#RexElsass

2025-11-14

Yup. It's the same #StrategyGroup! Wow!

Gov. #KristiNoem and the culture of #collusion in #SouthDakota

#FreedomWorksHere escaped legislative oversight but the saga raises larger concerns about the validity of competitive bidding and the stomach of state lawmakers.

By Patrick Lalley, Feb 19, 2024

Excerpt: "The seeds of the contract are found in the hiring of The Strategy Group as a media consultant for #Noem’s re-election campaign in 2022.

"The CEO of that company is #BenYoho, but he’s not the biggest fish in Ohio.
That’s #RexElsass, the founder and chairman of the board, an infamous figure in Ohio politics. We don’t have the time or space to go into Mr. Elsass’ backstory but it’s colorful, controversial and worth more than we’ll give it here.
The Strategy Group is one of a handful of firms doing media work for the big names of #Republican politics, including #Trump, #Pence, several governors and many members of Congress."

Read more:
siouxfallslive.com/news/sioux-

Archived version:
archive.ph/phGkY

#USPol #GOP #Corruption #ChristoFascists #StrategyGroup #PowerCorruptionAndLies

2025-11-14

Yup. This is the same company that #KristiNoem is connected with... #StrategyGroup!

From 2013: Inside The Meltdown At America’s Most #Conservative, Most Christian Political Consulting Firm

#RexElsass built a Republican empire on his faith. But he found himself battling his closest allies over his immortal soul.

" 'It's a cult,' said one Republican operative who was once courted by Elsass and now sees himself as a competitor. 'You take young people who get enamored by driving around in a Bentley, or getting to fly around in a private plane, and stay in sick rooms, and see massive dollars spent on them, but not given to them — and there's a huge difference there — and you're the master in controlling that dynamic. You control the experience and then you get them hooked in, then you get them to do all sorts of things. They start to lose their soul.' "

BY McKay Coppins
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on June 3, 2013

"There are at least 40 #Republicans currently in Congress who have worked with the #StrategyGroup, which serves as a campaign and strategy clearing house for the uncompromisingly conservative wing of the congressional caucus that has been at the center of American politics since 2010.

"Though the Strategy Group's ranks have swelled over the past year — as the company expands beyond its advertising roots and into public relations, voter contact, and research — it continues to be defined by its larger-than-life founder. Elsass is a round, loud, cigar-smoking good 'ol boy with a private jet; a worldview rooted, he'll be quick to tell you, in his Christian faith; and a shameless killer instinct that has turned his company into one of the country's most in-demand political consulting firms. The firm had the rare distinction of working, serially, for two presidential candidates last year — Michele Bachmann then #NewtGingrich. Other clients include the great Right hopes of 2016: Senators Rand Paul and #TedCruz. One of the driving forces behind the conservative surge of 2010, when they had more than two dozen #TeaParty clients, the Strategy Group stands poised to ride a similar wave in the upcoming elections."

Read more:
buzzfeednews.com/article/mckay

#USPol #ChristoFascists #KristiNoem #GOP #PowerCorruptionAndLies

2025-11-14

Firm Tied to #KristiNoem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million #DHS Ad #Contracts

The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.

by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski
November 14, 2025

Excerpt: "No firm has closer ties to Noem’s political operation than the #StrategyGroup. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser at DHS, has worked extensively with the firm. And the company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin.

"The Strategy Group’s ad work is the first known example of money flowing from Noem’s agency to businesses controlled by her allies and friends."

Read more:
propublica.org/article/kristi-

#USPol #Corruption #RexElsass #BenYoho #ChristoFascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #PowerCorruptionAndLies

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