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Jessica Castleberry

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Jessica Castleberry
Republican Party
Prior offices:
South Dakota State Senate District 35
Years in office: 2020 - 2023
Successor: Mike Walsh (R)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 8, 2022
Personal
Birthplace
Rapid City, SD
Religion
Christian
Profession
Owner of Little Nest Preschools
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign Instagram
Campaign YouTube
Personal Facebook
Personal LinkedIn

Jessica Castleberry (Republican Party) was a member of the South Dakota State Senate, representing District 35. She assumed office on January 1, 2020. She left office on August 17, 2023.

Castleberry (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the South Dakota State Senate to represent District 35. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Castleberry resigned from the South Dakota State Senate on August 17, 2023. [1]

Biography

Castleberry was born in Rapid City, South Dakota. Her career experience includes working as the owner of Little Nest Preschools and as an instructor at Black Hills State University. Castleberry also served as President of the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children. She was awarded the Young Enterprising Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2016 and the South Dakota Small Business Administration's Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award in 2018.[2]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Castleberry was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Castleberry was assigned to the following committees:

2020 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

South Dakota committee assignments, 2020

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2022

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 35

Incumbent Jessica Castleberry won election in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 35 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jessica Castleberry
Jessica Castleberry (R)
 
100.0
 
6,784

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 6,784
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jessica Castleberry advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 35.

2020

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 35

Incumbent Jessica Castleberry defeated Brian Gentry in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 35 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jessica Castleberry
Jessica Castleberry (R) Candidate Connection
 
61.6
 
6,012
Image of Brian Gentry
Brian Gentry (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
38.4
 
3,747

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 9,759
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 35

Incumbent Jessica Castleberry defeated Kevin Quick in the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 35 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jessica Castleberry
Jessica Castleberry Candidate Connection
 
72.4
 
1,442
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Kevin Quick
 
27.6
 
551

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,993
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jessica Castleberry did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Jessica Castleberry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Castleberry's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Jessica is a lifetime resident of District 35.

Appointed to the Senate by Governor Kristi Noem, Jessica rose to the challenge this year in Pierre. She protected the 2nd Amendment and earned an endorsement from the NRA and A rating, earned a 100% pro- business scorecard from Elevate Rapid City, a 100% pro-life scorecard from SD Right to Life, served on the taxation committee and fought to keep your taxes low, and spoke up to protect personal liberties.

Jessica is committed to the community of District 35 and the State of South Dakota. She is a Christian, a Republican, a Constitutionalist, a fiscal conservative, an accomplished award winning small business owner, a committed wife and a proud mom to three wonderful teenagers. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to represent her community and neighbors that she loves.

Moving forward, Jessica will protect the Constitution and personal liberties, small government and fiscal responsibility.
  • I believe in sensible, empathetic, and logical leadership that's based on the Constitution.
  • I believe in fiscal responsibility and limited government.
  • I believe in our right to protect ourselves as citizens of the United States, and the rights of all Americans to pursue happiness.
This legislative session, our first focus needs to be response to COVID 19- supporting our families, workforce, small businesses, health care workers, elderly, and overall economic growth.

In SD we need to get away from personal agenda legislation, most of these bills are unconstitutional, waste taxpayer money, waste legislator time, and many marginalize specific groups of people.

