Deep-red states keep electing Republicans who govern against their voters. Democrats campaign on anti-corruption and inflation in swing states while delivering nothing but leftism in their bluest states. Republican voters should expect their reddest states to govern just as aggressively on the right. Instead, Republicans-in-name-only dominate.

Whenever I demand action against red-state RINOs, the GOP’s obedient chorus lectures conservatives about “unity.” Unless we overhaul these state parties — changing how they select nominees or running on third-party ballot lines — we will keep suffering Democratic governance under the Republican banner. Democrats will also keep gaining ground in states they once couldn’t penetrate.

Conservatives cannot keep treating nominations as a procedural detail and then wonder why Republican victories fail to produce conservative government.

South Dakota shows both the problem and a remedy. The state chooses some statewide nominees at party conventions rather than direct primaries. This summer, state Rep. Heather Baxter defeated Secretary of State Monae Johnson by 18 points at the GOP convention. Activists concluded that Johnson had obstructed the election integrity agenda on which she originally campaigned.

Statewide incumbents almost never lose direct primaries. The convention gave activists a chance to hold Johnson accountable for her record.

Critics might dismiss those delegates as too extreme or uncompromising. Johnson answered that objection herself: After losing their support, she endorsed the Democrat in the general election — in South Dakota.

“South Dakota deserves a Secretary of State who will strengthen confidence through performance rather than provocation; who will support election officials rather than burden them for political effect; who will protect voter access and election security without pretending those goals are enemies; and who will treat the office’s employees, voters, candidates, and business owners with dignity,” Johnson wrote in her statement endorsing Democrat Terrence Davis last Saturday.

Her language about “voter access,” followed by her endorsement, confirmed that delegates were right to give her the boot.

Johnson had already turned against pro-lifers fighting a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion on demand in South Dakota’s Constitution. House Speaker Jon Hansen (R) founded the Life Defense Fund, which contacted petition signers to verify that they had consented to having their names on the petitions. Johnson accused the group of running a “scam.”

Petition organizers’ claims of public support deserve verification. A signature should reflect a voter’s consent, and election officials should welcome efforts to establish whether that consent was real. Suspected petition fraud warranted scrutiny. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration investigated alleged fraud in a similar abortion petition drive in 2024. “The circulators appeared to have forged the voters’ signatures and inserted the voters’ personal identifiable information into the petitions without consent,” Secretary of State Cord Byrd wrote in a letter that year.

Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images

Johnson accused Hansen’s group of “impersonating” her staff and “trying to pressure voters into asking that their name be removed” from the petitions. She sought a criminal investigation, but Attorney General Marty Jackley found no evidence of lawbreaking.

“By labeling our lawful activity as a scam, Secretary of State Johnson has done significant and irreversible damage to the pro-life movement in South Dakota,” Hansen said in May 2024.

Voters rejected the abortion amendment, but it garnered 41% of the vote — an alarming share in such a red state. Conservatives had better be prepared to scrutinize petition drives for future abortion, marijuana, and ranked-choice voting initiatives.

Johnson won convention support in 2022 by campaigning on election integrity. Once in office, she obstructed conservatives seeking to investigate or confront election fraud. With her support of the Democrat, we now know she was never really on our side.

This contest offers two lessons.

First, conservatives must stop letting threats of party disunity protect liberal Republicans. If a defeated RINO will support a Democrat, that strengthens the case for removing that Republican even sooner. Given the Democrats’ radical agenda, anyone willing to endorse them would remain a subversive force under the GOP banner.

Red states teem with these politicians. In Alaska, liberal Republicans shared power with Democrats, gradually creating a uniparty. Ranked-choice voting further blurred the distinctions. Despite reliably backing Republican presidential nominees, Alaska is essentially a province of the Democratic Party. Democrats are favored to win the legislature and flip a U.S. Senate seat, while their candidate for governor leads by double digits in a recent poll.

When Republicans in the reddest states share power with Democrats, conservatives cannot settle for “at least we have a Republican.” Keep rewarding that conduct, and even the Republican label will eventually disappear.

Kansas offers another warning. Republicans’ refusal to unite behind a conservative agenda has helped Democrats hold the governorship for eight years. Unpopular incumbent Republicans have now made Kansas competitive at the federal level. Former Republican Gov. Bill Graves even endorsed Democrat Adam Hamilton against Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.

We have allowed liberals to weaken the party from within for years. The demand for unity always seems to bind conservatives, while liberal Republicans remain free to support the other party. That arrangement rewards the politicians responsible for the division and silences the voters trying to fix it.

Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The second lesson: State conventions give conservatives a better chance to reclaim their party than direct primaries do because they draw informed activists. Johnson’s endorsement is unlikely to elect a Democrat in South Dakota. The point is the convention allowed conservatives to expose and remove her. Try doing that in a direct primary while special interests spend heavily to mislead low-information voters who barely follow these races.

