Critics of Gov. Larry Rhoden and the Legislature’s iteration of property tax relief this year are hoping South Dakota voters will have the final say in November.

A campaign committee has formed to refer Senate Bill 245 to the ballot for voters in November, looking to block legislation that would draw more than $100 million annually from sales tax collections for a property tax relief fund. But opponents say it’s a regressive shift that unfairly burdens low-income South Dakotans, businesses and renters.

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The third and final GOP primary debate between South Dakota’s Republican candidates for governor is in the books after a historic night in state politics.

Gov. Larry Rhoden, Congressman Dusty Johnson, House Speaker Jon Hansen and Toby Doeden showcased their brand of conservatism in front of hundreds inside the Belbas Theater at the Washington Pavilion for 90 minutes, taking questions from Sioux Falls Live’s Patrick Lalley and The Dakota Scout’s Jonathan Ellis.

The moderators’ news outlets co-hosted the evening’s event — the first time in decades gubernatorial candidates in South Dakota have participated in a televised, theater-setting debate. Sponsors were POET, MarketBeat, Houwman Insurance, Mitchell Tech, the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, the South Dakota Soybean Association and Americans for Prosperity.

Watch a replay of the debate, and paid subscribers can check out the photo gallery below for scenes from the debate, backstage and post-debate festivities.

Images were taken by reporters and photographers of The Dakota Scout, Sioux Falls Live and the Mitchell Republic.

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A past Republican governor and the top of this year’s Democratic ticket are standing between a far-right state lawmaker and another term in the South Dakota Legislature.

Former District 23 state Sen. Bryan Breitling is mounting a return to the Capitol — this time in District 25 — where he is challenging fellow Republican and incumbent Sen. Tom Pischke for the seat he hopes to reclaim.

But what sets the race apart isn’t just that Breitling, who now lives in rural Dell Rapids after moving from Miller in 2022, is running as an independent against a member of his own party. It’s who is helping him do it.

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Early voting has begun in some South Dakota counties, while others continue to wait for absentee ballots ahead of the June 2 election.

But auditors anticipate all 66 counties will have ballots by the end of the week.

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Sixty-four percent of South Dakotans believe that global warming is occurring, while 64 percent also believe global warming will hurt future generations, according to a report released Wednesday.

“There are a lot of people who think that folks in South Dakota don’t care about climate change and don’t really care about transitioning into a renewable future, and that perception would not be correct,” said Michael Heisler, the chair of the board of directors for South Dakota Green Project.

The group, formerly known as Sodak350, released the report on Earth Day to draw attention to environmental concerns. It also comes amid one of the busiest election seasons featuring a full ballot of statewide, legislative and local elections.

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An independent candidate for U.S. Senate in South Dakota is posting the strongest early fundraising numbers for a non-Republican contender in nearly two decades.

Two-time U.S. Senate hopeful Brian Bengs has reported raising more than $235,000 between Jan. 1 and the end of March in his most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, marking the largest single-quarter campaign fundraising total by a candidate not under the umbrella of the state’s majority political party since 2008.

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The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office warned last year that state election deadlines were too close to the start of early voting.

The office tried to get the candidate filing deadline changed from the last Tuesday of March to the third Tuesday of March, warning that the upcoming 2026 primary was too close to the start of early voting, with the final Tuesday falling on March 31 – the fifth Tuesday of the month. Deputy Secretary of State Tom Deadrick told lawmakers it would be “impossible” to get ballots in time for the start of early voting.

Deadrick handed out a calendar to lawmakers to illustrate his point.

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South Dakota’s 2026 statewide ballots are set, and on them, South Dakota voters will see a mix of uncontested nominations and competitive Republican primaries that will largely be decided June 2.

While Democrats in several top races have cleared the field, Republicans will sort through crowded contests for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, setting up a consequential primary election that will shape the state’s political landscape heading into November.

Here’s a race-by-race look at who made the ballot — and who voters are being courted by ahead of the primary election.

Note: Republican candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot. Independent candidates do not appear on primary ballots, and have until April 28 to submit signatures to secure a place on the general election ballot.

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The South Dakota 2026 primary election is hitting some snags. And it could be a statewide problem.

Minnehaha, Lincoln and Moody counties have confirmed to The Dakota Scout that absentee ballots won’t be ready in time for the start of in-person absentee voting in South Dakota.

Moody County Auditor Tawny Heinemann predicted that it will be a statewide problem for most counties in the state. Moody County did not receive primary ballot certification from the secretary of state until Tuesday morning.

“A lot of us haven’t even received ballot proofs yet, myself included,” she told The Dakota Scout.

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The theater where The Dakota Scout and Sioux Falls Live will host South Dakota’s third and final GOP gubernatorial primary debate of the 2026 election season is officially sold out.

When a sitting governor, a congressman, a House speaker and a business mogul take the stage later this month in downtown Sioux Falls, every one of the Belbas Theater’s 279 seats are anticipated to be filled.

The two Sioux Falls-based news outlets announced Thursday that no tickets remain for the April 27 debate at the Washington Pavilion between Gov. Larry Rhoden, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, House Speaker Jon Hansen and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden.

