Controversial South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a featured speaker at this weekend’s California Republican convention, came out swinging Saturday as the party gathered in Burlingame to strategize and rev up its members for the November election.
She took swipes at Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden, and called on state Republicans to step up their support for local and national Republican candidates and ballot measures.
“I think the biggest contrast between your governor and me is I don’t know if he ever asks himself (if his actions) are constitutional,” Noem said, referring to Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdowns. “I think your governor just says. ‘I’m going to do whatever the hell I want to do.’ It works for him.”
Noem also criticized what she called Biden’s loose border policies, his COVID-19 restrictions, and said she was “fighting the fake news every single day.”
However, in contrast to the often-incendiary Donald Trump, the presumed presidential candidate, Noem encouraged supporters to engage in “civil” dialogue with those they disagree with. “A diversity of opinions around the table and perspectives on background and experience in policy results in better laws and a better government,” she told the crowd.
Noem was once expected to be a possible running mate for Trump. But political experts said that’s no longer likely since she revealed in her recent book that she shot and killed her dog, angering Republicans and Democrats alike.
Jack Pitney, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College and former member of the Republican Party, said the Noem selection as a speaker was a decision made before the dog-killing controversy.
“It comes under the heading ‘seemed like a good idea at the time,’ ” Pitney said. “She was at the very top of the list for vice-presidential speculation. The California Republicans wanted to bask in her reflected glory, but now, to use an unfortunate phrase, ‘that dog won’t hunt.’ ”
According to Noem, she took Cricket, a wire-haired pointer, on a pheasant hunt with other experienced dogs. The governor ended up shooting the dog after Cricket ate a farm family’s chickens and bit Noem. She also wrote about killing a goat on the same day.
On Saturday, her comments on the controversy were limited: “Listen, I have a book that has come out. You maybe have heard a little bit about it. I guarantee you if you listen to the media, you haven’t heard the truth. So I would recommend you read it.”
Convention attendees seemed unbothered by the dog welfare issues.
“I haven’t heard anyone mention that, and all I can say about that is if you really care about dogs, which I do, go to the local shelter and adopt one,” Sacramento County GOP chairwoman Betsy Mahan said.
Pamela Neitte-Garcia of Antioch, the treasurer of the Contra Costa Republican Party, said she focused on Noem’s message of listening to differing views to create “better laws and a better government.”
“She had a great message,” Neitte-Garcia said. “Be less divisive, and more able to communicate with each other.”
Although the Bay Area has historically voted Democrat, Garcia said that Contra Costa’s conservatives are “definitely more engaged and they are loving and missing Trump’s policies.”
Tickets to the convention ranged from $300 to $575. The California Republican Party said on its website that at least 1,000 people were expected to attend the convention, which runs through the weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. In San Mateo County, where the venue is located, only 14.4% of 435,483 registered voters are Republican, while 56% are Democrats.
Notably absent from the convention and the list of guest speakers was GOP Senate hopeful Steve Garvey, who will face Rep. Adam Schiff in the November runoff for California’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Pitney said Garvey’s absence shows that the former baseball star is not serious about his candidacy.
“I think any professional Republican knows that unless something radical happens, he doesn’t have a chance in the Senate race,” Pitney said. “And Republicans want to focus on the few races they can win, specifically some House races.”
This news organization reached out to Garvey’s spokesperson Andy Gharakani regarding the candidate’s absence but has not yet received a reply.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, was scheduled to speak at Saturday night’s dinner banquet, closing out the second day of the conference.