# Brandei Schaefbauer

Brandei Schaefbauer is a Republican member of the South Dakota House for district 3.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Dakota House, district 3
- Serving since: 2023-01-10
- Current term: SD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/713ca571-304b-48f0-a853-b49fa859134e

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/713ca571-304b-48f0-a853-b49fa859134e (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Schaefbauer sits at −0.13 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 98% of State House Republicans.

## What Schaefbauer says (SD 2025–26 session)

218 classified statements: 218 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Schaefbauer | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 2.8% | 2.9% | 253 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 4.1% | 9.3% | 490 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 18.4% | 31.9% | 597 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 677 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 6.0% | 12.7% | 526 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 0.9% | 1.4% | 308 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 25% (State House Republicans 10%); Government Operations and Politics 23% (State House Republicans 18%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 20% (State House Republicans 6.2%); International Affairs 10% (State House Republicans 1.8%); Law 10% (State House Republicans 3.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.13 (standard error 0.01), from 20 donors and 591 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 2.1% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SD 2025–26 session)

638 roll calls. Attendance 97.4% (South Dakota House 96.6%). Party unity 92.3% (76%). 154 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-12 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/
- 2026-03-12 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1051 revise property tax levies for school districts and to revise the state aid to general and special education formulas. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1051/
- 2026-03-12 · voted nay · Do Pass · HB 1326 appropriate money for the ordinary expenses of the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the state, the current expenses of state… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1326/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 219 require that a state agency consult with the Aeronautics Commission prior to purchasing, transferring, or disposing of a state owned and operated… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB219/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 245 create the homeowner property tax reduction fund, and to transfer moneys to the homeowner property tax reduction fund. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB245/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 221 regulate the retail sale of nicotine products, and to provide a penalty therefor. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB221/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 222 make an appropriation for eligible water, wastewater, storm water, and riparian buffer initiative projects and to declare an emergency. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB222/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 119 create the capitol restoration fund and to transfer moneys thereto. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB119/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 106 modify the amount required to be set aside for extraordinary expenses incurred in providing special education programs. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB106/
- 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 102 modify the distribution of gaming revenues. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB102/

## Legislation (SD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 94 bills: 91 reached committee, 33 passed one chamber, 29 passed both, 26 became law. Cosponsored 0. 87.2% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota House 81.4%; rank 24 of 69).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1065: revise the medical purpose affirmative defense in cannabis prosecution. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-02) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1065/
- HB 1313: require education in prenatal human growth and development. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1313/
- HB 1294: prohibit geoengineering in this state. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1294/
- HB 1305: prohibit the dissemination of location information about a public officer and provide a penalty and civil cause of action therefor. (in committee, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1305/
- HB 1265: authorize the salvage of certain bird eggs. (became law, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1265/
- HB 1215: authorize counties and municipalities to issue a license for a cigar bar. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1215/
- HB 1193: modify the provisions for a refund of taxes to disabled veterans and surviving spouses under certain property tax relief programs. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1193/
- HB 1209: require employment verification eligibility through the e-verify program and to provide a penalty therefor. (passed both chambers, 2026-03-11) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1209/
- HB 1211: create a digital registry identification card for medical cannabis patients. (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1211/
- HB 1212: revise provisions in order to strengthen protections for unborn children. (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1212/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $12.6K (State House Republicans median $10.7K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2114357421447745987
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2112025316042682723
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2112027390591578341
- 2026-10-18 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111839382034673770
- 2026-10-18 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111840149160304879
- 2026-10-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111840991372263644
- 2026-10-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111862190680768991
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111290493233664171
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111463243940323495
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/brandei74/status/2111464439639834644

## Links

- Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4556/Detail
- X: https://x.com/brandei74
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015156943475
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandeiforsdhouse3
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandei74/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/713ca571-304b-48f0-a853-b49fa859134e