As part of the oath of office, we swear as legislators to protect the Constitution. I will continue to stand up for the rights outlined in the Constitution for all of the residents of District 35.
Someone I really admire is my grandmother. The child of immigrant parents, she was orphaned at twelve years old and she and her siblings were all separated into different foster homes. She lost her family, was forced to convert her religion, and while going to school was required to work in a candy factory shelling nuts. She managed to finish school, raise two daughters and then go back to college to obtain her degree. She became vice president of a large corporation and in 1976 was awarded the American Business Women's Association Woman of the Year. She is a woman who never met a stranger, and her heart and her home are always open to people who need help.
The most important principle for an elected official is to enter office to serve the people, not themselves. Too many enter public office with a personal agenda, a chip on their shoulder, or because they have a narcissistic view of how "their way" is the only way. Elected officials are in office to represent the needs of the people, to respect or improve the laws, and to protect the Constitution. South Dakota is known as a limited government state, yet the legislators bring 500-600 new bills each year. Many are good bills, such as clean up bills, or allowing therapy dogs to attend court with minors, allowing motorcyclists to carry concealed to protect themselves, or recognizing the importance or supporting military veteran entrepreneurs. Many bills are frivolous, designed to support an agenda, or create an opportunity for the legislator to grandstand. Elected officials should also be honest, hard working, and discerning.
Accentuate the Positive by Bing Crosby. I grew up spending a lot of time with my Grannie Joy and we would always put on records and dance around the house (we did this until I was in high school and she passed away from cancer). It was one of those days when it seemed like the world was full of negativity and hate, and that song popped into my head. Sometimes we all just need to take a moment for a deep breath, turn on the record player, and dance around and sing. "You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, hold on to the affirmative, no room for Mr In Between!"
I was divorced in the Winter of 2007. I had three children under the age of four, and $3 in my checking account. I was working as a patient care technician in the newborn nursery at Monument Health and would often walk to work my twelve hour shifts. I was able to finish my degree and became a preschool instructor at a local school district. I was quickly disenchanted with the quality of care and education being received there and opened Little Nest Preschool out of my home in 2010 with only three students. By 2014 we opened our first commercial location, and have since opened two more commercial locations. I will never forget what it was like to be a young, scared, poor divorced mom living in District 35. Through hard work and dedication I have created a thriving business, employ 35 people, and provide care and education for over a hundred families. I'm fiscally conservative, and very aware of the challenges that my friends and neighbors face.
I believe our biggest challenges over the next decade will be affordable living, division, and protecting personal liberties. There's a shortage of affordable housing, there's a workforce-education gap, and a large majority of our residents are working paycheck to paycheck. There are many organizations working to help our citizens be happy, healthy, and financial self sufficient. There are many areas where the government could be better utilizing funding we already have to support these efforts without tax increases or defunding other programs. Processes can be improved, waste eliminated and procedures analyzed to use our revenue more wisely. We're also living in a very divisive time. We need to take a look at the cultural and societal factors that have removed civility, discussion, and diplomatic problem solving from the way we're interacting with each other, online and off. Finally, more important than ever, we need to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The founding fathers came from a similar generation of division and strong opinions. Their vision for a more perfect union included acknowledging that people are diverse. It acknowledges that diversity, and freedom of expression, as well as the ability to protect ourselves (from our own government if necessary) and the freedom to pursue happiness are the rights of every American citizen. We can't allow our freedoms to be continually taken away, one by one. That's not a democratic republic, it's not what our country was founded on, and it's our responsibility as legislators to protect that document, in its entirety.
I currently serve on Transportation and Taxation. I requested these committees specifically because I am a passionate advocate for economic and workforce development, and I'm dedicated to keeping taxes low. Transportation is key to our health, safety, and economy in South Dakota because we're such a rural state. We rely heavily on transportation for food, medical supplies, medical care, and generally speaking, being able to work to provide for our families. The infrastructure and funding for our roads, bridges, airports, and railways is paramount. I was happy to serve on taxation as well to examine tax proposals as they're presented. People are already struggling to make ends meet in South Dakota, and we don't need to increase their tax burden.
I will not serve on the Education committee because I believe it presents a conflict of interest with owning three educational facilities. If a bill makes it to the Senate floor, then I vote on it with the same consideration I do all bills.
I hear stories everyday from passionate people living in our community. There are people upset because of water quality, or replacing sump pumps at a huge cost to homeowners. There are people who are concerned about needing to add speed bumps, and illegal pelvic exams on sedated women. There are people who are afraid they'll lose their medical care or their job because another representative rights a bill. There are many people who have been grateful to have a representative who will visit with them in person, and return their calls and emails. There's a little girl whom I had never met, who puts on her cowgirl hat and dances around with my campaign signs because she was excited about Senator Jessica. There are many stories, from every single person living here, and I have been overwhelmed and inspired by their passion, their concern, and the one thing that binds us- being South Dakotans. As different as the stories are, it comes down to very simple ideas. We all want to be happy, healthy, and free. The trick is supporting a government that ensures most of the people feel that way most of the time. The best place to formulate that effort is the Constitution.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in South Dakota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Dakota State Legislature in 2023.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Dakota State Legislature in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Dakota State Legislature in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the South Dakota State Legislature in 2020.

Noteworthy Events

Resignation from South Dakota State Senate (2023)

Castleberry resigned from the South Dakota State Senate on August 17, 2023 after agreeing to reimburse the federal government $500,000 in COVID-19 funding that she received on behalf of her day care business. A 2020 advisory by the South Dakota Supreme Court warned state lawmakers that accepting federal pandemic funds was a violation of the South Dakota state constitution. [3]

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said on August 17, 2023 that his office’s investigation did not uncover any evidence of abuse by Castleberry. Castleberry can continue her child care work and can re-apply for government funding in 2024.

“I am glad speculation from other state departments and the executive branch regarding my ethics and intentions can be laid to rest,” Castleberry said. [4]

See also

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External links

Candidate

South Dakota State Senate District 35
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ ‘’Toronto Star, "South Dakota state senator resigns and agrees to repay $500,000 in pandemic aid," August 17, 2023
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 28, 2020
    3. ↑ ‘’Toronto Star, "South Dakota state senator resigns and agrees to repay $500,000 in pandemic aid," August 17, 2023
    4. ↑ ‘’Toronto Star, "South Dakota state senator resigns and agrees to repay $500,000 in pandemic aid," August 17, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		South Dakota State Senate District 35
    2020-2023    		 Succeeded by
    Mike Walsh (R)


    Current members of the South Dakota State Senate
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    Majority Leader:Jim Mehlhaff
    Minority Leader:Liz Larson
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    Tim Reed (R)
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