“I knew demand for an event like this would be high — from what I understand it’s the first of its kind in South Dakota in a minute. But I had no idea seats would move this fast,” said Joe Sneve, a co-founder of The Dakota Scout who organized the event where seats were offered to paid subscribers of TheDakotaScout.com. “Our subscribers need a nod for helping us make this a successful and historic event, but more importantly for staying civically engaged.”

The 90-minute debate begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be moderated by Jonathan Ellis of The Dakota Scout and Patrick Lalley of SiouxFallsLive.com.

It’ll be broadcast on KSFL in Sioux Falls and KNBN in Rapid City, reaching viewers across the state via over-the-air, cable and satellite systems. The debate will also be livestreamed on TheDakotaScout.com, SiouxFallsLive.com and other Forum Communications platforms in South Dakota.

Top sponsors of the debate include MarketBeat, POET, Houwman Insurance, S.D. Corn Growers Association, S.D. Soybean Association and Americans for Prosperity.

South Dakota lawmakers reopened a familiar fight Monday: whether the state is sitting on too much federal welfare money while poor families live on low cash benefits.

The Joint Appropriations Committee approved four letters of intent on Veto Day, when the Legislature returned after the 38-day session to act on the governor’s vetoes.

Three letters passed without opposition. The fight came over Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.

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A future where lab-grown meat replaces natural beef, pork and chicken in the diets of South Dakotans remains a threat.

And bad actors masquerading as caretakers are still able to operate where the light of government regulators does not reach.

That’s the takeaway some state lawmakers on the losing side of the Veto Day scorecard would have South Dakotans believe after the Legislature stood down on a pair of measures that’d been sent to Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk earlier this winter.

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Gov. Larry Rhoden is backing a plan to make school lunches free for more South Dakota kids.

The Union Center Republican announced at a speaking engagement in Dallas on Thursday evening that he intends to sign House Bill 1082, just days ahead of next week’s Veto Day.

“Tomorrow is the last day I have to sign bills, and there are just a handful … I have left on my desk, and one of them is House Bill 1082, which deals with the state picking up the tab to make free and reduced lunches free and free in South Dakota,” the governor said during a campaign stop at the Lodge at Bolton Ranch.

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Gov. Larry Rhoden is being accused of concealing his use of a private plane to get between campaign stops last fall after they were not disclosed on his campaign finance reports.

An investigation by The Dakota Scout has revealed that a benefactor to the governor’s candidacy in the 2026 gubernatorial election provided Rhoden and his campaign staff transportation from South Dakota’s Capital City to campaign events in Sioux Falls and Watertown.

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Rep. Dusty Johnson is proposing to increase a fund that provides small grants to South Dakota entrepreneurs in a bid to help residents start homegrown businesses.

Johnson, who is running for the GOP nomination for governor, wants to direct $2 million from the Future Fund to what he’s calling Launch South Dakota. It includes directing more economic development money to the Research Proof-of-Concept Fund. The fund provides awards of up to $25,000 to South Dakota start-ups.

The proposal would represent a major increase for the Research Proof-of-Concept Fund within the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. GOED requested $500,000 for the fund in the fiscal year 2027 budget.

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PIERRE – South Dakota lawmakers Thursday passed a $7.5 billion budget for 2027, an amount that included unexpected increases for education, Medicaid providers and state employees.

“Well, we did it. We landed the budget plane,” said Rep. Mike Derby, the Rapid City Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee.

The final budget votes in the House and Senate capped this year’s legislative session, with just one day remaining March 30 reserved for considering any vetoes issued by Gov. Larry Rhoden.

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PIERRE – The end of the legislative session on Thursday marks the ramp up of election season.

A pair of polls in the race for governor show that the four-man contest will be competitive, and it could end in a runoff between the top two finishers. No candidate in either poll cracked the 35 percent mark to avoid triggering a runoff.

Both polls had Dusty Johnson leading, but from there, the results varied.

Larry Rhoden was within 5 percentage points of Johnson in a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, down 28 to 33 – within the margin of error. Toby Doeden followed with 16 percent while Jon Hansen had 10 percent.

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PIERRE – The South Dakota Senate voted Wednesday to create a property tax relief fund that will be financed with $110 million in state sales tax revenues.

Senate Bill 245 also transfers nearly $56 million out of reserves into the property tax relief fund to get it started.

The $110 million will automatically kick into the state budget when a tax sunset expires next year, sending the state’s sales tax rate from 4.2 percent to 4.5 percent. Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, said using sales tax dollars to buy down part of the education mill levy that local taxpayers finance through property taxes would get “more people with skin in the game” of funding education.

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PIERRE – A measure to reduce the number of voters needed to refer a local government decision failed Tuesday after the South Dakota House rejected amendments that had been placed in the bill by the Senate.

The bill was one of five supported by Gov. Larry Rhoden in his bid to enact homeowner property tax relief.

Originally, House Bill 1323 would have extended the window by which voters can collect signatures to refer a local government decision. The law allows a referral to take place now if enough signatures can be collected from 5 percent of registered voters within 20 days.

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Two Sioux Falls School Board members closed Monday’s meeting with open anger over the 2026 legislative session.

That was after Business Manager Todd Vik told the board lawmakers had taken repeated runs at the district’s opt-out authority.

The sharpest comments came after a legislative update that began with an update on free and reduced-price school lunches — a reform lawmakers passed Monday — and ended with a familiar complaint: That Sioux Falls keeps getting singled out when lawmakers look for ways to change school funding.

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