Today, in a filling with the Secretary of State’s office, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Ahlers designated Steven D. McCleerey of Sisseton as his running mate. McCleerey, 73, is a former state representative from District 1.
The Ahlers/McCleerey ticket will take on the incumbent ticket of Governor Larry Rhoden of Union Center and Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen of Sioux Falls. Rhoden, who secured the Republican nomination in the state’s first-ever runoff election two weeks ago, officially named Venhuizen as his running mate last week, having said throughout his campaign that he and Venhuizen were running as a ticket.
The selections of Venhuizen and McCleerey are the first under the new law, passed in 2025, that allowed gubernatorial nominees to designate the nominee for lieutenant governor. Prior to this law, gubernatorial nominees would name a preferred running mate who was officially nominated at the state party convention.
McCleerey is a farmer. He is a 1971 graduate of Sisseton High School and attended South Dakota State University. He served three terms in the State House of Representatives, from 2015-20. During his final term, in 2019-20, McCleerey was House Assistant Minority Leader, serving with House Minority Leader Jamie Smith. He was defeated in his bid for a fourth term in 2020, finishing third behind two newcomers: Republican Tamara St. John, and Democrat Jennifer Keintz.
McCleerey sought to return to the State Legislature in 2022 and in 2024. In 2022, he finished third to Republicans Tamara St. John and Joe Donnell. In 2024, he finished fourth, behind Republicans Logan Manhart and Christopher Reeder and Democrat Mark Sumption.
Service in the legislature is, by far, the most common experience for lieutenant governors. Lt. Governor Venhuizen is the 31st of 40 lieutenant governors to have served in the territorial or state legislature; McCleerey, if elected, would be the 32nd.
The Ahlers/McCleerey ticket pairs a gubernatorial nominee from Minnehaha County with a running mate from District 1, the state’s northeastern-most legislative district. In this way it echoes the Democratic ticket of four years ago, with paired House Minority Leader Jamie Smith of Sioux Falls with Rep. Jennifer Keintz of Marshall County. The 2014 Democratic nominee for governor, Susan Wismer, was also a state legislator from District 1.
The Democratic ticket will be the first since 2010 to feature two men, after the 2014 Wismer/Blake ticket included two women, and the 2018 Sutton/Lavallee and 2022 Smith/Keintz tickets included women running for lieutenant governor. Aged 73, McCleerey is the oldest person nominated by a major party for lieutenant governor since 1974, when the governor and the lieutenant governor first ran as a ticket.
McCleerey would be the first lieutenant governor from Roberts County. Northeastern South Dakota was a traditional Democratic stronghold. Legislative District 1, which generally includes Roberts, Marshall and Day counties is one of the few districts in the state that more often has sent Democrats to Pierre over the past several decades. This has changed in recent years, though, with Republican Tamara St. John winning in 2020 and Republicans sweeping the district in 2022 and 2024.
Of the 22 distinct gubernatorial tickets nominated since 1974 (when the governor and lieutenant governor first ran as a ticket), the Ahlers/McCleerey ticket is the 11th to feature two East River nominees, and the 15th to feature at least one nominee from greater Sioux Falls (counting Dell Rapids as such).
Here are the Democratic tickets since 1974:
| DEM GOV NOMINEE | DEM LG NOMINEE | |
| 1974 | Dick Kneip – Salem – Incumbent was a former senate minority leader and businessman. | Harvey Wollman – Frankfort – Senate majority leader and a farmer. |
| 1978 | Roger McKellips – Alcester – State senator and banker. | Billie Sutton – Bonesteel – State senator and rancher. (This is the grandfather of the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor). |
| 1982 | Mike O’Connor – Brandon – Former senate president pro tempore and businessman. | Willis Danekas – Raymond – state represenative and farmer. |
| 1986 | Lars Herseth – Houghton – House minority leader and farmer. | Ted Thoms – Sioux Falls – county commissioner and businessman. |
| 1990 | Bob Samuelson – Faith – State senator and rancher. | Shirley Halleen – Sioux Falls – former state representative and teacher. First woman to appear on a gubernatorial ticket. |
| 1994 | Jim Beddow – Mitchell – President of Dakota Wesleyan University. | Jim Abbott – Yankton – Former state representative and businessman. |
| 1998 | Bernie Hunhoff – Yankton – Senate minority leader and owner of South Dakota Magazine. | Elsie Meeks – Interior – businesswoman and economic development official. First Native American to appear on a gubernatorial ticket. |
| 2002 | Jim Abbott – Vermillion – President of the University of South Dakota, former state representative and businessman. | Mike Wilson – Rapid City – former state representative and attorney. |
| 2006 | Jack Billion – Sioux Falls – Former state representative and orthopedic surgeon. | Eric Abrahamson – Rapid City – School board member and historian. |
| 2010 | Scott Heidepriem – Sioux Falls – Senate minority leader and attorney; he had represented Miller in the state legislature as a Republican. | Ben Arndt – Sioux Falls – Businessman. A Republican when he was selected; he changed registrations to accept the nomination. |
| 2014 | Susan Wismer – Britton – State representative and accountant. First woman nominated for governor by a major party. | Susy Blake – Sioux Falls – Former state representative and retired nurse. |
| 2018 | Billie Sutton – Burke – Senate minority leader, investment advisor and rancher. | Michelle Lavallee – Sioux Falls – marketing consultant. |
| 2022 | Jamie Smith – Sioux Falls – House minority leader, real estate agent and former teacher. | Jennifer Keintz – Eden – State representative and real estate broker. |
| 2026 | Dan Ahlers – Dell Rapids – Former state legislator, South Dakota Democratic Party executive director and former businessman. | Steve McCleerey – Sisseton (East River) – Former state representative and farmer. |
SoDak Governors 