US Rep. Dusty Johnson announces he's entering race to become South Dakota governor
Johnson's office issued a news release announcing his plans shortly before he was set to speak at a Sioux Falls hotel.
Johnson has served as South Dakota's only congressman since 2019, succeeding Kristi Noem's congressional tenure, and has taken moderate stances during his time in Washington. He has supported antitrust legislation and opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified the Supreme Court's federal recognition of gay marriage.
He sometimes joined a minority of Republicans in voting against President Donald Trump, including when he voted to override Trump's veto of a measure that revoked his declaration of an emergency at the southern border. He was later one of 35 House Republicans who voted to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Now the 48-year-old aims to become the first elected governor since Noem, who used her time in Pierre to build a national profile and draw attention to the small-population Midwest state. Noem has since become Trump's secretary of Homeland Security, leaving her position in January which was filled by current governor Larry Rhoden.
Johnson is entering what could be a crowded Republican primary next June, competing against state Rep. Jon Hansen, an Aberdeen businessman who championed a landowner movement against a carbon capture pipeline. Johnson may also be challenged by Rhoden, though the latter has not yet announced a gubernatorial campaign.
Johnson first entered public office when he was elected to be a public utilities commissioner in 2004 and became the youngest commissioner in the nation at age 28. He later served as chief of staff for South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New turnpike director outlines goals for Maine's 'economic backbone'
Jul. 7—When Andre Briere became executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority in April, he knew he was hired to fix it. After three months on the job, he's got a long to-do list and a two-year action plan that kicks off in August. It will focus on improving the 109-mile toll highway as "the main thing," he says, and avoid distractions from the authority's core mission, like the controversial Gorham Connector proposal that put the agency "through the wringer" last year. The list includes reviving transparency and trust in the authority, increasing digital technology, security and automation at toll plazas and improving service plazas with updated bathrooms, children's play areas and new dining options, which could include Chick-fil-A, Shake Shack and local chefs that would highlight Maine's farm-to-table restaurant scene. Getting rid of the turnpike authority — something opponents have espoused lately and the goal of several failed bills in the last legislative session — isn't on Briere's list for all the reasons he says the agency benefits the state and its residents. That includes where most of the $170 million in tolls, or 89% of the agency's revenue for a $192 million budget, came from last year. "Almost two-thirds of our toll revenue comes from out-of-staters," Briere said. "There's no cheaper way for Mainers to run the economic backbone of the state. It would be financially ruinous for the state of Maine if you changed that." Briere, 57, started at the authority one month after the board of directors dumped the Gorham Connector proposal, leaving it to the Maine Department of Transportation to solve commuter congestion west of Portland. The four-lane toll road would have run from the recently rebuilt turnpike Exit 45 in South Portland, through Westbrook and Scarborough, to the Gorham Bypass at Route 114 in Gorham. A survey conducted by the authority showed the tide of public opinion had ebbed against the connector and the agency itself after spending more than 20 years and $18 million planning and developing the $331 million project. Briere describes the connector proposal as a well-intentioned effort that the authority took on because the Department of Transportation couldn't afford it. While the authority maintains just 577 lane miles of Interstate 95 from Kittery to Augusta, the department looks after 47,248 lane miles of roads across the state. "The DOT struggles to find funding to do projects," he said. "They turned to the turnpike authority to do the connector project and our existence was threatened in the Legislature as a result." It's a misfire Briere doesn't intend to repeat. He's committed to bolstering confidence and trust in the authority and emphasizing transparency and openness with the public, he said. He also wants to make sure the authority's 400 employees are empowered to do their best work after a report last year found that a climate of intimidation and favoritism had been fostered by former chief financial officer Doug Davidson, who left the agency in 2023. "You have to really listen to people, even opponents, and take in their input," he said. "I'm here to serve the people of Maine and make sure the turnpike is the most efficient, modern and innovative highway of its kind in the country." SEPARATE BUT WORKING TOGETHER Briere replaced Peter Mills, the longtime executive director who led the connector project before retiring in September. He took the reins as opponents of the 5-mile toll spur pitched legislation aimed taking control of the authority's spending and project planning powers and folding the agency into the Department of Transportation — something that's been tried unsuccessfully more than 25 times in the past. That's a bad idea, according to Briere, whose last job was deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which operates a turnpike system stretching over 90 miles. Because New Hampshire's three turnpikes are funded by legislators through the state budget, Briere said the process of raising tolls and allocating revenue for highway projects is politicized, and elected officials do what they can to avoid upsetting taxpayers. Last spring, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte