Jason Ravnsborg

Ravnsborg ran for the United States Senate in the 2014 election.[2] He lost in the primary election to Mike Rounds.

In the 2018 election, Ravnsborg ran for Attorney General of South Dakota. He officially began his campaign on February 21, 2017, at the Hughes County Lincoln Day Dinner. During the campaign, he drove approximately 140,000 miles visiting each of South Dakota's 66 counties at least twice learning about issues that were important to law enforcement, state's attorneys and citizens. He then built his platform for the campaign from these issues and by proposing solutions to the issues mentioned around the state. He maintained his law practice at the law firm of Harmelink Fox and Ravnsborg in Yankton, South Dakota and continued being a Deputy States Attorney in Union County. He became the Battalion Commander of the 394th Combat Service Support Battalion based in Fremont, Nebraska where he oversaw 600 Soldiers in the four states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Missouri.[9]

On March 13, 2017, Chief Deputy Attorney General Charlie McGuigan was the second person to enter the race. On March 16, 2017, Lawrence County State's Attorney John Fitzgerald also entered the race.[10] On September 20, 2017, State Senator Lance Russell announced his run for Attorney General.[11] On March 16, 2018, McGuigan suspended his campaign prior to the nominating convention.[12]

On June 23, 2018, Ravnsborg won his party's nomination at the Republican Convention in Pierre, South Dakota, by defeating Fitzgerald and Russell.[13][14]

In the first round of Convention voting, Ravnsborg lead with 47% of the vote; Russell had 27%. Fitzgerald had 26% which eliminated Fitzgerald. Ravnsborg then defeated Russell by a margin of 63% to 37% in the second vote.[15]

2018 Attorney General Election Map by County; Ravnsborg=Red; Seiler=Blue

The Democratic party nominated former U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler, for the general election after he defeated Tatewin Means, daughter of the late actor, writer, Libertarian Party politician and American Indian Movement leader Russell Means.[16]

Ravnsborg was endorsed in the general election by forty county sheriffs,[17] the Fraternal Order of Police,[18] thirty state's attorneys, the National Rifle Association,[19] South Dakota Right to Life,[20] and the Family Heritage Alliance.[21]

Ravnsborg defeated Seiler in the November 6 general election.[22]

Ravnsborg filed an amicus brief in support of the Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Trust in the United States Supreme Court in North Carolina Department of Revenue vs. the Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust[24] The states of Alaska, Nevada and Texas joined with South Dakota in their amicus brief. On June 21, 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Trust, the position of Attorney General Ravnsborg and South Dakota, by a vote of 9–0.[25]

• Attorneys General of all 50 states, including Ravnsborg, support SB 151 (2019-2020), the TRACED (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) sponsored by South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune and Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey.[26] On May 23, 2019, the TRACED Act passed the U.S. Senate 97-1 [27] On December 4, 2019, the U.S. House passed the TRACED Act by a 417-3 vote.[28] On December 31, 2019, President Donald Trump signed the TRACED Act into law.[29]
• On August 22, 2019, Ravnsborg joined his fellow Attorneys General by entering into an agreement with 12 phone companies[30] The agreement detailed 8 specific actions the companies agreed to take to curtail illegal robocalls.[31]
• On May 7, 2020, Ravnsborg announced his continued efforts to combat illegal robocalls by stating he joined a bipartisan coalition of 52 Attorneys General from 49 states and 3 territories calling on U.S. Telecom and its Industry Traceback Group to bolster technological capabilities to improve enforcement against illegal robocallers.[32]

Ravnsborg stated during the campaign he would fight to uphold the District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago decisions from the United States Supreme Court. He is a National Rifle Association life member.[33] Ravnsborg testified in support of SB 47, a bill to allow carrying of guns without a permit.[34] Governor Kristi Noem would sign the bill into law making South Dakota the 14th state to enact such a law.[35]

As Ravnsborg campaigned he found many people did not know what the Attorney General did or what services could be provided. He stated in interviews that he would use social media and other campaign tools to be more transparent and explain to the public what the Attorney General's office does for the state. He developed a weekly YouTube video series that was called "What's New at the Attorney General's office" where each week a new video told what was going on in the office or what a particular person does in and for the office.[36] He then appeared on an episode of the South Dakota Public Broadcasting Television program "South Dakota Focus" with Stephanie Rissler where he took questions from citizens across the state.[37] From that episode he developed another YouTube video series "5 on Fridays with South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg" wherein he sought to address questions from the South Dakota Focus program and other topics around the office or through questions he received.[36]

In 2019, Ravnsborg was named to the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Standing Committees regarding Consumer Protection; Energy and the Environment and the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute (NAGTRI) Training Committee.[38] He was also named to the NAAG Special Committees regarding Federalism/Preemption; Gaming; Human Trafficking and Substance Abuse.[39] On August 13, 2019, it was announced Ravnsborg was appointed to the executive council for Special Olympics and Law Enforcement Torch Run(LETR).[40] On January 9, 2020, it was announced that Ravnsborg had been named Co-chair of the NAAG Gaming Committee with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.[41]

