There are two names that continue to pop up on short lists for people who voted for Trump. Those are South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Both have shown a penchant for connecting with the GOP base in ways that figures like Nikki Haley don’t.

Noem has apparently gotten the message that now is the time to fight and show Republicans she can be counted on. She made the media rounds and defended Trump’s right to contest the current results.

We the People choose our government by consent of the governed. We need to ensure that our elections are fair, honest, and transparent.

Al Gore got his day in court. President Trump and the 70 million Americans who voted for him should be afforded the same opportunity. pic.twitter.com/ww1KJHJQ2H

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) November 8, 2020

She also ripped into Mitt Romney, which is always a welcome sight. Republicans want to see the kind of two-faced fecklessness shown by the Utah Senator called out and Noem was up to the task.

DC Elites are eager to return to "business as usual.”

The 70 million Americans who voted for @realDonaldTrump are not moving on just because the media says so. Serious election integrity concerns (read Alito’s opinion) in several states that the media should be investigating. https://t.co/m2l4AvdWeA

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) November 7, 2020

That’s 100% correct. So many Republicans in Washington are eager to go back to the kind of faux decorum, knee bending act they got to do under President Obama. After all, it’s much easier when you don’t have to be accountable to voters by actually holding onto the White House. Mitt Romney did nearly everything he could to kneecap Donald Trump and is now pretending that Joe Biden is a great man of character, an assertion made most laughable by the fact that Biden once accused Romney of supporting slavery. So there’s that. But Romney epitomizes the do nothing, weak kneed establishment, always ready to take a punch from a Democrat while only returning fire against their own party. Noem sensed that and was willing to go public with her criticisms. That’s the kind of spunk and grit Trump supporters want to see as we move into a possible new era.

Unlike Nikki Haley, who I don’t think is a bad person or anything, Noem doesn’t mince words or hide behind vague platitudes. In that way, she and DeSantis are cut from the same cloth. DeSantis came out swinging the day after the election while most Republicans sat silently. He also took the media to task during the coronavirus spike in his state, always having his facts ready to go and the ability to deliver them in devastating fashion.

Noem has a very bright future, and you can expect to see a lot of her in the next few years. Hopefully Republicans don’t forget who stood up during this time and who went into the fetal position. The standard bearer in 2024 may not speak like trump, but they must fight like Trump. Too much is at stake to go back to what this party used to be.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)