dismissed senators' calls to increase tolls for the first time in 15 years. As a result, "there's no money for capital spending in New Hampshire's turnpike budget for the coming year," Briere said. Without regular reinvestment in turnpike infrastructure — bridges, toll plazas, air conditioners — the viability of the system diminishes, Briere said, and if tolls don't cover turnpike needs, the system becomes increasingly dependent on taxes. That kind of uncertainty can lower a state's bond rating and increase the cost of borrowing, he said. The Maine Turnpike Authority is somewhat insulated from that process because it's a separate state agency created by the Legislature in 1941 to finance and build the turnpike through toll collection. When the initial bonds were paid off in 1982, the Legislature decided the authority should continue to operate and maintain the turnpike. While no federal or state tax dollars have ever been used on the turnpike, the authority has paid the Maine Department of Transportation $5.4 million to $9.5 million annually since 2011 for work on cooperative projects. They include the $42 million Saco interchange set to open this year, the Sarah Mildred Long and Piscataqua River bridge projects, and planned investments in public transit initiatives in Greater Portland. Briere said he's an advocate for public transit, but he believes it can only be successful if roads aren't mired in commuter gridlock. And he believes it's impossible to stop people from moving outside metropolitan areas, especially as developers continue to build housing and real estate values continue to rise. The authority's contribution the Department of Transportation represented at least 5% of turnpike toll revenue each year, Briere said, and he'll be looking for ways to increase collaboration on projects in the future. "We're better off being separate but working together," he said. BALANCING EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY A Seattle native with New England roots, Briere is a 29-year Air Force veteran who retired as a colonel in 2019 with a breadth of international experience in transportation, logistics, emergency management and large-scale project leadership. He is married with two adult children. He admits his military experience likely will help fulfill his action plan for the authority, including digital upgrades in the wake of an E-ZPass shutdown for 12 hours in March that avoided a security breach. The plan calls for providing much smaller E-ZPass sticker tags instead of the current transponders within a year; offering a Maine Turnpike app so E-ZPass users can manage accounts more easily online within two years; and making it possible for drivers to pay tolls with credit cards. "We'll also operate with the general philosophy of keeping tolls low or flat for Maine E-ZPass users," Briere said, noting that those drivers received nearly $11 million in toll discounts in 2024. With the move toward greater automation, the authority may see a further reduction in toll plaza staffing, which has fallen from nearly 400 to about 175 in the last 20 years. However, given the problems that other turnpike systems have experienced when electronic toll systems go offline, Briere said he doesn't see a time when the Maine Turnpike is fully automated. "There's always a balance between effectiveness and efficiency," he said. Copy the Story Link
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
China sidesteps question on TikTok after Trump says close to deal
China's government on Monday sidestepped a question on US President Donald Trump's recent claim that he 'pretty much' has a deal with Beijing to bring TikTok into American ownership and that talks with China over the popular short-video app could begin early this week. TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is under pressure to spin off the short-video app's US operations by September 17 or face a ban in the United States. Last year, then President Joe Biden signed a sale-or-ban law, requiring ByteDance to divest the app to an American owner over national security concerns. Despite an original January deadline, Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law. 'China has reiterated its principle and position on issues related to TikTok on multiple occasions,' China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday in response to a request for an update on the latest TikTok talks, without providing further details. When previously asked about the TikTok deal, the Foreign Ministry has urged the US to provide an 'open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment' for Chinese businesses, and said that acquisition of businesses should be 'independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles.' The Chinese government has given little indication that it would approve a forced sale. In early 2023, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said in the government's first direct response to the matter that China would oppose any forced sale of TikTok, citing how a sale or divestiture of the app would involve 'exporting technology' and had to be approved by the Chinese government. TikTok's 'algorithm' is widely seen as the app's secret sauce behind its explosive popularity. In the US, TikTok boasts over 170 million monthly active users, according to the company early last year. Over 60% of American teens and about a third of American adults use the social media platform, according to a Pew Research Center study, for news, entertainment, or even to earn a living. On Friday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the US 'pretty much' has a deal on the sale of the app, though he said he's 'not confident' China would approve the deal. 'I think we're going to start Monday or Tuesday…talking to China perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives, but we pretty much have a deal on TikTok,' he said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He added the deal would 'probably' have to be approved by China. CNN has reached out to ByteDance and TikTok for comment. In late June, Trump said that there was a buyer for TikTok, teasing an announcement in two weeks. 