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 is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

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 is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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 works of Terry Redlin, one of the nation's most popular wildlife artists. Watertow ...

. 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, across the Red River of the North from Fargo, North Dakota. The school has an enrollment of 7,534 students in 2019 and 266 full-time faculty members. MSUM ...

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, 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, Moo ...

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 from 1975 to 1979, and United States Senate from 1979 to 1997, as a Republican. He remained ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

for two years.

Business career

He worked in the finance industry for Wells Fargo in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

. Tapio later founded New Horizon Homes in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

. 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. 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

'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 South Dakota 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 :''99th Legislature (2025)' ...

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 and lawyer 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 (United States), Repub ...

2018 U.S. House of Representatives election

Campaign

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

for . He faced former PUC commissioner

Dusty Johnson Dustin Michael Johnson (born September 30, 1976) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district since 2018 United States House of Represent ...

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. Shantel Krebs is currently CEO and ...

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 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 before, during, o ...

" over the

Indian Reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

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

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...

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 1970 births Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the South Dakota Legislature