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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem One of the GOP’s most popular politicians. At age 50 and running for re-election this fall against Democrat Jamie Smith, he hopes to win a second term. And many believe that after the governor’s mansion, she will become a candidate for the White House.
Noem has gained popularity with Republicans across the country for his conservative bonafides. She refused to impose severe lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, tried to ban abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat was detected (it was blocked by legislators in her own party), stoked the Keystone pipeline Advocated, and signed. bill Transgender athletes banned By competing in high school and college girls sports.
She is also a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.
Last week, she published her memoir, “Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland“Giving readers (and voters) a look at the life that made her who she is.
Most of Noem’s life has been about three things: Faith, Family and Farming, Born and raised on a farm, Noem describes a childhood that was about self-starting, working hard, being patient, trusting in God, appreciating the land, and loving your neighbor. Rich in lessons. The consequences from his animal husbandry life to his political career are clearly untouched.
No figure seems to be greater on Noem than her father, Ron Arnold, whom she writes about with deep reverence and adoration. “Growing up with a father like me was challenging, exciting, exhausting, and inspiring,” she writes. His book is full of stories to prove it.
But when Noam was 22 years old and eight months pregnant with her first child, Ron Arnold actually died in a farm accident. “Dad was buried alive under the cold, damp corn,” she recalls in a jaw-dropping and heartbreaking recount of the incident.
Government cover of Christie Noem’s memoir
(Courtesy Christie Noem / Hachette Book Group, Inc.)
That tragedy became a defining moment in her life. “I vow not to waste my time on things that ultimately don’t matter,” she writes of the aftermath of his death. “I will live every day with purpose. My goal is to serve my family, my neighbors, my state and my country in any way I can.”
After his father left, it was up to Noem to keep the farm running; Knowing how to do this, he inadvertently started his political journey.
“People ask how I got involved in government and politics, it was because of that sad situation,” Noem told Fox News Digital in an interview. “My dad constantly said ‘we don’t complain about things, we fix them.’ When I lost them and lost almost everything, it started showing up in me and getting into those policies Which really crushes families.”
She began attending agricultural policy meetings and got to know her state senator, former Democratic Sen. Tom Dashley, who invited her to attend an annual meeting for recruiting and training. future leaders of south dakota, “I knew the goal was to get me to run for office as a Democrat,” she writes.
Run he did in 2006 for the state legislature as a Republican. She won, and after serving for four years, she ran and was Elected to US Congress, In his book, Noem describes the enormous pressure Republicans within and outside his state put on him to seek national office, and the arduous, prayerful process he and his family have gone through to get on board. It is clear from Noem’s writings that he believed that running for Congress was part of God’s plan.
“I worry about being disobedient to what God is asking us to do,” she remembers telling her husband as they grappled with the decision.
Gov. Christie Noem at Reagan Ranch in October 2021.
(Young America Foundation)
Once she arrived in Washington, most of Noam’s energy was spent advocating for federal Agricultural Policies That Protected American Farmers, In her book, she writes passionately about the importance of getting those policies right:
“Controlling our food supply is an important national security issue. … Having thousands of farmers in each state—instead of just a handful—ensures more competition and lower prices for Americans. Small farmers are just like big farmers. are valuable, and they deserve a level playing field. … [W]We need to keep our domestic food industry diversified and not consolidate to the extent that we lose all of our family farms and have a large corporation or interest controlling the production of our food.”
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Noam worked in Congress during the Tea Party era when all spending measures were heavily scrutinized. In that environment, the Agriculture Bill was unusually difficult to pass. Noem tells the story of publicly dismissing Eric Cantor, then-majority leader on the House floor, for pushing the bill. He later reprimands her in his office, but she writes about that episode with pride.
After eight years in Washington, Noam is ready to move home, and in 2018 she became the first female governor of South Dakota. She writes that the 2016 election of Donald Trump gave her the green light she needed to make this decision: “I can now go home and believe so much that South Dakoton had a champion in the White House.”