Aug. 26, 2022

Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush, will be the keynote speaker at the the 41st annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner and Children’s Charity Fundraiser.

The event is Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall and is attended by nearly 2,000 people annually. It sells out almost immediately each year, with limited tickets available. There are none currently available for the public to purchase.

The Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Broder describes Rove as “the greatest political mind of his generation and probably of any generation.”

“He knows history, understands the moods of the public and is a visionary on matters of public policy,” Broder said.

Rove serves as a weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal and is a regular guest on Fox News. He has consulted on more than 75 races for Congress statewide offices in 24 states, and was the strategist for both of Bush’s campaigns for the White House for which the president dubbed him “The Architect.”

The Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner was founded 41 years ago by Gene Abdallah as a way for local business and community leaders to come together and honor law enforcement officers throughout South Dakota. The event also has raised millions of dollars for children’s charities in the name of law enforcement. Each year at the dinner, one law enforcement officer receives the William J. Janklow Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.

“We are thrilled that Karl Rove accepted our invitation to serve as our keynote speaker for this year’s event,” said Scott Abdallah, co-chair of the annual event. “The dinner is exactly one day after this year’s national election, and it will be fascinating to hear from one of the most respected political minds in the country about how it played out – including how ‘Defund the Police’ activism may have impacted the races nationwide.”