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• "We've been fortunate, we've always been able to hire quality candidates, but the time is coming when I won't be able to say that," he said.
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• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- In a surprise move, former U.S. Senate candidate Larry Rhoden endorsed Mike Rounds, his former and victorious primary rival, at the South Dakota Republican Party's convention Friday in Rapid City.
• In a news release from the party, Rhoden, a state senator from Union Center, said Rounds is "a responsible conservative and a man of great dignity and integrity that will stand shoulder to shoulder with John Thune in protecting the interests of all South Dakotans."
• Rhoden was expected to back Rounds eventually, but his appearance Friday in Rapid City came as a surprise. Rhoden said Republicans need to be unified.
• Rounds, after thanking Rhoden and former candidate Jason Ravnsborg for their support, gave a speech that the Argus Leader reported was an appeal to "take back our country" by giving Republicans control of the U.S. Senate.
• The state Republican Party has said it expects record attendance at the convention that opened Thursday.
• The party says GOP leaders taking part in the convention include U.S. Sen. John Thune, U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, all the state's constitutional officers and delegates from 43 counties.
• Most candidates already have been chosen in state primaries, but Pierre's Pat Miller and Shantel Krebs of Sioux Falls will be competing for the secretary of state nomination Saturday.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth won't be in court Monday on charges she violated election laws.
• A Hughes County grand jury indicted her this week and a court official says the judge waived her arraignment that was scheduled for Monday in Pierre.
• That hearing has not been rescheduled.
• Bosworth lost the June 3 Republican primary with just 6 percent of the vote.
• The attorney general charged her the following day with six counts of perjury and six counts of filing false documents related to election campaign laws. Authorities say she fraudulently attested to gathering voter signatures when she was really on a Christian mission trip to the Philippines.

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