South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to members of the media at the Capitol in Pierre on Feb. 12, 2026. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden won the Republican Party’s nomination for governor Tuesday in a runoff election, earning the chance to seek his own four years in office after filling out the remainder of former Gov. Kristi Noem’s last term.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:08 p.m. Central. Complete returns several hours later showed Rhoden with 71% of the votes and a 42-point win over Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, with 29%. Rhoden won in 64 of the state’s 66 counties, with only Fall River and Todd counties going for Doeden.
Rhoden spoke to his supporters at a results watch party in Sioux Falls at about 9 p.m. He reflected on the early days of the campaign when he trailed in multiple public polls.
“There were times when I really felt like the good Lord was trying to teach me something,” Rhoden said. “And there were times when all I had to rely on was the Scripture: You walk by faith, not by sight. And that’s what we do. You keep moving forward.”
Doeden spoke to his supporters in Aberdeen at about the same time and said he had called Rhoden to congratulate him and to pledge support for him in the general election.
“I have said since day one on this long, crazy journey that my singular goal was to unite our amazing Republican Party and move this state forward, and that journey has not ended here, my friends,” Doeden said.
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.
Republican turnout for the runoff was 36%, after 43% of Republican voters turned out for the primary. 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 — 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, of rural Brandon, who said in a polling-place interview that he had 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 at 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 and 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 at 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.
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 at her polling place that Rhoden’s experience was an important factor in her support 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.
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