I came to the State Capitol to work for Governor Mike Rounds, and he appointed me to serve on the Board of Regents while I was getting my undergraduate degree at SDSU and my law degree at USD. I returned to spend ten years working for Governor Dennis Daugaard and Governor Kristi Noem, including five years as Chief of Staff. Prior to my time in the State House, I was appointed by Governor Noem once again to the Board of Regents and served until stepping down to take my official Oath of Office. Today, in addition to my work as a state legislator, Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriations and a member of the Legislative Procedure Committee, I work in trust and estate law in Sioux Falls.
When I was very little, I went to Pierre to visit my grandpa, Henry Poppen, who served as a state senator. He taught me to value our open process and our citizen legislature. He was as conservative as they come, but he never got mad, never took things personally, and was friends with nearly everyone – in both parties. Those are the same values my wife Sara and I work to instill in our children – Henry, Elizabeth, and Madeleine – every day.
