Principle Pillars

I believe that children are our future, and we must ensure they are cared for, protected, and well-educated. All children should have a loving, carefree childhood without exposure to pornography, dangerous gender ideology, or other sexualized content.

Decisions for k-12 education should be made at the local level with parents, teachers, and administrators. We need more common-sense approaches to education, especially in children’s formative years.

When I was a PTA President, I felt strongly that ALL children were entitled to enrichment programs. As a team of parent volunteers, we created Discovery Science Jr. Great Books and Art Masterpiece, along with several other programs to instill creativity and critical thinking skills in our youth. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some children are visual learners, some auditory, and some kinesthetic. In my own family, we had all three types of learners.

I am a product of public schools: Jefferson Elementary, South Junior High, Rapid City Central and South Dakota School of Mines. As a proud Cobbler, I just celebrated my 50th class reunion last year. I had a great education here in South Dakota and the education I received at the School of Mines (go Hardrockers!) enabled me to have a great career for 32 years. My three sons were also a product of public schools and were heavily involved in sports.

I also believe parents should be empowered to make the best educational decisions for their children and come alongside teachers and be involved in their children’s education. Each family and student have unique needs, which may be best served by either public school, private school, or homeschool. Big government should never stand in the way of these educational options.

Parents know what’s best for their children to succeed, and children should not be trapped in any failing school. I volunteered at an inner-city school in Houston and was heartbroken to see so many trapped in failing schools and poverty with no way out. We need to change that.

As Hunkpapa Lakota leader, Sitting Bull, said: “Let us put our minds together and see what Life we can make for our children.” 

I believe that the Constitution calls for limited government and our Bill of Rights guarantees protection of our freedoms. These freedoms seem to be slipping away slowly and the government has been encroaching on our liberties while we watch them evaporate. Our liberties include our right to keep and bear arms. I’m a proud gun owner and strong advocate of the Second Amendment.

I am not a politician and have never run for political office before. Our Founding Fathers intended for citizens to work for the common good as legislators for a brief time and then return to their private lives. What we have now are career politicians who aren’t looking out for us, but for themselves. They gravitate toward money, power, influence, prestige, and control like moths to a flame.

My grandfather, Herman Kulpaca, ran for Mayor of Lead, SD against the Homestake Mine machine candidate. He won and served two terms, so the underdog can win.

My maternal grandparents, Charles and Vilma Bradsky legally immigrated to the US from their native Czechoslovakia in the 1920’s for the freedom and opportunity afforded here.  

After WWII, the Iron Curtain of communism descended over their homeland and trapped their friends and family who were then unable to leave and had their freedoms stripped from them.

Rather than shake our heads and lament the fact that we are losing our freedoms, I feel called to run and work to change the status quo and fight to secure our freedoms and rights.

I believe our rights as stated in the Constitution come from our Creator, not the government.

I believe that the Lord above is my guide in all decisions. Spirituality is very personal, and we don’t all have to believe the same exact way, but there are definite truths common to all—The Golden Rule for example.

My campaign intends to follow the precepts of Psalm 15—from the Good Book—where it lays out how honorable men and women should conduct their lives.

I also believe in the sanctity of Life—we do not have the right to take the life of an innocent child. We need to offer counseling and resources to expectant mothers who face in some cases a scary future. Abortion is not the answer, and we must do everything we can to protect life, no matter how small.

I believe in the nuclear family, which has been a cornerstone of our country, but it is now under attack. We need to help families re-establish their role in developing and raising children to become positive and productive citizens.

My father used to give my siblings and me a new vocabulary word at dinner each evening – hard words like “speleologist” and “procrastinate,” for example. We had to spell and define each word. Dinnertime was a time for sharing our day and experiences. My parents and grandparents modeled community servanthood well by being involved in civic organizations and volunteering in our schools.

We need to give struggling families tools that will help them raise happy and successful children with a strong moral code. We need to spend more time interacting face-to-face with each other versus being glued to our phones. Technology has its place and we have been gifted with many wonderful innovations, but the human connection needs to be celebrated. It breaks my heart to see children out in public with their parents for a meal and everyone is looking at their phones instead of each other.

I am a third generation South Dakotan and service to our country is important in our family. My grandfather Herman Kulpaca was a WWI veteran, my father Charles Kulpaca a WWII veteran, my husband Greg McNeal, a US Navy Vietnam veteran, and my son Justin a US Navy submarine veteran—Global war on Terror.

I believe that big government has no business taking away our personal property rights in the name of eminent domain as evidenced by the unlawful passage of recent bill SB201 – which will now require a referendum. The government has no business telling South Dakotans what to do with their personal property by a for-profit, out of state, private company.

Our Founders believed private property was the gateway to not only prosperity but of freedom and economic success. Private property rights are the foundation of a free society, which means these rights must be protected from greedy big government.

I believe that citizens must get property tax relief immediately. Longtime South Dakota homeowners are being wrongfully taxed out of their homes. We need to learn to live within a budget instead of continually raising taxes to fund pet programs and projects.

The taxpayer cannot continue to absorb these increases. This is common sense and our legislators who are supposed to represent us must fight for us, and I intend to do just that if elected. Lawmakers work for us, not the other way around.

I’m a big proponent of small business. It’s the backbone of our state’s economy, making up a large portion of revenue and income for families. Both of my grandfathers were small business owners, and I believe the government should never encumber South Dakota business owners with burdensome taxes or senseless red tape. We need to be pro-business, but not pro-corporate welfare.