Dakotans for Health is a left-of-center South Dakota ballot question committee co-chaired by Democratic Party-candidate and activist Rick Weiland and his son, Democratic Party operative Adam Weiland, which supports left-of-center positions on abortion and Medicaid expansion. Its 501(c)(3) affiliate is the TakeItBack.Org Foundation and its 501(c)(4) affiliate is TakeItBack.Org-Advocacy. ^{1 2}  According to the group’s organizational filings, its “primary interest” is “Medicaid Expansion.” ³

Background

Dakotans for Health (sometimes styled as Dakotans4Health) was founded by occasional Democratic Party-candidate and left-of-center activist Rick Weiland as a statewide Ballot Question Committee and advocacy organization on March 31, 2020 with a P.O. Box address in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. ⁴

Activities

Dakotans for Health typically supports left-of-center South Dakota state ballot measures relating to health care. For instance, in 2022 the organization supported the successful Constitutional Amendment D, which requires that the state of South Dakota provide Medicaid benefits to adults between 18 and 65 with incomes below a certain threshold, and in 2024, the unsuccessful Constitutional Amendment G, which would have required the state to establish a constitutional right to abortion and provide a legal framework for its regulation. ^{5 6 7 2}

Affiliated Organizations

Dakotans for Health’s affiliate organizations include the South Dakota-based 501(c)(3) TakeItBack.Org Foundation, which engages in aligned advocacy on left-of-center issues, as well as the 501(c)(4) TakeItBack.Org-Advocacy, which engages in aligned lobbying and campaigning activities. ⁸

Financials

Per a disclosure report filed with the State of South Dakota on January 31, 2025, Dakotans for Health began the previous year with a balance of $96,647.09, had a total income in that year of $959,038.34, and expenses amounting to $1,048,780. ⁹

Donors to Dakotans for Health include the organization’s 501(c)(4) affiliate Take It Back Advocacy, as well as aligned organizations and labor unions, such as Think Big America, an advocacy organization founded by billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D); Electrical Workers Local 426; and Teamsters Local 120. ^{10 11}

Leadership

Rick Weiland is the founder, co-chair, and treasurer of Dakotans for Health. Previously, Weiland ran for office on the Democratic Party ticket in South Dakota for United States Senate in 2014, and the House of Representatives in 1996 and 2002. Additionally, he has worked as the Region VIII director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1997, as a campaign staffer on Tom Daschle’s (D) 1978 Senate campaign and as senior advisor to the latter during his time as Senate Majority Leader, as chief executive officer of the International Code Council, and as South Dakota state director of the American Association of Retired Persons. ^{12 11}

Adam Weiland, Rick Weiland’s son, is the co-chair of Dakotans for Health. Previously, he was a senior adviser to former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson’s (D-SD), research assistant in the U.S. Senate on the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, political director for Scott Heidepriem’s (D) 2010 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign, and South Dakota state campaign director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. ^{13 14 15}

1. ^[1] “MAKE A DONATION.” Dakotans for Health. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.dakotans4health.com/_files/ugd/212699_972ca506acd44a1a8856843db24d4e3f.pdf
2. “DAKOTANS FOR HEALTH: Measures.” Follow the Money. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=55709694
3. “Dakotans for Health: Statement of Organization.” South Dakota Secretary of State. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://sdcfr.sdsos.gov/Document.aspx?DocumentID=40589&type=doc.
4. ^[1] “Dakotans for Health: Statement of Organization.” South Dakota Secretary of State. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://sdcfr.sdsos.gov/Document.aspx?DocumentID=40589&type=doc.
5. “About Dakotans for Health.” Dakotans for Health. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.dakotans4health.com/about.
6. “CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT D.” Follow the Money. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=54956116
7. “CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT G.” Follow the Money. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=60008299
8. “MAKE A DONATION.” Dakotans for Health. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.dakotans4health.com/_files/ugd/212699_972ca506acd44a1a8856843db24d4e3f.pdf.
9. “Dakotans for Health: Campaign Finance Disclosure Report.” South Dakota Secretary of State. January 31, 2025 Accessed February 24, 2025. https://sdcfr.sdsos.gov/Document.aspx?DocumentID=98315&type=doc.
10. “Dakotans for Health: Top Donors.” OpenSecrets. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/ballot-measures/committees/dakotans-for-health/55709694/2024.
11. “Dakotans for Health: Statement of Organization.” South Dakota Secretary of State. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://sdcfr.sdsos.gov/Document.aspx?DocumentID=98315&type=doc.
12. “Rick Weiland’s Biography.” VoteSmart. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/397/rick-weiland.
13. Sneve, Joe. “Sioux Falls man will run Clinton’s S.D. campaign.” Argus Leader. May 17, 2016. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/05/16/sioux-falls-man-run-clintons-sd-campaign/84461480/.
14. “Adam Weiland.” Legistorm. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/50222/Adam_P_Newcomb_Weiland.html.
15. “Let the People Decide on Abortion Rights.” Dakotans for Health. August 1, 2024. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.dakotans4health.com/post/let-the-people-decide-on-abortion-rights.