This is an update of a post that was written prior to the 2022 general election. The 2024 election marks fourteen years…
Mike Rounds at 70
October 24, 2024 is U.S. Senator Mike Rounds’ 70th birthday. He was born in Huron, on the weekend of the…
Children’s Home Society honors Daugaard
Dennis Daugaard served as Governor of South Dakota from 2011-19. Before that time, he spent 24 years in various roles…
President Biden remembers Tim Johnson
President Joe Biden issued the following statement today, on the passing of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson. Biden and Johnson…
U.S. Senator Tim Johnson dies
Timothy P. Johnson, who served in the State House, State Senate, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate, died last night, on…
The remarkable Lyman County
Lyman County, South Dakota has never been large. In the 2020 census, the West River county had 3,718 people, or…
The Dakota Scout features Bulow and Anderson
Dan Gehlsen of The Dakota Scout does a great job featuring South Dakota history in the pages of Sioux Falls’…
Biggest presidential winners in South Dakota
South Dakota has cast its electoral votes in 33 elections since gaining statehood in 1889. The Democratic ticket has carried…
Biden ends reelection bid
Joseph R. Biden Jr., the 46th President of the United States, announced this morning that he will not be a…
Will the 2024 Republican National Convention make history for South Dakota?
The Republican National Convention opens in Milwaukee tomorrow, on July 15, 2024. Former President Donald J. Trump, who narrowly survived…
Trump to make history as three-time nominee
The Republican National Convention opens in Milwaukee tomorrow, on July 15, 2024. What always promised to be a significant political…
History of Presidential Assassinations
The late afternoon of Saturday, July 13, 2024 brought a shock to the United States and the world, as former…
Farewell to Jan Nicolay, a trailblazer for women in SD politics
The sad news comes that Jan Nicolay, a longtime Sioux Falls educator and state legislator, died this morning, aged 82.…
Farewell to Jim Burg
The news comes that Jim Burg died last night, at the age of 82. Burg spent 30 years in state…
Kenneth Stofferahn, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and PUC commissioner, passes on
Longtime political figure Kenneth Stofferahn passed away on March 18, 2024, aged 89. A three-term public utilities commissioner, Stofferahn also…
It’s official: No vetoes from Governor Noem in 2024
Governor Kristi Noem announced today that she has signed the state budget bills, the last remaining bills before her for…
Online Almanac of South Dakota Politics now includes state university presidents
As part of this blog’s continuing quest to inform, the Online Almanac of South Dakota Politics now includes a new…
“The Dakota Scout” features VP post
The Dakota Scout is once again featuring content from this blog. Yesterday, the online edition posted an updated version of a…
Podcast series by SDPB’s Strubinger a major contribution to SD History
This week, Lee Strubinger, the Politics & Public Policy Reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting, released a nine-part serial podcast…
Lawrence: Thank McGovern for Iowa Caucuses
A day after South Dakota’s neighbor, Iowa, gave a big win to former President Donald Trump, reporter Tom Lawrence has…
South Dakota History in 2023
As the year comes to a close, we think back on the year that was. The year began as Gov.…
The history (and future?) of South Dakota’s state flag
The news reports this week that Sen. Reynold Nesiba is considering legislation to create a commission to recommend a new…
Blogger Joe Kirby on SD’s role in First Amendment jurisprudence
I recently read an interesting post by Joe Kirby, the author of SiouxFallsJoe.com and a fellow enthusiast for South Dakota…
ChatGPT votes Dolly for Speaker
This post is a little off-topic from South Dakota history, but it’s a continuation of my experimentation with ChatGPT. In…
Tim Kessler passes on
The sad news comes that Tim Kessler, 66, passed away on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. Kessler was a prominent businessman…
How Mt. Rushmore reopened during the 2013 federal shutdown
The Dakota Scout reported today that Governor Kristi Noem is exploring options to keep Mount Rushmore open if the federal…
Blogger Joe Kirby on the history of downtown Sioux Falls
Joe Kirby, the author of the blog SiouxFallsJoe.com, is a resident of downtown Sioux Falls and a tireless advocate for…
Back to the Future: Huron’s Karen refugees recall SD’s settlement by ethnic communities
One doesn’t need to live in South Dakota for very long to see the legacy left by the European immigrants…
“The Eighteen-Day Running Mate” recalls a strange chapter in SD political history
During one of my recent appearances on “The Dakota Town Hall” podcasts, I mentioned a book that I read several…
Kristi for VP: What would it mean?
