Do you wear cowgirl clothes? During a homestate fundraiser, Kristi Noem was abused

SIOUX FALLS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz entertained about a thousand people at a South Dakota Democratic Party fundraiser Saturday night with jabs at the state’s former and current governors, advice on regaining rural voters and blue collar workers, and pride in liberal ideals.

The 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, who was on the losing ticket with presidential nominee Kamala Harris, gave the keynote speech to a sold-out audience at the 2025 McGovern Day dinner at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. Reporters were allowed to attend the event but were not permitted to photograph it once it began.

Walz quickly criticized the actions of US Homeland Security Secretary and Republican former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

“If you had to pick somebody who’s the antithesis of the South Dakota I know, it would be that,” he joked.

Before being elected to lead their respective states in 2018, the two served in Congress and cosponsored bills together.

Their relationship deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic when they took opposing approaches, and it worsened when Noem described Walz as a “radical” in her role as a Trump surrogate during last year’s presidential campaign.


Walz said of his upcoming appearance in South Dakota, “I had to decide what I was going to wear.”

“Do you dress as a fireman when you’re a governor in South Dakota?” “You dress like a cowgirl?” He said.

The joke was a dig at Noem. She wore firefighting gear at a US Coast Guard training facility, for example, and a cowboy hat during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I know it’s petty, but some people just bring out the petty,” Walz went on:

Advice for South Dakota Democrats
After the laughter subsided, he explained his connections to South Dakota. He grew up nearby in Nebraska. He went pheasant hunting in Winner, watched drive-in movies in Lake Andes, and “spent too much time” at Burke’s Longbranch bar.

Walz also urged current South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden, who recently signed legislation allowing gun owners with enhanced permits to carry concealed pistols on college campuses. Walz described it as one of the Republicans’ talking points about South Dakota being “the freest state in the nation.”

“I believe some of you may have different perspectives on that. “I ran into an OB-GYN who said that’s not true,” Walz said, referring to South Dakota’s nearly complete abortion ban.

Walz told Democrats that Republicans who portray them as “elites” are lowering taxes for the wealthy, reducing support for student aid programs and Medicaid, “tearing apart” rural communities, and mass-detaining undocumented immigrants.

“Is the immigration system broken? Yes. But our moral system certainly should not be with throwing people in camps,” he said, referring to a detention center for migrants in the Florida Everglades nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by President Donald Trump.

“The people building prison camps are never the good guys in history,” according to Walz.

He urged Democrats to focus on issues important to rural and working-class South Dakotans, such as Medicaid and Medicare, and to collaborate with labor unions.

“There’s a direct correlation between the strength of the middle class and economic security with the number of people who are in labor unions,” according to him.

He also suggested that the national Democratic Party pay more attention to places like South Dakota if it wants to form a long-term coalition capable of competing outside of its traditional strongholds and battleground states. “A few million dollars” could make a difference and help South Dakota build its Democratic bench, he stated.

“I hear people say ‘there are no Democrats in South Dakota,'” Walz went on. “But there’s a hell of a lot in this room.”

The party expects more candidates in 2026.
The McGovern Day dinner is the state party’s biggest annual fundraiser. Regular tickets are $125. Meet-and-greet tickets cost twice as much.

“We haven’t had a McGovern Day dinner this big, at least since I’ve been around,” said Shane Merrill, state party chair.


The party capitalized on Walz’s celebrity for more than just ticket sales. Vermillion brewery XIX brewed a batch of “Walz on Tap” blonde ale, which was sold in cans at cocktail stations and in four-packs at a silent auction.

Reality tempered the enthusiasm. South Dakotans who registered as independents or without a political affiliation outnumber Democrats. Republicans have the most registered voters and control every statewide office, three of the state’s congressional seats, and all but nine seats in the 105-member legislature.

Democrats have faced criticism in recent South Dakota election cycles for failing to field candidates, sometimes for positions as high as Congress. Before the speeches began Saturday, state party Executive Director Dan Ahlers said that would not be an issue in 2026.

“I need two of me to interview all the people who want to run,” he informed us.

The party already has candidates for the United States Senate (Julian Beaudion), Secretary of State (Terrence Davis), and United States Representative, though Ahlers said the latter will not be announced until the fall. Nineteen-year-old Robert Arnold has announced his candidacy for governor, and Ahlers expects more candidates to do the same.


Later, speaking from the stage, Ahlers stated, “We can no longer be satisfied with a few seats at the table.” “We need to run the table.”

“It shouldn’t be enough to field a good Democratic candidate,” he told reporters. “We need to elect Democratic candidates.”

State Sen. Liz Larson, D-Sioux Falls, expressed pride in being the first female state Senate minority leader, but acknowledged that it took time to get there. She lost her first run for office in 2020, but “knocked on thousands of doors” and won her second and third elections.

Democrats believe, she said, “that you’re no better than anybody else, and we’re all in this together.”

“That is a politics worth showing up for,” Larson said.

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