• On February 7, 2019, Ravnsborg testified against SB 71, a bill to provide a severe mental illness exemption to the death penalty.[42] The bill was defeated in committee 4–3, but it smoked out of committee and was defeated by the state senate by a vote of 21−12.[42]

• On June 25, 2019, Ravnsborg appeared in the 7th Circuit Court in Rapid City, Pennington County, South Dakota, to request a warrant of execution for Charles Russell Rhines for the 1992 murder of Donnivan Schaeffer.[43] Ravnsborg pointed out that Rhines has been challenging his case 5 years longer than Donnivan was alive.[43] Judge Robert A. Mandel granted the warrant of execution for the week of November 3, 2019 – November 9, 2019 stating there was "no legal reason to postpone it".[44] On October 25, 2019, Ravnsborg announced that the South Dakota Supreme Court had denied Rhines request for a stay of execution and ruled against Rhines with regard to his challenges to the Department of Corrections policies.[45] On October 25, 2019, Ravnsborg announced that a second appeal had been won by the state in the same day in the Rhines' capital punishment case. He announced the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals had dismissed a case regarding Rhines' request for evaluation by mental health providers for a petition of clemency to the governor.[46] On October 31, 2019, Ravnsborg announced that Judge Sogn of the 2nd Judicial Circuit had denied Rhines' request for a stay wherein Rhines sought a stay based on a challenge of the drugs used for the execution.[47] On November 4, 2019, the South Dakota Supreme Court denied Rhines' challenge to the 2nd Circuit decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied three late challenges allowing the execution to go forward. Rhines was pronounced dead at 7:39 pm.[48] After the execution, Ravnsborg addressed the media expressing sympathy for the victim and relief the execution was over.[49][50]

On June 25, 2019, A group of legislators represented by John M. Fitzgerald sought a Writ of Prohibition seeking to stop Governor Noem from spending $5 million for rural broadband providers seeking to improve service. Ravnsborg declined to block the legislators' request instead stating that he had a duty to defend the state. The State Supreme Court denied the writ of prohibition allowing the state to move forward with providing funding for rural broadband.[51]

On September 9, 2019, Ravnsborg spoke outside the U.S. Supreme Court about the opening of a bipartisan antitrust investigation into Google by 50 state attorneys general.[52][53]

On September 18, 2019, Governor Kristi Noem requested that Ravnsborg investigate Minnehaha County States Attorney Aaron McGowan after a two-month absence.[54] On October 9, 2019, Governor Noem released Ravnsborg's report which explained that McGowan did not commit a crime, but outlined numerous alcohol-related incidents that Noem described as "unsettling".[55][56] After the report came out McGowan issued a statement apologizing to his family, colleagues, friends and the public for his behavior.[57] On December 2, 2019, McGowan announced he would be resigning effective December 6, 2019, citing complications with his knee and the on-going media buzz relating back to the report by Attorney General Ravnsborg.[58][59]

On December 16, 2019, the States of Alabama, Louisiana and South Dakota sued to prevent the implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[60]

Ravnsborg introduced a bill, SB 27, to create a missing person clearinghouse.[61] On January 16, 2020, the Senate Judiciary committee passed SB 27, by a vote of 7–0.[62] On January 24, 2020, the State Senate approved SB 27, by a vote of 33-0.[63] The House approved the measure 66-0. [64] On March 18, 2020, Governor Kristi Noem signed SB 27 in to law.[65]

On April 8, 2020, Ravnsborg announced that he had formed a bipartisan coalition of 44 states and the District of Columbia which had filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting the states of Colorado and Washington regarding the Electoral College and faithless electors in the cases of Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca. [66] Ravnsborg said "It is important that voters know their vote for president will count and everyone knows the status of the law before voting begins in the general election." [67] On May 13, 2020, the case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court via teleconference because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [68]

On May 5, 2020, Ravnsborg announced that he and 11 other State Attorney Generals from the Midwest and West were calling for an investigation by U.S. Attorney General William Barr into the practice of the meatpacking industry. [69] Ravnsborg stated that there is a disparity between the prices for liveweight cattle and the retail cost of beef with 4 meat packers having control of approximately 80 percent of the cattle market. [70]

On May 29, 2020, Ravnsborg announced that a second law enforcement training academy would be opening in Minnehaha County. [71] This second academy was praised by Sioux Falls Police Chief Matt Burns who stated “Thank you to the Attorney General for his investment in public safety for the Sioux Falls area.” “The remote training program in Sioux Falls will help us to return our officer staffing to authorized strength levels and best serve and protect the people of our great city.” and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul Ten Haken who said “Public safety is essential to preserving our quality of life in Sioux Falls.” “Since coming into this office, my commitment to providing our police force the best training and the resources needed to preserve our quality of life in Sioux Falls has never wavered and thanks to this collaboration with the Attorney General we can better meet our recruitment and training needs for our growing city.” [72]