Post running for SD House

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BROOKINGS – Republican Doug Post has announced his run for District 7 state representative. Post joins incumbent Tim Reed (Republican) and Cory Ann Ellis (Independent) in the race for the two seats.

Post operates a small dairy operation with his family in the southwest corner of the district, near Lake Campbell. He, his wife and three teenagers care for the 36 cows on their farm.

“I’ve been getting more and more interested as I see events that happen in our state. There are life experiences I’ve seen through being a foster parent and a parent to teenagers,” Post said of his reason for running for office.

Post has also served on a few local boards, such as school board member at the Volga Christian School, and has worked as a volunteer advocating for a convention of states, as outlined in Article V of the Constitution.

This latter work has brought him to Pierre and has been a jumping point for establishing relationships with legislators. It’s also allowed him to see firsthand all the work that goes into bringing legislation to a vote.

Post also recently went to Washington, D.C., as a member of the National Milk Producers Federation. This was made possible through his local co-op and worked on different issues the dairy industry is facing.

He said he shares the same worries that many in this district have, and he’s worked on speaking with legislators about a host of topics.

One issue that he’d focus on that affects every level of government and could save the state considerable money if better addressed are drug crimes and prevention.

“There’s expense and cost on the state and county level and all the way through police departments and the court system,” Post said. “Every step along the way costs more money.”

If more funding went toward enforcement and incarcerating dealers and manufacturers, more money could be saved in other areas of the state’s budget.

By his estimate, drug abuse costs the state about $100 million a year.

“If they find $20 million in Pierre, they’re all jumping up and down and start talking about which projects get funded,” Post said. “If we can save $100 million or even if you get just half of that, whether it’s teacher pay or whatever project that comes along, it’s going to be used much better than locking people up.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.