Neal Tapio (born September 19, 1970) is an American businessman, South Dakota state senator, and a former candidate for

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for . Tapio gained attention as an early supporter of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and served as the Trump presidential campaign director for South Dakota.

Early life and education

Neal Tapio was born in

Watertown, South Dakota Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Codington County, South Dakota, United States. Watertown is home to the Redlin Art Center which houses many of the original art works produced by Terry Redlin, one of America's most popular wildlife ar ...

. Tapio graduated from Watertown High School in

in 1988. Tapio attended

Moorhead State University Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) is a public university in Moorhead, Minnesota. The school has an enrollment of 7,534 students in 2019 and 266 full-time faculty members. MSUM is a part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities s ...

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead () is a city in and county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moorhead is also home to several ...

where he graduated in 1992 with a Bachelors in Business Administration. Tapio, directly out of college, worked as a staff assistant to then-U.S. Senator

Larry Pressler Larry Lee Pressler (born March 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1979) and United States Senate (1979–1997) as a Republican. He remained active in p ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for two years.

Business career

He worked in the finance industry for Wells Fargo in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

. Tapio later founded New Horizon Homes in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

. Before entering the petroleum industry, Tapio worked in the ethanol industry. He worked as a director of Growth Energy, an ethanol trade association. Tapio is the current CEO of NT Sales and Leasing in

. Tapio's business has been heavily involved in the oil industry in the

Bakken formation The Bakken Formation () is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The formation was initi ...

. During his time working in the oil fields, Tapio stated he worked 80 hours per week for 7 years having to resort to living in a tent due to housing shortages. Tapio also sells his machines to Fortune 50 companies.

Political career

In 2002, Tapio was the campaign director for Larry Diedrich's congressional bid in the 2002 U.S. House of Representatives election. Tapio was an early supporter of then-presidential candidate

in 2015. He served as the

's South Dakota campaign director for the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In 2016, Tapio upset state representative Roger Solum in the South Dakota State Senate District 5 Republican primary. Tapio ran unopposed in the November 2016 general election. Tapio was sworn into the

South Dakota Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers Li ...

on January 10, 2017.

2016 U.S. presidential election

Tapio successfully managed the South Dakota Trump campaign in the South Dakota primary and general elections. After securing the South Dakota primary, Tapio assisted the Trump Campaign in Northern Colorado for the general election. Tapio ultimately organized five rallies with Trump and two rallies with then-vice presidential nominee

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

2018 U.S. House of Representatives election

Campaign

On January 28, 2018, Tapio announced his bid to become the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee for

for . He faced former PUC commissioner

Dusty Johnson Dustin M. Johnson (born September 30, 1976) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as South Dakota Public Utilities ...

and secretary of state

Shantel Krebs Shantel Swedlund Krebs (born April 28, 1973) is an American businesswoman and former South Dakota Secretary of State. She previously served in the South Dakota House of Representatives and South Dakota Senate. Early life and education Shantel ...

in the June 5, 2018 GOP primary. Following the election, Tapio returned to the oil fields of the Bakken formation.

Issues

Tapio has stated he would declare a "

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

" over the

Indian Reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

s within South Dakota and would shift funding towards them in order to help alleviate various issues. As a state senator, Tapio received an “A” rating from the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

and the National Association for Gun Rights.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapio, Neal Living people Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign American hunters Minnesota State University Moorhead alumni Republican Party South Dakota state senators People from Watertown, South Dakota 21st-century American politicians 1970 births