Paula Hawks visits USD, discusses run for SD Congressional seat

South Dakota State Representative and Congressional hopeful Paula Hawks, D-S.D., met with students and faculty Monday night in the MUC Pit Lounge. Hawks is entering the political ring to unseat current South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem, R-S.D.

Hawks opened by discussing her life in South Dakota.

She grew up on a farm near Flandreau, S.D., and then went on to South Dakota State University for her undergraduate degree. Hawks joked that she made up for it by getting her master’s degree at USD.

She taught science at West Central High School in Hartford, S.D., for 20 years before diving into the political realm.

With introductions out of the way, the rest of the evening was dedicated to questions from the assembled audience.

Questions ranged from Hawks’ stance on the Syrian conflict to how she would fight for women in South Dakota.

One of Hawks’ main points was that she would fight to give women reproductive rights and keep the government out of the bedroom and out of the doctor’s office.

Hawks was critical of the Republican opposition, which often fights against big government.

“When they’re making decisions for you, that’s the biggest government gets,” Hawks said.

As a former educator, teacher pay was another big platform for Hawks.

“There’s no rational reason to not increase teacher pay in South Dakota,” Hawks said.

Hawks said she isn’t swayed by special interest groups.

“I’m not in anybody’s pocket,” Hawks said. “I’m not owned by anybody.”

The small crowd was engaged with Hawks throughout the evening, but her use of the phrase “All Lives Matter” elicited groans from the audience.

One of those people annoyed was senior Mason Calhoun.

“The whole mantra of ‘All Lives Matter’ is really just to me a way to silence the concerns of groups like Black Lives Matter,” Calhoun said.

Despite the disagreement, Calhoun said he was impressed with what he saw from Hawks’ speech.

“I think she’s a great candidate and I honestly plan on voting for her after seeing this,” Calhoun said. “Personally she lost me a little bit on the All Lives Matter thing, but just about everything else she said I pretty strongly agree with.”

Hawks left the crowd with the message, “Get involved and be advocates.” After the speech, Hawks spoke with students and said young people need to get involved with politics in the state.

“The young people in this state are the growing population,” Hawks said. “They are the folks that we need to be advocates for what they believe in, because they are the ones building the future of this state.”

Hawks has had a focus on the state’s young population early on in her run for the Congressional seat. She recently spoke at Augustana University and is heading to SDSU soon.

“For me, if I’m not paying attention to the college students, the 18- to 25-year-olds, I’m not doing my job,” Hawks said. “I represent you just as much as I represent the 40- to 50-year-olds.”

Hawks urged the college community to have their voices heard, getting involved and seeing the real change they could enact.

“… Your vote does matter. Particularity when we talk about local elections,” Hawks said. “If all those people that say my voice doesn’t matter get out and actually vote, imagine the kind of change we could affect.”