6 names on Donald Trump's VP shortlist

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, February 24, 2024

Kristi Noem

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, 52, served as her state's lone congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2010-2018. She ran for governor in 2018 and won the general election by just over 3 points in a state Trump won by a landslide margin two years earlier. She won reelection in 2022 by a much larger margin, capturing 62% of the vote.

Noem faced criticism from conservatives in 2021 after vetoing a bill that would have prevented biological males who identify as females from competing in women's sports. Expressing concern that the provision of the bill preventing trans-identified males from competing in women's sports at the collegiate level would lead to a lawsuit from the NCAA, Noem announced the creation of a multi-state coalition of "athletes, leaders and everybody who cares about protecting women's sports."

"Once we have enough states on board, a coalition … big enough where the NCAA cannot possibly punish us all, then we can guarantee fairness at the collegiate level," she vowed.

Noem issued an executive order declaring that "only girls" will "play girls' sports." In 2022, Noem signed into law an "Act to protect fairness in women's sports," similar to the legislation she previously vetoed.

Noem has also signed multiple pro-life bills into law during her governorship, including a ban on abortion of babies determined to have Down syndrome, a prohibition on contracts that force women to have an abortion, the establishment of a definition of abortion that labels the fetus an "unborn human being" and a requirement that abortion clinics provide information about abortion pill reversals. Last year, Noem approved a measure banning trans-identified youth from obtaining gender transition procedures.