What Ethnicity Is Kristi Noem?

American politician, Kristi Noem, was born in Watertown, South Dakota, and raised in rural Hamlin County. She has Norwegian ancestry.

Noem Is serving as the 33rd governor of South Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for South Dakota’s at-large congressional district from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives for the 6th district from 2007 to 2011.

Noem was elected governor in 2018 and is South Dakota’s first female governor.

Elected as an ally of Donald Trump, Noem explicitly refused to follow the guidance of medical experts during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not enact any of the standard public health and safety protections used in other states.

She did not implement face mask mandates, raised doubts about the efficacy of mask-wearing, encouraged large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing, and questioned public health experts’ advice.

In 2006, Noem won a seat as a Republican in the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 6th district (comprising parts of Beadle, Clark, Codington, Hamlin, and Kingsbury counties). In 2006, she won with 39% of the vote. In 2008, she was reelected with 41%.

Noem served for four years, from 2007 to 2010; she was an assistant majority leader during her last year.

In 2009 and 2010, she sponsored bills to lower the age of compulsory education in South Dakota to 16, after it had been raised to 18 in 2008, arguing that requiring school attendance until age 18 has not been proven to improve graduation rates.

During her tenure, Noem was a member of the House State Affairs Committee and House Taxation Committee.