Senator Julie Frye-Mueller Contact information

Julie Frye-Mueller is an American politician hailing from South Dakota. She has been an active member of the South Dakota Senate since 2021. Prior to her Senate tenure, Frye-Mueller served as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021.

In the state Senate, Frye-Mueller represents Senate District 30, which encompasses the southern Black Hills region. This district includes all of Custer and Fall River counties, as well as a rural portion of Pennington County. She succeeded Lance Russell, the previous state Senator for the district, who withdrew his name from the ballot.

Frye-Mueller aligns herself with a group of far-right Republicans in the Senate, occasionally clashing with the chamber’s Republican leadership. In 2020, she sponsored legislation allowing county courthouse employees to carry guns within courthouses.

During her second term in the Senate, Frye-Mueller introduced a resolution in support of the January 6 attackers, but it was defeated in a unanimous committee vote. She also championed a bill to create a severance tax for lithium mining operations in the Black Hills.

Despite her controversial stances, Frye-Mueller continues to serve as a Republican representative, advocating for the abolition of childhood vaccination requirements. In January 2023, she introduced a bill to bar schools from requiring vaccines except for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.

However, her political career faced a setback when she was censured by the Senate in 2023 for alleged harassment of a legislative staffer. Frye-Mueller denied the allegations, but the Senate took disciplinary action against her.

Overall, Julie Frye-Mueller remains a prominent figure in South Dakota politics, leaving her mark through both her legislative initiatives and the controversies surrounding her tenure.