Darren Friedel is running for election to the South Dakota State Senate to represent District 33. Darren sat down with Sisters United and answered a few questions.
What is your opinion on the overturn of Roe v. Wade?
To start with. That, in my opinion, just displays congress’s inability to actually enact laws that matter. One way or the other, there has been issues with the two party system the way it is. That’s why I’m a libertarian. Both parties have had control over the past 50 years, and neither have done any action whatsoever. I honestly think that it’s kind of a travesty that they can’t get together and do stuff. So in my personal opinion, it’s one of those things that it gets them votes, so whichever party is going to keep pushing it no matter what, instead of actually putting an actual law in the books.
What will you do to ensure that all people maintain access to critical healthcare despite growing conservative attacks on birth control, abortion, and other medical services?
What I would do is introduce legislation to make it possible for women, especially women in smaller communities, to get that healthcare. We’re in South Dakota. Obviously, we’re a heavily conservative state, so I mean, it’s not going to be easy by any means. But I would actually introduce legislation and push on my counterparts to bolt what they feel and actually get something in the books. That way, we can actually have comprehensive healthcare for women.
What will you do to make sure that these people who do get pregnant get the healthcare that they need in South Dakota without the fear of persecution?
See, that’s what’s sad in the state of affairs in this state right now, is even in the incidences of rape, incest, health of the mother, there isn’t a whole lot of wiggle room with the way our state is. And I think that’s completely wrong. I, myself, I have two daughters. I don’t want them to grow up in a world where they have to live in fear even if something isn’t their fault. So I honestly think that what I would do is to push the legislation as far as I can to get that critical access for women-
In 2006 and in 2010, the people voted to keep access to abortion safe and legal for all who need it in South Dakota, but the people in Pierre have continued to restrict those accesses, leading to the trigger law that banned abortions after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. What is your plan to honor the voters and return that access to safe and legal abortion to the state?
That is the thing that upsets me the most. Dare I say, it actually infuriates me, that Pierre has consistently gone against the will of the voters. It’s not even just a question of abortion access, for that matter. It’s the recreational marijuana law that got approved. They went and pulled some loophole out of there just to make it… They do the same with the abortion access and everything like that. So my thing is, hold them accountable. Actually call them out on everything that they do that’s against the will of the people. That’s one of the things that’s supposed to be the beauty about having a democracy, is if the people vote on it, then it’s supposed to happen. It’s not what the legislators deem is best for us. It’s what our people deem is best for us.
What do you plan to do to fight for equality in general?
Well, equality in general, I think there’s been a gap forever between men and women in equality, and even going into equality based on the LGBTQ+, everything in that aspect. I think that we need to… One, if you’re doing the same job, you get the same pay. There’s no reason that you shouldn’t. That to me has been just asinine the way it’s been working. Equality in marriage. If two people care about each other and love each other and they want to get married, they should be able to get married. It shouldn’t be something that we punish them for.
I mean, there’s all kinds of things. And then to further it up, as far as taking care of women, men, everyone equally, we have to kind of throw away the norms that we’ve been living with for the past 200 years. I mean, stuff evolves. I always said in my current job, when people tell me, “Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it,” Like, “Yes, that’s true. But we used to lead buffalo off a cliff. We don’t do that anymore.” So we should be able to evolve past the standard stereotypes that are going on now and move forward.
Two years ago, the people of South Dakota voted to legalize both medicinal and recreational marijuana. What will you do to honor the voters’ wishes to decriminalize marijuana?
Again, hold it accountable. I would actually move one step further and not only legalize and decriminalize marijuana in the state, but also look back at the sentences that we have in prison that are based on marijuana. We have people in prison on a plant that it shouldn’t be that way. I mean, with the federal government, one of my biggest beefs is there’s no reason marijuana should be a Schedule 1 narcotic. It’s not. It is considered, according to federal law, more harmful than cocaine. And I don’t know a whole lot of people that have overdosed on cocaine or flipped out and beat their spouse. You don’t do it. Same with alcohol. We let alcohol be legal, and it’s rampant in South Dakota. So I would push to hold people accountable. I would call out those that are currently in, in a public way. I’m not going to shy away from going to the media, talking to the people themselves, and saying, “Hey, I know you voted for this, but this person that you voted in over here, they voted it down.” So you need to just vote them out. That’s my biggest thing, is just vote them out.
What do you think should happen to the individuals that are in prison or on probation for marijuana-related offenses after it’s legalized?
