South Dakota governor wins Republican nomination to seek his own term after succeeding Noem

Doeden and Rhoden made it into the runoff by finishing first and second in a four-way June 2 primary election. Nobody in that race reached 35%, which triggered the first use of a 1985 state law requiring a runoff when no candidate meets that threshold in a statewide primary.

SD runoff voters talk decision-making, party switching, ‘the lesser of two evils’

A turnout percentage for the runoff was not yet available, but advance voting numbers were roughly equal to the primary, which ended with 43% turnout among Republicans. Only registered Republicans were allowed to vote in the runoff.

Rhoden will face Democratic nominee Dan Ahlers, a former state legislator, in the Nov. 3 general election. The last time South Dakota elected a Democratic governor was 52 years ago in 1974.

Gov. Kristi Noem kickstarted the Republican primary race when she resigned in January 2025 to accept a job in President Donald Trump’s administration. Rhoden was Noem’s lieutenant governor and was automatically promoted to serve the last two years of her second term.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, entered the race as the presumptive frontrunner and led in several early polls. He had the most campaign money at his disposal and the highest statewide profile due to his four terms in the U.S. House, his previous service on the state Public Utilities Commission, and his 20-plus years of involvement in politics.

On primary election night, Doeden — an Aberdeen businessman who had never previously sought elected office — stunned the political establishment by finishing first at 31%, followed by Rhoden at 25%, Johnson at 23% and state House Speaker Jon Hansen at 21%. Johnson and Hansen not only failed to make the runoff but will leave office when their respective terms in the U.S. and state House end in January.

From the June 2 primary through the July 13 registration deadline for Tuesday’s runoff, the number of registered Republicans in the state grew by more than 7,300. One of those new Republicans was Alfred Slaathaug, who said he switched his registration from the Democratic Party.

“I changed my party just to vote for Rhoden,” Slaathaug said. “I don’t trust Doeden at all.”

Doeden ran on shifting anti-property tax pledges

Doeden spent at least $4 million of his own money in the race, according to campaign finance reports. The 51-year-old built his fortune by owning vehicle dealerships and diversifying into other businesses and real estate. He has also described himself as an investor in bitcoin, a type of digital money secured with encryption technology.

Doeden tried to position himself early in the campaign as the most pro-Trump candidate, often mentioning Trump in advertisements and appearances — although not as much in recent months as Trump’s national approval rating fell below 40%. 

Doeden also ran on an anti-property tax platform, pledging at times to eliminate property taxes, at other times to phase them out, and saying earlier this month that his pledge applied only to homeowners. 

Homeowner property taxes rose sharply in parts of South Dakota as homebuyers flocked to the state and drove up prices during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, when Noem invited people to relocate for the state’s freedom from mask mandates, business restrictions and other pandemic precautions.

South Dakotans paid more than $1.8 billion in property taxes last year, including $815 million by homeowners, but none of that money goes to state government, which is primarily funded by sales tax revenue. Property taxes go to schools, counties, cities and other local governments. 

Searchlight asked Doeden in a May podcast interview how he would replace lost property tax revenue for local governments.

“Once the economy starts growing, and it will; once I start collecting external revenue, which we will; and once I cut all the fat and pork out of our state budget, you are going to see, very quickly, within a matter of a couple years, a significant amount of annual budget surpluses,” Doeden said. “And yes, I will use that money to target the phase-out of things like property tax.”

A Sioux Falls voter, Mandy Berkhof, said Tuesday outside her polling place that she voted for Doeden in the primary and the runoff.

“I just feel like he is going to bring a lot to South Dakota communities, things that we need, want, a little bit more than the other person,” Berkhof said.

Rhoden criticized Doeden, touted own record

Rhoden said eliminating local property tax revenue would require the state to replace it, and he said that would blow a $1.8 billion hole in the state budget. The Rhoden campaign launched a “Reckless Toby Doeden” website featuring those assertions during the runoff campaign.

Those criticisms resonated with 55-year-old Scott Isburg, who said Tuesday outside his polling place in Pierre that he voted for Rhoden in the primary and the runoff. Isburg said he trusted Rhoden to “run government in a way that’ll actually work.”

“I was a little bit concerned with some of the potential policies from Toby, if they would work or not,” Isburg said.

Rhoden also aired advertisements during the runoff campaign about Doeden’s lack of past involvement in Republican politics, including an audio recording of Doeden saying “I think I may have even voted for Barack Obama.” Doeden has since denied voting for Obama.

Aside from those criticisms of his opponent, Rhoden ran on his record from nearly 18 months as governor, which has included working with legislators to sign several major bills into law.

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Those include laws capturing revenue from sales tax increases to reduce homeowner property taxes, a law banning the use of a legal procedure known as eminent domain to gain land access for carbon capture pipelines, and a law funding construction of a $650 million replacement for the oldest parts of the state’s 145-year-old penitentiary.

“Good policy makes good politics,” Rhoden said while launching his campaign in November.

Sioux Falls voter Susan Desautel said Tuesday outside her polling place that Rhoden’s experience was an important factor in her vote for him.

“I know there are a lot of people who like Doeden.
I think they want somebody totally from left field, who’s not a politician,” Desautel said. “And I understand that, but you’ve got to have some experience as a politician. We need that in a governor.”

Before Rhoden served as lieutenant governor and governor, he was a rancher, custom welder and legislator. He lives on a ranch near Union Center in the western part of the state.

If he wins in November, the 67-year-old Rhoden could potentially choose to run again four years later for what would amount to a third term. The state constitution includes term limits, saying “no person shall be elected to more than two consecutive terms as governor,” but Rhoden is serving his current stint as governor through the line of succession rather than direct election to the job.

South Dakota Searchlight’s John Hult, Joshua Haiar, Makenzie Huber and Meghan O’Brien contributed to this report.