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Larry Rhoden

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Larry Rhoden
Rhoden in 2025
34th Governor of South Dakota
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 25, 2025
LieutenantTony Venhuizen
Preceded byKristi Noem
39th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota
In office
January 5, 2019 – January 25, 2025
GovernorKristi Noem
Preceded byMatt Michels
Succeeded byTony Venhuizen
Secretary of Agriculture of South Dakota
Acting
May 8, 2020 – August 27, 2020
GovernorKristi Noem
Preceded byKim Vanneman
Succeeded byHunter Roberts (Agriculture and Natural Resources)
Member of the South Dakota House of Representatives
from the 29th district
In office
January 10, 2017 – January 5, 2019
Preceded byDean Wink
Succeeded byKirk Chaffee
In office
January 9, 2001 – January 13, 2009
Preceded byKenneth McNenny
Succeeded byDean Wink
Member of the South Dakota Senate
from the 29th district
In office
January 13, 2009 – January 13, 2015
Preceded byKenneth McNenny
Succeeded byGary Cammack
Personal details
Born (1959-02-05) February 5, 1959 (age 67)
Sturgis, South Dakota, U.S.
PartyRepublican
Spouse
Sandy Murphy
​
(m. 1981)​
Children4
WebsiteOffice website
Campaign website
Military service
Branch United States Army
Service years
1978–1985
UnitSouth Dakota National Guard

Larry Robert Rhoden (born February 5, 1959)[1] is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the 34th governor of South Dakota.[2]

A member of the Republican Party, Rhoden served from 2001 to 2009 as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019 as a member of the South Dakota Senate, and from 2019 to 2025 as the 39th lieutenant governor of South Dakota.[3][4][5] He ran for U.S. Senate in the 2014 election, losing in the Republican primary to former governor Mike Rounds.[6] In January 2025, he became governor after Governor Kristi Noem resigned to become United States Secretary of Homeland Security.[7]

Early life

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Rhoden was born and raised on a farm. He grew up attending church, and graduated from Sunshine Bible Academy in 1977. After high school, he served in the South Dakota National Guard from 1978 to 1985. While his children were young, he served as a church trustee and on the local school board, and led the board of directors for the area Cenex.[8]

Career

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Rhoden served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 2001 to 2008, including four years as majority leader. After being term-limited, he was elected to the state senate. In 2010, Rhoden ran for senate majority leader, but lost to Russell Olson.[9]

Rhoden served on the Agriculture and Natural Resources and the State Affairs Committees.[10] He backed bills to arm volunteers in schools, and sponsored a legislative finding that the "Founding Fathers freely and willingly abjured all legislative and executive authority to regulate gun ownership and usage… to individual citizens."[9]

2014 U.S. Senate candidacy

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Rhoden ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, calling himself a "conservative voice for limited government". He spoke out against abortion, same-sex marriage, "career politicians", "activist judges", and immigration "amnesty".[11] Rhoden signed a pledge to never raise taxes, and supported de-funding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[12]

Rhoden spoke at a conference organized by the conservative organization RedState, criticizing fellow candidate Mike Rounds's position on taxes.[13] In the June 2 primary, Rounds defeated Rhoden, 41,377 votes to 13,393.[14]

Lieutenant governor of South Dakota (2019–2025)

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2018 gubernatorial election

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On June 20, 2018, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kristi Noem announced that Rhoden would be her running mate. Noem had said the role of a lieutenant governor, "I would do it a little differently maybe than Daugaard and Michels have done it... I don’t see the lieutenant governor filling as big a role as Michels did. I'm just a believer that there are certain decisions the governor has to make, and so maybe it would be more of a traditional role than what we saw in the last administration."[15]

Tenure

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Rhoden took office on January 5, 2019. On May 5, 2020, Noem announced that South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman would resign effective May 8, and that Rhoden was being named interim agriculture secretary.[16] On August 27, Noem announced that she was merging the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources into a Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to be led by Secretary Hunter Roberts, thereby ending Rhoden's role as interim secretary.[17]

On June 20, 2020, at the Republican State Convention, Rhoden was elected to be one of South Dakota's three Republican presidential electors, along with Noem and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.[18]

Governor of South Dakota (2025–present)

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In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security. After her confirmation on January 25, 2025, she resigned as governor of South Dakota and Rhoden was sworn in by South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen.[7][19] On January 29, he chose Tony Venhuizen as his lieutenant governor.[20] Venhuizen was unanimously confirmed by the South Dakota Senate and South Dakota House of Representatives the next day.[21][22]

Early in his term, Rhoden worked with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to order the return of the Mount Rushmore fireworks show in 2026.[23]

In late July 2026, after a series of intense summer storms throughout South Dakota, Rhoden declared a state of emergency in affected areas Beadle County and Hyde County, and sought federal financial assistance for damages in Beadle, Hyde, Bennett, Buffalo, Day, Hand, Hughes, and Stanley Counties.[24][25][26] Rhoden also requested that President Trump create a formal presidential disaster declaration regarding the damaging storms, saying: "This request would provide several million dollars in federal funding to help these communities recover. I thank President Trump in advance for his consideration and his help."[27]

2026 Republican gubernatorial primary

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On April 24, 2025, Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives Jon Hansen announced his bid for the Republican nomination in the 2026 South Dakota gubernatorial election.[28]

On May 28, Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination.[29]

On November 18, Rhoden announced his candidacy, joining Hansen, Doeden, and U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson.[30]

From March to June 2026, the Rhoden, Doeden, Hansen, and Johnson campaigns ran various attack ads against one another. In late April 2026, an attack ad specifically targeting Rhoden paid for by an out-of-state company known as Rushmore Principles began to appear on South Dakota television airwaves, which the Rhoden and Doeden campaigns accused the Johnson campaign of creating and spreading.[31] In early May 2026, Rhoden told a group of journalists Johnson had attempted to blackmail him so that he would not enter the gubernatorial race.[32]

