Western SD voters share their perspectives
Donald Trump 'too extreme' to one voter, but he's seen as the answer to inflation for others.
NEW UNDERWOOD, S.D. – Jennifer Galindo was one of the first voters to show up at the New Underwood Community Center when the eastern Pennington County polling place opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and she was happy to have her part of the 2024 general election over with.
Stu Whitney
Galindo, who makes jewelry in Rapid City, said the election was of high importance but that the campaign for president in particular was marked by “childish” behavior from the candidates.
“When I was a kid growing up … it didn't seem like it was so childish, like it's more about them than it is politics,” said Galindo, 51, a resident of New Underwood.
Galindo said she is a Republican who voted for Donald Trump for president, mainly due to the economy and rising prices that have hurt her and her children. She said the economy is so tight her 25-year-old son cannot afford his own apartment.
Galindo said she also voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. “I would actually rather that my kids smoked rather than drank alcohol," she said, adding that she also voted in favor of establishing a woman’s right to an abortion in South Dakota. “I feel it’s a woman’s individual business and that it’s none of my business,” she said.
Inflation and prices drew Trump support
Just before the polls opened, about 20 voters huddled in the lobby of the community center and a few waited in a line outside in temperatures that hovered around 40 degrees. A poll worker said that more than 60 people had voted by 7:30 a.m., which she said was well above the pace recorded in the last general election in 2020.
Caleb Thomas, 22, a carpenter from New Underwood, said he voted for Trump because he's seeking a return to more conservative values in America.
“It’s the most important election I’ve voted in so far because we're kind of left with either what we've had the last four years, inflation, trying to take our guns away, trying to legalize abortions,” he said. “And the inflation, I mean, you can't afford to really do anything, especially as a single person.”
Thomas said he voted against Constitutional Amendment G, which would legalize abortion in South Dakota. But he voted in favor of Initiated Measure 29, which would legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
“It doesn’t make sense to criminalize something that doesn't really have many negative effects,” he said. “Medical (marijuana) is legal here, so I think recreational should probably be legal as well.”
Inflation and the rising cost of living during the Biden Administration were also big factors that led Monte Sandal of New Underwood to vote for Trump.
Sandal, 55, owns a restaurant in New Underwood and a hot-tub servicing business in the Black Hills. He has about 25 employees overall.
Sandal said inflation has made it difficult to afford food products at his restaurant and the chemicals needed to service about 600 hot tubs he has under contract.
Carson Walker
Sandal said Trump’s demeanor has given him some pause but that, overall, he wants a business-focused president in the White House.
“I don't know if I'd want to sit down and have a beer with the guy,” he said. “But you can’t argue with his policies because he’s a businessman and I like a business way of thinking.”
Sandal said he enjoys following politics and did significant research on the various statewide initiatives on the ballot this year. He said he voted in favor of work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, against legalizing recreational marijuana, which he said can be a gateway drug, and against enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
Despite voting against Amendment G, Sandal said he might support a legislative effort to expand abortion options in the case of rape or incest.
Trump 'too extreme, aggressive and radical'
Thomas Richards, 38, a retail manager, said he voted for Kamala Harris for president because Trump is “too extreme, aggressive and radical.”
Richards, who said he doesn’t use cannabis, said he voted in favor of marijuana legalization, in part because he has seen Colorado benefit financially from taxation of it and because he doesn’t believe it should be a felony to possess a substance that has medicinal value.
“I feel like the whole cannabis thing should just be legal at this point,” he said.
Richards also voted in favor of legalizing abortion in the state, largely because of South Dakota’s restrictions against abortion in the case of rape or incest. “You shouldn’t force a woman to have a child that was forced upon her,” he said.
Lingering questions
Now that the election itself is over, what questions do you have about the process? Email them to info@sdnewswatch.org or fill out the reader survey at the link below.
This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they're published. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
