Dom Perignon and a selection of appetizers and French pastries with be served. R.S.V.P @ nikos1121

Hillary Clinton is on the cusp of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, and could move closer as Puerto Rico's primary results are announced Sunday night. The former secretary of state is competing with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to win a majority of Puerto Rico's 60 delegates. Clinton began the day 60 delegates shy of the 2,383 she needs to win the Democratic nomination -- with 1,776 pledged delegates and another 547 superdelegates. Sanders, meanwhile, started Sunday with 1,547 delegates total: 1,501 pledged delegates and another 46 superdelegates. Clinton is closing in on a historic nomination as the first female presidential...

Montana and five other states say resident Barack Obama overstepped his power by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, whose developers are now suing four presidential cabinet members. The states along the pipeline’s route filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week arguing that Congress, not the executive, has the right to regulate interstate and international commerce. The pipeline, which would have crossed the Canadian border, was being developed by TransCanada, which is now suing the government. Because of the resident’s representations to the rest of the world that America would lead in reducing its carbon footprint, that that was the sole reason...

Oil and gas industry groups on Thursday sued federal agencies over revisions to land management plans in Colorado and other western states to protect the greater sage-grouse. The Western Energy Alliance and the North Dakota Petroleum Council filed the suit in North Dakota, saying the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service failed to follow proper procedures for public involvement in adopting the land use plan amendments. They also say the plans ignore sound science and will hurt western economies. Plan revisions being challenged include ones in northwest Colorado, where greater sage-grouse habitat substantially overlaps with oil and gas...

Lobbyists in Washington say they are being flooded with questions and concerns from foreign governments about the rise of Donald Trump. Officials around the globe are closely following the U.S. presidential race, to the point where some have asked their American lobbyists to explain, in great detail, what a contested GOP convention would look like. The questions about Trump are “almost all-consuming,” said Richard Mintz, the managing director of Washington-based firm The Harbour Group, whose client list includes the governments of Georgia and the United Arab Emirates. After a recent trip to London, Abu Dhabi and Beijing, “it’s fair to...

It’s funny how the tables turn over time. Ted Cruz is the only one left who can pose any real challenge to Donald Trump‘s Republican nomination, and now, figures from the political establishment are asking him to make nice with them before they agree to coalesce around his campaign. While his uncompromising stances distinguished Cruz as the junior U.S. Senator from Texas, years of stunts like shutting down the government and calling Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar have caused many of his colleagues to dislike him. According to CNN, Sen. John Cornyn and others have called on Cruz, after...

South Dakota just became the next state to protect unborn babies from painful, late-term abortions. On Thursday, Gov. Dennis Gaugaard signed into law a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks and penalize doctors who do late-term abortions in non-emergency situations, the Argus Leader reports. Penalties for violations of the law include up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine, according to the report. The only exceptions would be in certain medical emergency cases, the report states. “It’s a great day for South Dakota,” said Debbie Pease, lobbyist for South Dakota Right to Life. “Our hope is that...

State legislators are moving to make South Dakota the ninth state to protect unborn babies from abortions when they begin to feel pain. The South Dakota state House overwhelmingly approved a 20-week abortion ban on Monday in a 59-7 vote, according to the Associated Press. The bill would end abortions at the 20 week mark when unborn babies can feel pain, and it would penalize abortionists who violate the law with up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine, according to the report. The only exceptions would be in certain medical emergency cases, the report states. “These are...

From Michigan to Louisiana to California on Friday, rank-and-file Republicans expressed mystification, dismissal and contempt regarding the instructions that their party's most high-profile leaders were urgently handing down to them: Reject and defeat Donald J. Trump. Their angry reactions, in the 24 hours since Mitt Romney and John McCain urged millions of voters to cooperate in a grand strategy to undermine Mr. Trump's candidacy, have captured the seemingly inexorable force of a movement that still puzzles the Republican elite and now threatens to unravel the party they hold dear. In interviews, even lifelong Republicans who cast a ballot for Mr....

From Michigan to Louisiana to California on Friday, rank-and-file Republicans expressed mystification, dismissal and contempt regarding the instructions that their party’s most high-profile leaders were urgently handing down to them: Reject and defeat Donald J. Trump. Their angry reactions, in the 24 hours since Mitt Romney and John McCain urged millions of voters to cooperate in a grand strategy to undermine Mr. Trump’s candidacy, have captured the seemingly inexorable force of a movement that still puzzles the Republican elite and now threatens to unravel the party they hold dear. In interviews, even lifelong Republicans who cast a ballot for Mr....

From Michigan to Louisiana to California on Friday, rank-and-file Republicans expressed mystification, dismissal and contempt over the instructions that their party’s most high-profile leaders were urgently handing down to them: Reject and defeat Donald J. Trump. Their angry reactions, in the 24 hours since Mitt Romney and John McCain urged millions of voters to cooperate in a grand strategy to undermine Mr. Trump’s candidacy, have captured the seemingly inexorable force of a movement that still puzzles the Republican elite and now threatens to unravel the party they hold dear. In interviews, even lifelong Republicans who cast a ballot for Mr....

An attempt to override Gov. Daugaard's veto of the transgender bill in South Dakota has failed, the Associated Press reports. The final vote to override the veto was 36 in favor to 29 opposed, short of the required two-thirds majority needed. Original story: The South Dakota House will attempt to override Governor Dennis Daugaard's veto of HB 1008 Thursday, according to the state's ACLU chapter. HB 1008 has been one of the most discussed bills of the 2015 South Dakota Legislative session. The bill would have required transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex...

I’ve become jaded enough by this point in my life that political stories rarely shock me, but I must confess that this one caught me off guard. The South Dakota legislature recently passed a common sense bill which would ensure that students attending public schools could retain their privacy in gender separated bathrooms, locker rooms and showers. It was obviously designed to stop the expansion of the SJW movement to force the concept of “transgender students” on everyone else, allowing boys to use the girls’ facilities. But on Tuesday, Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed the bill. (Time) South Dakota’s...

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard shocked conservatives Tuesday when he vetoed legislation that would have prohibited students in South Dakota public schools from using opposite-sex restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities. The decision is a boon for transgender advocates who lobbied the governor to reject the bill, arguing it was discriminatory and would have harmed the emotional well-being of transgender students. Proponents of the legislation contended it’s inappropriate to have adolescent boys and girls showering and changing in the same room. “Do you feel it appropriate for a 13-year-old girl to be exposed to the anatomy of a boy? Or for...

PIERRE, South Dakota, February 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – In a first for the U.S., a state legislature has passed a bill that bans transgender students from using a bathroom of the opposite sex and requires schools to have "reasonable accommodation" for transgender students through single-person bathrooms and locker rooms, among other methods. The bill now goes to the desk of Governor Dennis Daugaard, who the Argus Leader reports has indicated support for the bill even as he has declined to take a formal position. Daugaard expressed theoretical support in January but has more recently said he needs to better understand...

South Dakota would be the first state in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their sex at birth if the governor signs a bill passed Tuesday by the state Senate. The Senate voted 20-15 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who initially responded positively to the measure but said last week he'd need to study it more before making a decision. Advocates say the bill is meant to protect the privacy of students, but opponents say it discriminates against vulnerable adolescents. [...] The American Civil...

Gov. Dennis Daugaard says a measure to require some welfare applicants to pass drug tests would be a waste of money and "somewhat insulting." Daugaard said Friday that he hasn't previously been enthusiastic about similar proposals. Republican Rep. Lynne DiSanto is the measure's main House sponsor. Her plan would require applicants under 65 to be drug tested before receiving food stamps or cash assistance.