TONIGHT: South Dakota governor hopefuls to square off in last pre-primary debate
Here's how to watch and what else to know before Johnson, Rhoden, Hansen, Doeden spar inside the Washington Pavilion in downtown Sioux Falls
South Dakota’s Republican contenders for governor take the debate stage tonight in downtown Sioux Falls for the final time ahead of the June 2 GOP primary election.
The 2026 GOP gubernatorial debate, organized and hosted by Sioux Falls Live and The Dakota Scout, will be held at the Belbas Theater inside the Washington Pavilion. The candidates are U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, Gov. Larry Rhoden, House Speaker Jon Hansen and businessman Toby Doeden.
The 90-minute debate begins at 7:30 p.m. in front of a sold-out audience of about 300 subscribers of The Dakota Scout. The debate will air live on KSFL in Sioux Falls (Channel 36 and Midco channel 616) and KNBN in RAPID CITY (NewsCenter 1 Channel 21 and Midco 610), and will be livestreamed on TheDakotaScout.com and SiouxFallsLive.com. It will also be recorded for future public broadcast.
Veteran South Dakota journalists Jonathan Ellis of The Dakota Scout and Patrick Lalley of SiouxFallsLive.com will moderate the debate. They will enforce time limits and ensure equal participation among candidates.
No candidate will be allowed to bring props, pre-written notes, papers, electronic devices or other materials to the podium. Responses must be delivered without prepared written or visual aids. Notepads and pens will be provided at each podium.
The speaking order for opening statements, responses and closing remarks will be determined by a random draw conducted prior to the debate — and in the presence of all candidates and moderators. The order will rotate throughout the event.
All questions were prepared in advance by journalists from The Dakota Scout and Sioux Falls Live, and candidates will not see them prior to the debate.
Immediately following the debate, tune into TheDakotaScout.com for a special post-debate Scouting Lounge podcast that will be video streamed from the Washington Pavilion.
"Veteran South Dakota journalists Jonathan Ellis of The Dakota Scout and Patrick Lalley of SiouxFallsLive.com will moderate the debate. They will enforce time limits and ensure equal participation among candidates. . . All questions were prepared in advance by journalists from The Dakota Scout and Sioux Falls Live, and candidates will not see them prior to the debate . . . Immediately following the debate, tune into TheDakotaScout.com for a special post-debate Scouting Lounge podcast that will be video streamed from the Washington Pavilion.”
I suppose you can call it a debate, but really it’s a question and answer format where candidates answer questions and in the process try and differentiate themselves from each other when they’ve all spent time talking about how much they support President Trump and his approach to governing via executive order minus any real congressional debate or attempt at compromise. Maybe that’s a good question—how will your approach to governance differ from the process in Washington DC. Maybe ask Dusty which of the two bills he managed to pass during his time in Washington he is most proud of?
Seriously, perhaps it will allow candidates to lay out a plan of action, what they will do for the state and how they will do it (does anyone think Toby actually has a workable plan to replace property tax revenue?) and why it’s the best course of action for education or healthcare or the cost of living—things that impact people’s lives that could arguably get at the purpose of government as laid out in the preamble to the constitution —“to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
And while I’m sure some folks will want to know who the DS thinks won the debate and why, isn’t an immediate post question and answer talking head dissection of what happened what many hate about today’s political environment where conclusions are leapt to without time to fact check or reflect thoughtfully instead of rush to judgement?
Maybe there will be shots fired outside the Pavilion and the candidates can be rushed to safety and Rhoden can declare in order to remain strong, safe and free we need a ballroom at the Capitol or Hansen can argue we need Operation Dakota Storm to protect the yet to be born future victims of gun violence or Dusty can argue that we need more tax cuts to spur economic growth because it’s working so well at the federal level or Doeden can argue that as Margaret Thatcher once said, “socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money” and then he can explain how capitalism is better because we’re only 39 trillion dollars in debt because fiscally responsible Republicans are in charge of managing other people’s money.
Yes, I’m being satirical, but isn’t it worth pointing out some of the absurdity of what will no doubt be tonight’s performative posturing—perhaps someone will claim that the failure to produce ballots in time to meet early voting deadlines is really a good thing because it prevented folks from voting before tonight’s informative debate? It was the plan all along!