As conservatives rejected Johnson at the convention, liberal Republicans won key direct primaries. Hansen would have easily won the gubernatorial nomination had convention delegates decided that race. Instead, Gov. Larry Rhoden won the primary. He has opposed initiative petition reform, which conservatives need to confront the process helping turn red states blue.

Meanwhile, about 16 liberal former legislators and challengers defeated conservative freshmen in legislative primaries, aided by an infusion of Big Tech cash. Baxter herself lost her legislative primary before defeating Johnson at the convention in the same election cycle.

Conservatives cannot keep treating nominations as a procedural detail and then wonder why Republican victories fail to produce conservative government. The selection process determines who we send into office and whose demands they heed.

Conservatives who want different results must change how their parties choose candidates. Keep the same primary system, and the uniparty will keep collecting the nominations.

Viral video shows high school soccer player BEAT DOWN opponent before chaos erupts — and police are investigating

A viral video of a high school soccer player's alleged attack on another player in South Dakota led to a police investigation.

The match between the Brookings High School Bobcats and Rapid City Central Cobblers spiraled into chaos after one player retaliated against another for a defensive play.

The viral video of the incident garnered over 18 million views on the X platform.

The game was being streamed online as the incident unfolded just before the end of the first half on Friday.

A Cobblers player shoves the Bobcats player out of bounds onto the ground and then kicks him in the back before raining punches down on the boy.

The recipient of the blows tries to shield his face as other players and adults run toward them to break up the beating.

A second later, another Bobcats player rushes in and starts punching as well.

The Cobblers player was issued a red card violation and ejected from the game. According to league rules, he will have to undergo sportsmanship training.

He might also face criminal charges.

Brookings Police Chief Michael Drake told KELO-TV that police were investigating the incident and would interview more than a hundred witnesses. They are also reviewing at numerous videos beyond the viral footage.

The viral video of the incident garnered over 18 million views on the X platform.

The Rapid City Area School District released a statement about the incident to Dakota News Now.

"Rapid City Area Schools is aware of an incident involving a player from Central High School’s soccer program and players from another South Dakota team during a soccer match," read the statement.

"We expect all students to demonstrate respect, sportsmanship, and appropriate behavior at all times, both on and off the field," the district added. "We do not condone behavior that does not meet these expectations. Appropriate actions will be taken in accordance with RCAS policies and procedures."

The South Dakota High School Athletic Association also released a statement calling the incident "unacceptable" and said it was cooperating with school officials.

"In general, disciplinary actions beyond our general ejection policy are worked through more on the school side, and Rapid City Central is currently doing that within the framework of their own training rules and district policies," the statement read. "They will keep us up to date on that work and we will support them in whatever is needed."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Red states are not waiting for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump continues to prioritize the passage of the SAVE America Act, keeping election integrity at the forefront in Washington. However, states are not waiting for Congress to act. Across the country, this shift has been building for years, and it is becoming harder to ignore.

The SAVE America Act should be passed because it aligns federal elections with the direction states are already taking.

Florida offers one of the clearest examples. Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a state-level measure requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and directing officials to verify applicants using existing data systems. The approach mirrors what the SAVE America Act would do at the federal level. DeSantis said the law would “strengthen the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system.”

Florida is not alone. In Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves signed the SHIELD Act, which requires officials to verify citizenship when individuals register to vote, including checks against federal databases and regular audits of voter rolls. Reeves called it “another win for election integrity” and made clear that the state intends to keep strengthening its system.

South Dakota has already enacted similar requirements this year, requiring proof of citizenship for new voter registrations and putting those rules into effect immediately. Governor Larry Rhoden said the law “ensures only citizens vote in state elections, keeping our elections safe and secure.”

These bills didn’t happen overnight. States have been moving in this direction for years. Arizona, for example, required proof of citizenship for voter registration following the passage of Arizona Proposition 200, creating a system that distinguishes between voters who provide documentation and those who do not.

That history matters. It shows that the idea of verifying citizenship at the point of registration is nothing new. What is changing now is how widely and directly states are applying it to their election systems.

Under current federal law, voter registration generally relies on applicants affirming their eligibility under penalty of perjury rather than providing documentary proof. The federal voter registration form requires applicants to attest that they are United States citizens under penalty of perjury. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 relies heavily on self-attestation rather than documentary proof, leaving states to determine how verification is carried out. As some states move toward more structured verification, those differences become harder to ignore.

States that have moved toward documentation and data verification are operating alongside systems that still rely primarily on sworn statements.

History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The contrast is becoming more visible as more states update their processes, raising a straightforward question about whether federal elections should operate under a consistent standard.

The SAVE America Act answers that problem directly. It would require documentary proof of United States citizenship in order to vote in federal elections, using documents such as a passport or birth certificate.

As Senator Mike Lee has argued, the SAVE America Act would secure federal elections by requiring proof of citizenship and voter identification nationwide.

Citizenship is already required to vote. A federal standard would ensure that requirement is applied the same way in every state.

