State Rep.-elect Herman Otten resigns

Longtime lawmaker submits resignation letter to Gov. Kristi Noem

Sen. Herman Otten. (Johnny Sundby/SD LRC)

PIERRE — A longtime South Dakota state lawmaker will not be seated with his peers to start the annual state legislative session next week.

Representative-elect Herman Otten, who currently serves as the State Senator for District 6, wrote to Gov. Kristi Noem’s office Friday to inform them of his decision to resign from the House seat to which he was elected in November.

“It has been an honor and privilege to be a voice for the citizens of district six for the past 12 years,” Otten wrote, in the letter obtained by The Dakota Scout. “There are not enough words to express how grateful I am the citizens chose me to represent them as their voice in Pierre.”

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Otten, 58, cited “personal and family reasons” as the reason he would be declining his two-year term in the South Dakota State House. Prior to deciding to run for the House in 2024, he had intended to retire from the Legislature all together.

Otten is currently serving in the South Dakota State Senate, an office that he has represented since 2021. Prior to his term in the Senate, he served his Lincoln County district - which includes the communities of Tea and Harrisburg within it - in the House from 2013 to 2021. In both chambers, Otten has served at points in time as the chair of each respective chamber’s Agriculture and Natural Resources committees. He and his districtmate, Rep. Aaron Aylward, defeated opponents in both the 2024 primary and general elections in order to earn a two-year term in the House.

Noem will have the opportunity to appoint Otten’s replacement, or could ultimately leave that decision to Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden - who is slated to take over when Noem goes to Washington D.C. to become the next Department of Homeland Security Secretary. In 2024, Noem appointed two new members to the Legislature to fill vacancies.

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Otten told The Scout despite his resignation, he plans to still keep an eye to what is happening in Pierre.

“I always tried to be a reasonable and rational voice, although some would disagree, when dealing with the issues at hand,” Otten concluded.