A Republican Senate candidate in South Dakota has come under fire for spearheading a charitable auction that may not have been what it seemed.
Preventive Health Strategies, a nonprofit run by Dr. Annette Bosworth, began selling tickets for a raffle last year to raise money for the troops. For $1,000, individuals could be entered in a drawing to win 80 acres of farmland in Moody County, S.D. All proceeds were supposed to help send soldiers and their families on a fishing expedition in Alaska.
After purchasing a ticket in October of 2012, Nate Fluit said he received a letter from Preventive Health Strategies in February of this year informing him that plans for the proceeds had changed due to the Defense Department’s rules for active military members. The group also offered Fluit a refund, which he didn’t accept because he hoped the money would still benefit the troops.
More than a year after he purchased his ticket, the raffle still has not been held — and now Fluit is suspicious.
“It’s not about the money anymore. It’s just a matter of right and wrong, and obviously what she’s doing, personally, I don’t think is right,” Fluit told television station KDLT. He said that nobody at Preventive Health Strategies will answer his calls.
Bosworth announced in July that she will run in the state’s open U.S. Senate race next year. Earlier this month, she posted a video on her Facebook page in which she said that gun safety and religion should be taught in schools.
TPM’s calls to Preventive Health Strategies were not answered.
