Note: I find myself in the awkward position of writing a historical blog post about myself. I am just going to play it straight and write it, in the third person, as I would for anyone else. I really appreciate the confidence that Governor Rhoden has placed in me and I am honored to take on this role.
Governor Larry Rhoden announced today that he will nominate State Representative Tony Venhuizen, a Sioux Falls Republican, to serve as lieutenant governor. It is among the first official acts taken by Rhoden, who became the 34th Governor of South Dakota on Saturday, following the resignation of Governor Kristi Noem to serve as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.
Governor Rhoden’s nomination of Venhuizen is subject to confirmation by a majority vote of both the State Senate and the State House of Representatives. It is the only gubernatorial appointment that requires confirmation by both houses, rather than just the Senate. The confirmation requirement, found in Article IV, Section 6 of the state constitution, was added with the new executive article that South Dakota voters approved in 1972.
Venhuizen, 42, resigned this morning from the State House of Representatives in order to accept the appointment. He was in his second term in the State House of Representatives, where he served as vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee. He represented District 13, an area of southeastern Sioux Falls in Lincoln and Minnehaha counties.
An Armour native, Venhuizen is a graduate of South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota School of Law. In addition to his legislative service, he served for ten years in the Governor’s Office, including time as chief of staff to Governor Dennis Daugaard and Governor Kristi Noem. Venhuizen also served two stints on the Board of Regents; he was appointed by Governor Mike Rounds, serving from 2003-08, and again by Governor Noem, serving from 2021-23. He is an attorney and amateur historian.
Rhoden’s appointment marks the third time in South Dakota history that a governor has appointed a new lieutenant governor. Here are the other two:
- In 1929, when Lt. Governor Clarence E. Coyne died in office. This was during the time, prior to 1974, when governors and lieutenant governors ran separately, rather than on a ticket. Coyne was a Republican, but at the time the Governor was William J. Bulow, the first Democrat to serve as South Dakota governor. Bulow selected John T. Grigsby, a Redfield attorney and fellow Democrat; at this time, no legislative confirmation of the appointment was required. (Grigsby’s brother, Republican Sioux K. Grigsby, would later serve as lieutenant governor as well, from 1945-49).
- In 1993, Governor George S. Mickelson died in a plane crash, and Lt. Governor Walter Dale Miller succeeded to the governor’s office. Miller nominated Steve T. Kirby, a Sioux Falls businessman and attorney, to serve as the new lieutenant governor. The choice was unanimously confirmed by state legislators in a special session called by Governor Miller.
Unlike in 1993, this nomination occurs in the midst of a legislative session, which means a special session to consider Venhuizen’s nomination is unnecessary.
Venhuizen would be the 40th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota. He would be the seventh lieutenant governor from Sioux Falls, following Hans Ustrud (1933-35), Sioux K. Grigsby (1945-49), Nils Boe (1963-65), Bill Dougherty (1971-75), Lowell C. Hansen II (1979-87), and Steve T. Kirby (1993-95). He would be the first Lincoln County resident to serve as lieutenant governor, and third SDSU graduate, following Dougherty and Carole Hillard.
Venhuizen would be the first Armour native to hold any statewide office. Edwin S. Johnson, the first Democratic U.S. Senator from South Dakota, grew up in Indiana and Iowa, and lived in Armour for a time before relocating to Platte, from where he was elected U.S. Senator in 1914.
Service in the legislature is, by far, the most common experience for lieutenant governors. Venhuizen will the 31st of 40 lieutenant governors to have served in the territorial or state legislature. The most recent lieutenant governor to lack legislative experience was Kirby.
Venhuizen’s maternal grandfather, Henry A. Poppen, was a state senator from Kingsbury County from 1967-92, serving for 12 years as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Venhuizen’s wife, Sara, is an electrical engineer and distinguished alumna of SDSU. They have three children. Sara is the daughter of former Governor Dennis Daugaard and First Lady Linda Daugaard. Daugaard also served for eight years as lieutenant governor, during the administration of Governor Mike Rounds from 2003-11.
Update: The South Dakota State Senate and State House of Representatives unanimously confirmed Venhuizen’s appointment on January 30, and he was sworn in shortly thereafter.
SoDak Governors 