State Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner is the prime sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 505, a proposed constitutional amendment that would update South Dakota’s Constitution to remove male pronouns referring to the Governor and other officials. Sen. Tobin’s testimony before the Senate Local Government Committee on February 3, 2023 included an overview of historical “firsts” by women in South Dakota politics. She agreed to allow me to share her testimony on this blog.
In 1918, South Dakota achieved women’s suffrage. 100 years later, our great State elected our first female Governor, Kristi Noem. In the last 100 years, there have been many other notable female leaders in South Dakota. There have also been many “firsts”.
Gladys Pyle of Huron was the first woman to serve in the South Dakota state legislature. She was elected to the State House in 1922 and re-elected in 1924. Pyle’s mother, Mamie, was a leading suffragist in South Dakota. Gladys Pyle was also the first woman to serve in statewide office, as she was elected Secretary of State in 1926 and 1928. After Pyle, the SOS office was dominated by women as the next 14 were all women. Monae Johnson is the 17th female secretary of State. Gladys Pyle then went on to be the first woman to represent SD in Congress, after winning a special election to the US Senate after senator Peter Norbeck passed away in late 1936.
Mary Kotrba was the only female legislator in 1927. She named Grace Coolidge Creek, through the legislature, after hearing about an argument about the hike by the creek, between President Calvin Coolidge and his wife.
Fifty-seven years after the first woman was elected to serve in the State House, Mary McClure from Redfield became the first woman to hold a leadership position, she was President Pro tempore of the State senate. She remains the only woman to be President Pro Tempore.
Debra Anderson from Sioux Falls was the first woman Speaker of the House. Debra Anderson resigned in 1989 to be Deputy Assistant to the President and director of intergovernmental affairs in the George Bush White House and the aforementioned Mary McClure was assistant.
Carole Hillard was the first female lieutenant governor. She had spent two terms in the State House prior. She remains the only woman ever to have served as lieutenant governor as she was elected on Governor Bill Janklow’s ticket in 1994 and 1998.
Judith Meierhenry was the first woman to serve as a Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court. She was appointed in 2002 by Governor Bill Janklow. We have never had a woman serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to date.
Stephanie Herseth was the first woman to represent South Dakota in the US House of Representatives.
29 female legislators have served for at least 10 years. The longest serving among them is Senator Jean Hunhoff who started in the legislature in 2000. She is the first female legislator in South Dakota to have served for 20 years, a milestone reached by 41 of her male colleagues. She is now on her 23rd year serving.
South Dakota currently has 31 female legislators in the People’s house, the most ever in history.
Female legislators serving today, raised by strong mothers, know they may achieve any role they set their sights on. For people like Stephanie Herseth, Kristi Noem, and myself, we’ve reached milestones in public service — thanks to the passion and hard work of past generations. I want to continue to step forward, so my own daughter will one day join the long list of women serving the great people of South Dakota.
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