In the first round of the Republican primary on June 2, Doeden received 41,791 votes (30.6%), Rhoden 34,379 (25.2%), Johnson 31,925 (23.4%), and Hansen 28,391 (20.8%).[33] As no candidate received 35% of the primary vote, Doeden and Rhoden advanced to a runoff on July 28.[34] The primary runoff was the first in South Dakota history since the provision was enacted ahead of the 1986 South Dakota gubernatorial election.[35][36]

2026 South Dakota gubernatorial election

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Rhoden won the primary runoff with 83,532 votes (70.8%) to Doeden's 34,430 (29.2%),[37] becoming the Republican nominee to run for his first full term in office.[38]

Personal life

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Rhoden lives in Union Center, South Dakota. He and his wife, Sandy, have four children and seven grandchildren.[3][39] Rhoden is a rancher by trade and runs and owns a cow-calf operation and custom welding business.[5][40]

References

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  1. ↑ "Former State Rep. Larry Rhoden". LegiStorm.
  2. ↑ "Larry Rhoden succeeds to governor of South Dakota". KELOLAND.com. January 25, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "South Dakota Governor". January 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Our Campaigns – SD State Senate 29 Race – Nov 04, 2008".
  5. 1 2 "Larry Rhoden".
  6. ↑ Weigel, David (July 31, 2013). "Mike Rounds, the Republican Most Likely to Take Over a Democratic Senate Seat, and His Struggles With the Tea Party". Slate Magazine. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Engelkes, Cale; Mercer, Bob (January 25, 2025). "Larry Rhoden succeeds to governor of South Dakota". Keloland Local News. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Governor Kristi Noem – South Dakota: America's Beacon of Freedom". Archived from the original on August 25, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Montgomery, David (July 9, 2013). "Who is Larry Rhoden?". Argus Leader. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Senator Larry Rhoden". South Dakota Legislature. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  11. ↑ Montgomery, David (July 10, 2013). "Rhoden strikes conservative tone in campaign kickoff". Argus Leader. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ Montgomery, David (July 30, 2013). "Senate hopeful Larry Rhoden says his hard line aligns with right". Argus Leader. Retrieved August 16, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ Montgomery, David (August 2, 2013). "Rhoden: Stand by your position". Argus Leader. Retrieved August 16, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ↑ "2014 Election Results" (PDF). sdsos.gov. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  15. ↑ Woster, Kevin (June 11, 2018). "Next up for Noem: picking a running mate, planning a general-election race, holding a rummage sale". SDPB.org. South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
  16. ↑ "Noem Appoints Lt. Gov as Interim Ag Secretary". SDPB.org. South Dakota Public Broadcasting. May 5, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Governor Noem announces Merging of Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resources Departments". news.sd.gov. August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Convention Results". southdakotagopconvention.com. June 20, 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  19. ↑ Dausch, Dominik (January 27, 2025). "Larry Rhoden sworn in as 34th governor of South Dakota in private ceremony". Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Rhoden Selects Tony Venhuizen To Serve As Lieutenant Governor". KCCR Radio. January 29, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  21. ↑ "HR 7001, House of Representatives, Adopt Resolution – 2025". South Dakota House. January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Senate Resolution 701". South Dakota Senate. January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Rhoden confirms fireworks will return to Mt. Rushmore in 2026". February 17, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Gov. Rhoden Declares State of Emergency - News". news.sd.gov. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Gov. Rhoden Requests Presidential Disaster Declaration after Historic Storms - News". news.sd.gov. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  26. ↑ Huber, Makenzie (July 27, 2026). "Governor of South Dakota seeks federal help for damages from summer storms". South Dakota Searchlight. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Gov. Rhoden requests presidential disaster declaration following summer storms". Dakota News Now. July 27, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  28. ↑ Huber, Makenzie (April 25, 2025). "First candidate for governor focuses on property rights, spending and halting 'corporate welfare'". South Dakota Searchlight. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  29. ↑ Haiar, Joshua (May 29, 2025). "Doeden joins race for governor with pledge to eliminate property taxes". South Dakota Searchlight. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  30. ↑ Dausch, Dominik. "Gov. Larry Rhoden to launch 2026 South Dakota governor bid at Rapid City event". Argus Leader. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  31. ↑ Santella, Dan (April 23, 2026). "Critical ads, dark money and SD's GOP campaign for governor". Keloland News.
  32. ↑ Rifaat, Alexander (May 1, 2026). "Rhoden: Johnson tried to keep me from entering governor's race". Dakota News Now. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  33. ↑ "South Dakota Governor Primary Election 2026 Live Results". www.nbcnews.com. July 21, 2026. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Voter Guide: 2026 Republican governor nomination runoff • South Dakota". South Dakota Searchlight. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  35. ↑ Staff, 270toWin. "Live Results: Georgia Congressional Special Election, South Dakota Primary Runoff - 270toWin". 270toWin.com. Retrieved July 28, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. ↑ "7 things to know ahead of the SD gubernatorial runoff". South Dakota News Watch. July 22, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  37. ↑ "South Dakota Governor Primary Runoff 2026 Live Results". www.nbcnews.com. July 29, 2026. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  38. ↑ Tupper, Seth (July 29, 2026). "South Dakota governor wins Republican nomination to seek his own term after succeeding Noem". South Dakota Searchlight. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  39. ↑ "The Governor's Team". governor.sd.gov. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  40. ↑ Hayworth, Bret (July 10, 2013). "Politically Speaking: Rhoden enters S.D. Senate race, setting GOP primary with Mike Rounds". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
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