The Blog
Where I stand.
In my own words.
One essay per major issue. The position, the bills behind it, and the most common pushbacks answered directly. Subscribe on Substack to get new posts in your inbox.
Latest
Reading the platform, one issue at a time.
The 2026 Ballot, Explained
Four weeks out. Here is your November ballot in plain language: the District 32 race, the four constitutional amendments every South Dakotan will see (I, J, K and L), how I am voting on each, and the measures that did not make it.
VotingFreeze It at 60: Keep the Home You Paid For
Your property tax bill should stop climbing the year you turn 60. Here is the plan, who it covers, how it gets paid for, and the rest of what I will fight for on behalf of District 32's seniors.
Pillar B: Taxes & BudgetProperty TaxSeniorsAffordabilityHow to Vote Absentee in South Dakota
Absentee voting opens Friday, September 18. Here is the complete, plain-language guide to getting your ballot, filling it out, and making sure it counts.
VotingThe Cameras Went Up Without a Vote
Summerset is standing up a Flock camera network over its neighborhoods, its businesses, and Stagebarn Middle School. South Dakota has no law governing any of it. The public review is September 3.
Pillar P: Surveillance & PrivacySurveillance & PrivacyFourth AmendmentParents Decide. Teachers Teach. Where I Stand on Education.
School started today. This afternoon I will ask my nine year old what he learned and he will say nothing. The real version of that question is one I cannot answer either, and fixing that is most of my education plan.
Pillar J: EducationEducationWhere I Stand on Crime and Public Safety
Tough on violent crime, smart on the rest. South Dakota already chose the expensive option, roughly 737 million dollars of it, and got a revolving door for the money.
Pillar K: Public SafetyPublic SafetyCriminal JusticeGrow What We Already Love: Where I Stand on Rapid City's Economy
Pierre found a way to move in one session when data centers came asking. Nobody has ever filed a bill for the laundromat in North Rapid.
Pillar H: Economy & Rapid CityEconomyRapid CityWhere I Stand on Elections and Voting Integrity
In March 2025 a bill I fought for died in the South Dakota House by one vote. Thirty-five to thirty-four. That is why I do not shrug when somebody says a single ballot cannot matter.
Pillar C: Election IntegrityElection IntegrityVotingWhere I Stand on Food, Agriculture, and Rural South Dakota
There is not a section line anywhere in District 32. We still eat three times a day, which makes food policy city policy.
Pillar L: Ag & RuralAgricultureRuralThe State Should Not Balance Its Budget on Broken Homes
SJR 504 is on your November ballot. If it passes, every phone in South Dakota becomes a casino, and I am asking you to vote no.
Pillar M: GamblingGamblingFamilies FirstWhere I Stand on Gender, Biological Sex, and Protecting Children
A phone in a backpack reaches anything on the internet. A shelf in the children's section holds whatever somebody decided to put there. A girls' locker room is private only if the law says so.
Pillar E: Protecting ChildrenProtecting ChildrenWhere I Stand on Government Accountability
Government behaves differently when nobody is watching. I learned that in rooms where the state was making enormous decisions about my own family, and it is why this plank exists.
Pillar O: AccountabilityAccountabilityTransparencyWhere I Stand on Immigration and Border Security
The southern border is about a thousand miles from Pennington County. Washington owns the border. Pierre owns what happens inside South Dakota, and I am running to take care of our end.
Pillar F: ImmigrationImmigrationBorder SecurityYour Land Is Your Land: Where I Stand on Property Rights and Eminent Domain
HJR 5001 passed the House sixty-two to five, then died in the Senate. It will not be on your ballot. I would have voted yes, and I will support filing it again in 2027.
Pillar G: Property RightsProperty RightsEminent DomainWhere I Stand on Medical Freedom, Public Health, and Food Integrity
The body is the citizen's, not the state's. I am not running to relitigate 2020, I am running to make sure South Dakota never repeats it.
Pillar I: Medical FreedomMedical FreedomFood IntegrityReligious Liberty Is the Law, Not the Exception to It
The First Amendment protects exercise, not just belief. Almost nobody in American politics argues against belief anymore. The pressure lands on practice.
Pillar N: Religious LibertyReligious LibertyDue Process Is the Line: Where I Stand on Guns
An accusation is not a conviction. I learned that in a family court room, and it is how I read every gun bill that comes through Pierre.
Pillar D: Second AmendmentSecond AmendmentGun RightsThe Path Back
Six states have a Shared Parenting presumption. None of them answered the question of what happens to the parent who already lost time and has since done the work.
Shared ParentingFamily Court ReformWhy I'm Running: A Letter to District 32
Eight years ago a family court case brought my son to Rapid City, and I followed him here. Here is the honest reason I am on your ballot for State House, District 32.
Why I'm RunningProperty Tax Relief Without the Sales Tax Hike
SB 245 trades one tax for another. About a third of South Dakotans rent, and they pay the new sales tax while seeing none of the property tax benefit.
Pillar B: Taxes & BudgetProperty TaxSpending DisciplineWhere I Stand on Shared Parenting
Thirty-five to thirty-four. That is how close South Dakota came in March 2025, and both of District 32's seated representatives voted no.
Pillar A: Life & FamilyShared ParentingFamily Court Reform
Join the team
Vote Zac Martin
Door by door. Neighbor by neighbor. Yard sign by yard sign. This is a grassroots campaign for the heart of Rapid City, and that is exactly what it takes to win District 32.