Out. They should actually be able to live their life. As long as it’s not a violent crime, why are we punishing someone that much? I mean, we got individuals that get arrested and sent to prison for holding, say, an ounce of weed. They have an ounce of weed on them, they can go to prison. They pound 40 beers and drive and kill a kid, they get six years. So to me, it’s disproportionate to the crime. So we need to rewrite the laws, let these people out, let them live their life, bring in regulated marijuana dispensaries and all that other stuff. Keep it regulated. Keep it good. It’s good for the people. It’s tax money that we don’t have to… Then we can lower our property tax rates. We can lower sales tax. We can actually start benefiting South Dakotans based on a plant.
What will you do to stop the violence against murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls?
To me, that is something that needs more coverage. It doesn’t have near as much coverage as you would. I mean, growing up, I didn’t know that this was happening. And then as my life evolved, I became friends with a lot of Indigenous Native American people, and hearing the stories of what happens to them, not even being murdered, being trafficked, being abused, we need to put more focus on it. It needs to actually be in the forefront of news. I mean, we cover things in the news that involve white people all the time. And I always say that if a young white girl goes missing, it’s national news, but if a young Native girl goes missing, it doesn’t even get a little blip in the media. So we’d have to work on focusing that.
I would introduce legislation to actually combat traffickers, combat abusers. I honestly think that people that are convicted of domestic violence charges need to get a harsher sentence, because they’re going to do it again. So get the women, especially in the case of women being abused or trafficked, try to get them out of that situation. Get them the help they need. Free up government funding to work with WAVY and different organizations like that to help women strike out. Work with educational programs to help get women education so they can get out of the situation they were in, and they can provide for themselves and they can move on.
Does that include increasing funds for the Department of Interior to get more criminal investigators for these cases that are open?
That falls a lot on the federal side, just because reservations are federally funded. Anything that happens within non-sovereign territory, which is most of South Dakota, I would definitely want to have more funding for that. I would also push my counterpart, Mr. Duprel, when he gets elected, to push for more funding for the Department of the Interior, for the FBI to actually research and get those individuals in there, so that way they can actually start doing that. And additionally, funding more community policing type things on the reservations themselves. That is something that we as Americans need to do more of, is actually make it so these people feel safe in their homes.
What will you do to combat the long history of racism and oppression against the Indigenous people in South Dakota?
See, that’s actually difficult to answer, just mainly because stereotypes have existed for thousands of years. So I would actually highlight more of the Native American, Indigenous people’s plight and actually highlight more of their accomplishments within the state of South Dakota. If we were to actually show people that are uninformed, we’ll call them, because I honestly think that a vast majority of people that are considered racist are just uninformed. They don’t know what that person’s going through, what that person has actually been through. They don’t judge based on the individual, they judge based on someone they saw down the street.
Well, if I grew up in, I’ll say Alabama for instance, and all I was introduced to was racist rhetoric, I would grow up the same way. And so we just have to start changing that, provide more curriculum within the school systems that cover Native American history and all that, and show the contributions that Native Americans have made to society. And additionally, offer Lakota language classes to people, because that is something that us, especially here in the Rapid City area, could benefit greatly from, because we do have a large Native population within the city. And it would be nice to actually highlight Lakota culture versus demonize it because of some stereotypes that were founded 100 years ago.
What would your administration do to make sure that young LGBT and BIPOC youth feel safe in the state of South Dakota?
One, I would actually not necessarily… I’m just trying to think of the right words to say here. The toughest thing is stereotypes come out there and ignorance for that. I honestly think, my personal opinion, that religious affiliations should have no standing within the government. We shouldn’t have our legislators vote based on religious preferences, because we have freedom of religion in this country. So having that. Additionally, some of my best friends are LGBTQ+, people of color. So I try to educate people as much as possible on how they’re just people. That’s all there is to it. Just treat people like people. We shouldn’t have to enact laws to force people to be good. It should actually just happen. But I would try to push for legislation and policies to allow everyone equal rights under the law. And that’s all anyone could ever ask for.
Currently, access to exploratory drilling has been granted to mining groups above Pactola Reservoir. What is your plan to protect our natural resources in South Dakota, such as freshwater, clean air, and the environment?
Well, we only have one planet, and we’re doing a pretty good job of absolutely destroying it right now. Honestly, I don’t believe that we need to be allowing drilling and stuff, especially someplace as beautiful as Pactola is. The risks definitely outweigh the rewards, in my opinion. If something bad were to happen, pollute the water system, that’s Rapid City’s water source, so what are we going to do? And so I would push legislation, push action among people to make a more of a environmental conservatory in our state, especially in the Black Hills here. I mean, there’s only so much we can tear away from nature before nature can’t rebuild itself.