On Friday evening, former President Donald J. Trump visited Rapid City to address South Dakota Republican Party’s “Monumental Leaders” fundraiser.…
SD Democrats fall to 3rd
During the lead-up to the 2022 general election, SD political reporters wrote about the Republican Party’s continued growth in the…
Mitchell Republic features 1895 theft of SD state treasury
The theft in 1895 of the entire South Dakota state treasury by the outgoing treasurer, W. W. Taylor, remains one…
Gene Lebrun, lawyer and Democratic leader, passes on
The sad news comes that Gene Lebrun, age 84, died on Sunday, July 23. Lebrun, a Rapid City attorney, served…
Guest Post: The 200k Club
Marcus Mahlen, a Sioux Falls commercial real estate broker and fellow history enthusiast, contributed this interesting post. As a Webster…
Ron Schmidt, 1998 US Senate nominee, dies
The news comes that Ron Schmidt, a longtime politico who was the 1998 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, died on…
Talking through the Governors on “Dakota Town Hall”
“Dakota Town Hall” is a weekly politics podcast hosted by Brad “Murdoc” Jurgensen and Jake Schoenbeck. With the summer bringing…
Farewell to Jim Hansen
Dr. James O. Hansen, a longtime educator and public servant, died on Tuesday, aged 94. Jim’s first career was as…
Jim Beddow 1942-2023
The sad news comes that Jim Beddow, the 1994 Democratic nominee for governor, passed away on Sunday. Beddow, a native of Woonsocket,…
“The Dakota Scout” features post on presidential candidates
Another issue of The Dakota Scout has hit the newsstands, once again featuring content from this blog. The June 22-28, 2023 includes this…
A look at the Chiefs of Staff to the Governor
An updated version of this post is available on the Online Almanac of South Dakota Politics, here. The news today…
The Daugaards at 70
Today is Dennis Daugaard’s 70th birthday. The 32nd Governor of South Dakota was born at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux…
SD Gov History on “Dakota Town Hall” and “The Dakota Scout” podcasts
This blogger has recently appeared on two weekly podcasts, which are available for download. “Dakota Town Hall” is a weekly…
Dakotans running for President
This blog is SoDakGovs, not NoDakGovs, but it is nevertheless notable that Doug Burgum, the two-term governor of North Dakota,…
“Run with the Govs” slated for June 17
The annual “Run with the Govs,” a 3.5-mile run or walk, will be held in Pierre during its annual Oahe…
Guest post: ChatGPT on Peter Norbeck
Last month, this blogger asked ChatGPT to write a post about South Dakota’s youngest and oldest governors. The experiment was…
Governor Noem pays tribute to Sheila Bonrud
Governor Kristi Noem’s weekly column today is a remembrance of Sheila Bonrud: Remembering Sheila By Gov. Kristi Noem It is…
Remembering Sheila Bonrud
Sheila Bonrud passed away on Wednesday morning, May 17, 2023, at the age of 81. Sheila wasn’t a public figure…
South Dakota Law Review focuses on Ravnsborg impeachment
Volume 68, Issue 2 of The South Dakota Law Review is out, and it features numerous articles on the impeachment…
Kevin Woster column highlights Trail of Governors
Last week, Kevin Woster and I took a walk along the Trail of Governors in Pierre. Kevin wrote a great…
SD Gov comebacks
Grover Cleveland, as every grade schooler learns, is the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms. Bill Janklow is…
SoDak Governors 