HeyJaredSearchlight Report
Reporter and host Meghan O’Brien works with other South Dakota Searchlight journalists to take listeners inside politics and policy in The Mount Rushmore State, including the annual legislative session.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Sep 4, 2026
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- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 17, 2026
Latest episodes
Pro and con voices on a ballot question that would raise the bar for changing the state constitution (opens the original)
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One of four ballot questions voters will consider on Nov. 3 would make it harder for state constitutional amendments to pass. South Dakota lawmakers can place amendments on the ballot, and so can citizens if they collect enough signatures from registered South Dakota voters. Ballot questions currently need a simple majority from voters to pass, but Amendment L would change that. If it passes — ironically with a simple majority — future ballot questions would need 60% support from voters for appr
How independent US Senate candidate Brian Bengs wants to ‘deny the majority’ to get things done (opens the original)
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Brian Bengs is an independent running in the Nov. 3 election against incumbent Republican Mike Rounds for a seat representing South Dakota in the U.S. Senate. Bengs, a veteran of the Air Force and Navy who has a law degree and formerly taught at Northern State University in Aberdeen, previously ran in 2022 as a Democrat against Republican Sen. John Thune, who’s now the majority leader. Bengs joined Searchlight Report host Meghan O’Brien to share what motivated him to join another Senate race, an
‘Shouldn’t I be dead first?’ Sounds from Kristi Noem’s South Dakota statue unveiling (opens the original)
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Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s trepidation about being honored with a statue while she’s still alive, her potential political future, and her love for a horse were among the topics she spoke about publicly during her return to South Dakota’s capital city earlier this month, where she helped reveal a statue in her honor. The bronze statue of her and the front half of her favorite horse, Iceman, are included in the Trail of Governors that winds through the city of Pierre and honors all of
SD House leader says ‘third camp’ of Republicans arose during primary to ‘trash the conservative leadership’ (opens the original)
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After a bruising South Dakota primary season in which 16 incumbent Republican legislators lost and four Republicans battled for the governor nomination, the party is at a crossroads. South Dakota’s House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, was voted by his peers into his leadership position in 2024, after major turnover in the lawmaking body that year. Odenbach spoke with Searchlight Reporter Joshua Haiar about what this year’s primary results mean for the party and the state. Odenbach
US Sen. Rounds on Wounded Knee medals, water pipelines and a ‘clandestine’ postal investigation (opens the original)
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Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota joins Searchlight Report to talk about his friendship with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham , a request for more information about a Wounded Knee Massacre medals review, his support of "clandestine" efforts to investigate Postal Service problems, and the future of water pipeline projects in the state.
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