A Lesson From Repairing A Campaign Sign

Today I spent some time repairing the State of South Dakota—well, not exactly.

As some of you may recall from two years ago when I ran for office, one of my campaign signs in Kyle was spray-painted with profanity. Some of you may wonder, “Why bother? Just throw it away and get a new one.”

But the conservative side of me said, “Just fix it. The sign remains functional and can still be used.” After all, some donors’ hard-earned dollars paid for that sign, and there was no reason to discard it when all it needed was a fresh coat of paint to cover the black spray paint.

As I painted over the graffiti, I found myself thinking about the kinds of issues I might be “fixing” as a state senator in the South Dakota Legislature, and I thought: How would I vote on the legislation that comes before the State Senate?

Would it be education or prison reform? State funding for Medicare and Medicaid programs? Regulations for hyperscale data centers or the use of AI in our education system? A moratorium on property assessments or additional property tax relief? The abolition of the beef checkoff? A decrease in the state's budget?

There are so many issues that I could face, and the truth is that I would be just one vote among 35 state senators.

That question continues to move to the forefront of my mind: Can I make a difference when there are so many voices and opposing views? Can one legislator truly make a difference? And, perhaps most importantly, who will I be able to work with and trust to move good legislation forward?

Getting back to the analogy of repairing my campaign sign, you’ll notice that I didn’t discard it. Instead, I added my personal touch by painting over what was not aesthetically pleasing and fixing the problem.

Now that the sign has a fresh coat of paint and has dried, you can’t even tell that it was ever spray-painted.

In some ways, that is the job of a legislator—not to burn everything down or discard what already exists, but to evaluate the laws currently on the books and amend those that need “fixing,” based on what I bring to the conversation.

And that is the difference between my opponent, a Democratic Socialist, and me, a Conservative Republican. I want to build upon what already exists, unite us around a common purpose, and work toward a brighter future—not tear down everything that came before us.

Vote Anthony Kathol for South Dakota District 27 State Senate on November 3rd.

Have a great weekend!