Friend,

Let me tell you what I've learned watching how Washington actually works, because once you see it, you understand why no one’s looking out for working folks these days.

Our political system rewards ignoring working people. It pays — sometimes literally — to cozy up to corporate interests, to lobbyists, to the billionaires who write the biggest checks. Do their bidding, and the money flows: PAC contributions, super PAC ads, the good seat at any restaurant in DC.

Stand up for the family in Aberdeen paying too much for insulin, or the rancher outside Philip watching his power bill climb? There's no check waiting for that. The incentives in that town point exactly the wrong way, and both parties have made their peace with it.

Some of the wealthiest interests in the world want to build massive AI data centers to accelerate a technology that the people building it openly warn could be catastrophic. The heads of the biggest AI companies signed a statement saying the risk of human extinction from AI should be treated as seriously as pandemics and nuclear war.

They said that about their own product. And they are racing to build it faster anyway — on our land, using our water and power, chasing tax breaks paid for by you.

And Mike Rounds is their guy in the Senate. He co-chairs the AI Caucus. Reporting this week showed AI super PACs have poured close to a million dollars into his race — more than the people of South Dakota have given him. The system rewarded him.

The system rewards ignoring you. I'm running to change what gets rewarded.

Some things aren't for sale. Not this state, its land, or its Senate seat. If you’re ready to send an independent voice to fight for working people to Washington, please contribute to my campaign today.

Tell the truth and take care of your neighbor.

— Brian Bengs

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