The South Dakota Freedom Caucus held a press conference on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the South Dakota Republican Party Convention in Watertown, SD, officially launching the caucus with over a hundred supporters in attendance.

Andy Roth, who is the Executive Director of the State Freedom Caucus Network in Washington D.C. spoke at the event sharing the support of the U.S. Congressional House Freedom Caucus, after showing a video featuring the national House Freedom Caucus members congratulating the group on its formation. The State Freedom Caucus Network, which the South Dakota Freedom Caucus is a member of, was formed by Andy Roth, who is also the former Executive Director of the Club for Growth, and former Presidential Chief of Staff and former North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows back in 2021, with a vision of creating a nationwide network of state freedom caucuses. South Dakota marks the organizations sixth state freedom caucus to form since its inception in 2021.

Representative Aaron Aylward of Harrisburg, who is the current chairman of the caucus, said that it was a necessary step in order to protect the values and freedoms we have in South Dakota, against what Aylward described as a compromising on fundamentals within the Republican party. Representative Tony Randolph of Rapid City, and current vice-chairman of the caucus, echoed the sentiment saying “We are still Republicans — nothing has changed,” but then said “we are a simply a group, that desires to follow the platform, and do what we said we would do when we were elected.” And the secretary and treasurer of the caucus, Representative Tina Mulally of Rapid City succinctly reiterated the idea, stating that the freedom caucus will act as the “conscience of the Republican Party.”

Outside of the three primary officers of the caucus, only outgoing Representative Drew Dennert of Aberdeen was present as a member of the caucus. Randolph explained that the caucus’s membership is anonymous in order to protect the members of the group against retaliation, but said the caucus supports members announcing their participation publicly if they so choose. Aylard indicated that the group is growing, but indicated the caucus is trying to keep it comprised of only “strong conservatives that can stand firmly on their principles.”

With the upcoming general elections, the caucus says that it will be working to support strong conservatives that may be future members of the caucus and will be working diligently on key legislation for the upcoming session to start next year.