Without that standard, states will continue moving in different directions, leaving federal elections governed by a patchwork of verification practices. With it, the system becomes consistent.

The SAVE America Act should be passed because it aligns federal elections with the direction states are already taking and applies a clear, uniform standard to voter registration.

States are setting the standard for verifying voter eligibility.

It is time for Congress to do its part and pass the SAVE America Act.

These 4 States Already Enacted SAVE Act Look-Alikes While John Thune Does Failure Theater

Other states are set to vote on amendment language clarifying that 'only' U.S. citizens can vote in elections.

The SAVE Act is the hill voters will die on

It’s time to find out who runs the Republican Party: Donald Trump or John Thune (RINO-S.D.).

Trump can demand all the “leadership” he wants, but the SAVE America Act remains in limbo. Leadership would mean getting it past the filibuster. What Thune has scheduled for next week — a vote with no talking filibuster — won’t force the fight. It won’t even force the Democrats to own their position in public.

If Republicans can’t pass the SAVE Act in the face of brazen hubris and illegality, nothing else will matter.

Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) goes on camera and all but admits the quiet part: the rolls include millions of noncitizens, and Democrats don’t want ICE clearing them out before the next election. He’s saying it out loud.

So I’ll put this plainly. If Republicans can’t pass the SAVE Act in the face of that kind of brazen hubris and illegality, nothing else will matter — not Iran, not an economic rebound, not a shiny jobs report. Midterm obliteration is coming, and that means Trump 2.0 turns into impeachment 2.0.

People can argue about Iran. They can argue about tactics. They can argue about timelines. The SAVE Act hits a deeper fault line inside the GOP base. Few issues still win broad, consistent support — not just among Republicans, but among normies. The border does. The trans issue does. Election integrity absolutely does.

The SAVE Act sits right on that seam: Prove citizenship before voting in federal elections. That’s it.

Social media can make it seem like half of the right is populated with anti-Semites and that the most important argument right now is the war in Iran. Sorry, real voters aren’t living in that feed. I’ve done a handful of events for Adam Steen, the Iowa gubernatorial candidate I’m backing in my home state. Everywhere I go, voters ask about election integrity and voter fraud more than they ask about anything else.

Trump has room to absorb controversy on foreign policy and the economy. He has survived worse. He might even turn both into wins. But if he can’t deliver the SAVE Act — if he lets a feckless swamp rat like Thune outmaneuver him on the most basic promise of self-government — it’s game over.

Midterms already punish the party in power. Low turnout hurts. A sleepy base hurts. But failure here triggers a different kind of turnout: the “why bother?” turnout. People will stop believing civic responsibility matters if Republicans can’t secure elections after years of bitter, sometimes violent controversy.

Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images

Remember the frustration of watching billions flow overseas with no accountability? Now picture South Dakota giving the country a civics lesson in futility because its senator can’t — or won’t — do the one thing that anchors every other fight: protect the vote.

South Dakota’s legislature is more than 90% Republican. Yet Thune looks ready to turn “stolen elections” into the hill the party dies on, thus torpedoing Trump’s second term and setting himself up as the next Mitch McConnell.

South Dakota already had the embarrassing Kristi Noem circus, shooting her dog between teeth-whitening appointments before getting canned from the Department of Homeland Security. But Thune’s folly could end MAGA entirely.

Perception becomes reality fast. If this administration is settling into the idea that mass deportations have limits — fine. But then it needs a second anchor: proof that Democrats can’t use noncitizens to usurp our elections.

Pass the SAVE Act, force Democrats to take a position in daylight, and lock down the rules. Fail and 2026 is doomed.

Want fewer RINOs? Give GOP conventions more power

Viral video shows high school soccer player BEAT DOWN opponent before chaos erupts — and police are investigating

Hollywood Mistakes Its Own Darkness For The State Of The World

Red states are not waiting for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act

These 4 States Already Enacted SAVE Act Look-Alikes While John Thune Does Failure Theater

The SAVE Act is the hill voters will die on

While Thune Slacks On SAVE America Act, His Home State Passes Its Own Version Of The Bill

South Dakota Offers Chaos-Plagued Minnesota A Recipe For Peace With ICE

'We are not victims!' Guest blows up 'The View' panel's narrative about critical race theory

'I say worse things than that every day': Jimmy Carr issues hilarious defense of Shane Gillis

UC Berkeley Law Review Poised To Delete All Application Records After Editors Pledged To Select Applicants Based on Race

Activists protest red state's law by sending 'bearded, burly' trans-identifying protesters into women's bathrooms

Nikole Hannah-Jones Serves Up an Analysis Not Fit for New York Times Video

2028 Alert: Jake Sullivan Says Gavin Newsom Has 'Rizz' After Greasy Gov Spends Weekend with His Wife

Pro-trans group denies sending kids guide to hormones and surgery — so why did it wipe its website?

We’ll keep you informed with top stories for conservatives who want to become informed decision makers.