Mike Walsh (Left)
CV NEWS FEED // South Dakota voters ousted pro-pornography Republican state Senator Michael Walsh, scuttling his reelection bid in the Republican primary Tuesday.
Walsh’s loss came just over three months after he was the deciding vote to kill an age-verification bill that would have protected children from online pornography.
Challenger Greg Blanc unseated Walsh, garnering 55% of the vote compared to the incumbent’s 39%.
On February 29, the South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 to “defer HB 1257 to the 41st legislative day.”
At the time, the Washington Examiner explained that the move effectively stopped the bill’s chances of becoming law.
All seven senators who took part in the vote were Republicans.
The other three senators who voted with Michael Walsh, R-Box Elder, to “defer” HB 1257 were Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, David Wheeler, R-Huron, and Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City. All three won re-nomination, albeit as unopposed incumbent candidates.
HB 1257 sought to “require age verification by websites containing material harmful to minors.”
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The American Principles Project (APP) had run an ad opposing Walsh. The ad may have played a role in convincing voters to oust the lawmaker.
“Seventeen states have passed age-verification laws to protect kids from online pornography,” the ad stated.
“But not South Dakota because Senator Michael Walsh sided with the porn industry instead of with families,” continued the ad. “We need someone in Pierre [the state capital] who will fight for us, not for creeps on the internet. Vote out Michael Walsh and protect our kids.”
APP President Terry Schilling wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the defeated lawmaker is the “[f]irst scalp collected on age verification.”
APP Policy Director Jon Schweppe wrote on X that Walsh should have “voted for age verification to protect kids.”
“Oh well,” Schweppe added. “His opponent will next year!”
Per Walsh’s campaign website, he received the Peace Officer of the Year award from the Knights of Columbus in 2001. It is unclear if he was ever a Knight himself, or if he professes the Catholic faith.
Walsh also identified himself as “pro-life” on his campaign website. Despite his claim, South Dakota Right to Life PAC supported the successful campaign of his challenger, Blanc.
According to his LinkedIn page, Walsh was a “National Diversity Committee member” for the Fraternal Order of Police.
He was running for what would have been his first full term in the state Senate. Controversial Republican Gov. Kristi Noem appointed Walsh to fill a vacancy in February.
The lawmaker was never elected to either house of the South Dakota legislature.
Republicans currently control 31 seats in the South Dakota Senate, compared to the Democrats’ four.
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Most states that have passed age-verification have passed them by near-unanimous bipartisan margins.
South Dakota’s HB 1257 therefore was unique among such bills in that it had received significant opposition from Republicans.