So what is your plan to prevent the future risks that are likely to happen because of this?
See, I’m kind of torn, because libertarians are against regulation. We’re against big government, big all that other stuff. But we also have to protect our environment and our natural surroundings. So I would actually push towards, one, limiting mining permits within the state, have strict environmental protection on that, as well as having assessments taken by a separate entity that can actually give us a non-biased judgment on what this is going to do to the environment.
Our generation, Generation Z, and millennials, have lost so many of our peers tragically to drugs, suicide, and violence. What would be your plan to help make young South Dakotans feel safe or like we have a future without this trauma and violence?
Well, one is destigmatize mental health. Mental health issues, there’s a huge stigma on that, not only just among your age group, the Gen Zs and the millennials, but generations all the way to Vietnam veterans. It’s a stigma that it’s not okay to ask for help, it’s not okay to seek assistance. I would push for a lot of insurance companies to actually include mental health treatment within their insurance, to actually give them coverage so that way a person can go and get the help they need without having to jump through 1,000 different hoops.
The suicide hotline and all those other organizations are phenomenal, but it does take a long time to get into there. And it’s no fault of their own. They just don’t have the funding to put a person on the phone that would answer almost right away. So it is difficult. I would actually push towards opening up to having the state open up more mental health facilities. Currently, we have nothing. We have what Monument has just down the street, and that’s pretty much it.
So either you go into a place where you’re going to get admitted, or you have counseling that’s provided or some sort of treatment that is provided so that way you can go, same as an emergency room visit, where you go in and you’re like, “I’m struggling, and I need to go somewhere. You go into this location, and they provide the mental health services you need. The VA has been doing that for the past 20 years, and it’s done amazing things for veteran suicide. There’s no reason that us as a society can’t address that for non-veterans or every individual.
How can the voices of our generation and the voices of progressive thinkers be heard in a state as red or as conservative in the state of South Dakota?
There is multiple things that your generation can do. Honestly, it’s vote. Voting is the biggest thing you guys can do. It’s shown that the youth of today, we’ll say 18 to 35, doesn’t vote. Vast majority of them don’t. If a vast majority of those individuals would vote, not necessarily turn our state red, but it would turn a lot of districts different colors. Also, have conversations with your parents. I know it’s not necessarily a civil conversation if you have super conservative parents. You have conversations about politics, and it usually causes some Thanksgiving fights. But have a conversation with them. Open their eyes a little bit to it.
I mean, honestly, my family is incredibly conservative. I can still have a conversation with them. I can still tell them my point of view and sway them to do that. Additionally, to individuals registering to vote and voting, vote in the midterms, vote in the primary elections, vote all that other stuff. I would also like to change the voting system with our primaries to where everyone can vote for candidates and not just if you’re a Republican, you can vote for Republican candidates, and Democrats.
That would also be a stop gap measure to allow individuals that are middle of the road or even left leaning, right leaning. It doesn’t matter. But if we have a candidate in South Dakota that is middle of the road and is willing to compromise, why shouldn’t everyone be able to vote for that candidate? It shouldn’t just be the right wing of the party voting for Republicans and the left wing voting for Democrats. There is a whole swath of people in the middle that just want to live and let live. So why can’t we make it so everyone can vote on these candidates? We’ll get a better array of candidates, and we’ll actually improve the voting turnout among youth voters.
How can the citizens of South Dakota help you achieve your goals?
Well, the citizens of South Dakota can vote. Actually, I’m a libertarian. I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses. I am not going to pretend that I’m not in a heavily Republican state. But get out and vote. That’s the one thing I tell my children, I tell everyone that’s turning 18 that I know. Vote. Just vote. If it’s not for me, vote for somebody. Let your voice be heard, because that is the only way we’re going to change it. I’m not the future of this state. You guys are.
So for me to go out and vote, my one vote doesn’t matter near as much as your 100 plus votes to my one. So get out and vote. Research the candidates. Vote with your head and not along the party lines. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to the candidates, show up to their town hall forums, ask them the tough questions. Don’t shy away from that. Because even if they don’t listen to you, that person standing next to you that went in there for information is going to listen to you, and they’re going to say, “This guy or gal skirted the issues. I’m going to vote for this other person.”