'It's a group of very wealthy people,' he said on a Fox News program then, without providing more details. A deal that would transfer control of the app's US operations to American ownership had been on the horizon. But Trump's announcements of 'reciprocal' tariffs that brought levies on Chinese imports to the US to 54% on April 2 prompted China to pull out of the deal, CNN reported earlier. Based on the law, ByteDance can own no more than 20% of the platform in the final deal, and the app's US operations cannot coordinate with ByteDance on the app's algorithm or data-sharing practices. Alex Capri, a lecturer at the Business School of the National University of Singapore, told CNN that he doubts Beijing would approve the sale. 'Even if Beijing would choose to overlook the recent tariff hikes and ratcheting up of US export controls on Chip technologies, they still wouldn't grant export licenses for the algorithms,' he said. On Sunday, American tech media The Information reported that TikTok is building a new version of its app for US users to be launched ahead of the September deadline. Users will need to download the new app to continue using its platform while the existing app will shut down by March next year, it said. CNN's Fred He, Aleena Fayaz contributed reporting.
News24
19 minutes ago
- News24
‘Horrible thing that took place': 78 killed, including 28 children, as major flooding hits Texas
The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 78 on Sunday, including 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp continued and fears of more flooding prompted evacuations of volunteer responders. Larry Leitha, sheriff of Kerr County in Texas Hill Country, said 68 people had died in flooding in his county, the epicentre of the flooding, among them 28 children. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, said another 10 had died elsewhere in Texas and confirmed 41 were missing. US President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims and said he would probably visit the area on Friday. His administration had been in touch with Abbott, he added. 'It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. So we say, God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless, God bless the state of Texas,' he told reporters as he left New Jersey. Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp where 10 Camp Mystic campers and one counsellor were still missing, according to Leitha. 'It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,' said Abbott, who noted he toured the area on Saturday and pledged to continue efforts to locate the missing. The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the US Independence Day holiday. Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said the destruction killed three people in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County. 'You will see the death toll rise today and tomorrow,' said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, also speaking on Sunday. The flash flooding in Central Texas is absolutely heartbreaking. Michelle and I are praying for everyone who has lost a loved one or is waiting for news — especially the parents. And we're grateful to the first responders and rescue teams working around the clock to help. — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 6, 2025 Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 380mm of rain across the region, about 140km northwest of San Antonio. Kidd said he was receiving unconfirmed reports of 'an additional wall of water' flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed, as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday's rains. 'We're evacuating parts of the river right now because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas,' he said, referencing volunteers from outside the area seeking to help locate Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said. US Coast Guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts. Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the National Weather Service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm. Trump's administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said. Spinrad said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts. Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the National Weather Service under Trump's oversight. 'That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup,' he said referencing his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe. Donald Trump He declined to answer a question about FEMA, saying only: 'They're busy working, so we'll leave it at that.' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA and NOAA, said a 'moderate' flood watch issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic US congressman from Texas, told CNN's State of the Union programme that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous. 'When you have flash flooding, there's a risk that if you don't have the personnel ... to do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy,' Castro said. Katharine Somerville, a counsellor on the Cypress Lake side of Camp Mystic, on higher ground than the Guadalupe River side, said her 13-year-old campers were scared as their cabins sustained damage and lost power in the middle of the night. 'Our cabins at the tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, y'all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen,' Somerville said in an interview on Fox News on said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that all were safe. The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 9m. A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp, where 700 girls were in residence at the time of the flooding, was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least 1.83m from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall.
