Kristi Noem is apparently a terrible boss & can’t find anyone to work for her

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has built her brand on attacking LGBTQ+ people, particularly kids, and pushing her far-right “anti-woke” agenda with regular appearances on Fox News and other conservative media outlets.

But while the gay-hating governor is earning brownie points with her base by bitching about drag queens, bashing “woke” ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, and inviting racist country singers to perform on the lawn at the governor’s mansion, things aren’t going so well for her behind the scenes.

According to a damning new report published by South Dakota News Watch, Noem’s office has been in “upheaval” since she was first sworn in back in January 2019.

In just four and a half years, she’s cycled through a whopping five chiefs of staff. Her last one, Mark Miller, quit last month and she still hasn’t found a replacement for him.

Miller left Noem’s office to return to his former employer, Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit dedicated to “defending and promoting individual and economic freedom”.

His departure came less than a month after Noem’s deputy chief of staff, Rachel Oglesby, who was largely seen as Miller’s eventual replacement, also quit for a gig at the America First Policy Institute, which was founded in 2021 to promote Donald Trump‘s agenda and is largely funded by the ex-president’s Save America PAC.

Other members of Noem’s cabinet to leave in recent months are Steve Westra, who served as her Economic Development Commissioner; Joan Adam, who acted as Health Secretary; Tiffany Sanderson, Education Secretary; and Laurie Gill, Social Services Secretary.

All four of them quit in the last year.

But it’s not just people who work in Noem’s office who seemingly want nothing to do with her.

Speaking to South Dakota News Watch, Republican Lee Schoenbeck, President Pro Tempore of the South Dakota Senate, said he prefers not to interact with the governor after some beef they had during the last legislative session, during which Noem got almost nothing accomplished, despite her party having complete control of the state legislature.

“The governor made some statements last year that she attributed to me that I thought were not accurate, so I find it more comfortable just to not talk to her,” he said.

Schoenbeck made similar remarks earlier this year when he told The Dakota Scout podcast that Noem is the most ineffective governor he’s ever worked with.

“She can’t keep staff,” he said. “She’s got these people from Ohio and Florida who have no clue about what they’re doing. So it’s the people you surround yourself with that will define your talent and ability. She has no talent to pull on.”

Former Republican House Speaker Tim Rave also implied to South Dakota News Watch that he’s heard working for Noem can be “demanding” and admitted he “can’t imagine” what it must be like.

“That doesn’t mean it’s good or bad,” he said. “It just is what it is.”

Hmmm. Sounds pretty bad to us.

Noem has yet to respond to the report about the high turnover rate in her office or the fact that even members of her own party find her repulsive, but if her response to being told 90% of queer kids in South Dakota suffer from depression and anxiety is any indication, she likely doesn’t give AF that her colleagues are unhappy too.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who just signed the first anti-trans bill of 2022 into law, is asked why she thinks 90% of LGBTQ+ youth in South Dakota are diagnosed with anxiety or depression:

“I don’t know. That makes me sad, and we should figure it out.” pic.twitter.com/WbKr2Tlujs— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 17, 2022