The Governors of South Dakota

#	GOVERNOR	PARTY	TENURE	LIVED	CITY	COUNTY
1	Arthur C. Mellette¹	REP	1889–1893	1842–1896	Watertown	Codington
2	Charles H. Sheldon	REP	1893–1897	1840–1898	Pierpont	Day
3	Andrew E. Lee	POP²	1897–1901	1847–1934	Vermillion	Clay
4	Charles N. Herreid	REP	1901–1905	1857–1928	Eureka	McPherson
5	Samuel H. Elrod	REP	1905–1907	1856–1935	Clark	Clark
6	Coe I. Crawford	REP	1907–1909	1858–1944	Huron	Beadle
7	Robert S. Vessey	REP	1909–1913	1858–1929	Wessington Springs	Jerauld
8	Frank M. Byrne	REP	1913–1917	1858–1927	Faulkton	Faulk
9	Peter Norbeck	REP	1917–1921	1870–1936	Redfield	Spink
10	William H. McMaster	REP	1921–1925	1877–1968	Yankton	Yankton
11	Carl Gunderson	REP	1925–1927	1864–1933	Mitchell	Davison
12	William J. Bulow	DEM	1927–1931	1869–1960	Beresford	Union
13	Warren E. Green	REP	1931–1933	1869–1945	Hazel	Hamlin
14	Tom Berry	DEM	1933–1937	1879–1951	Belvidere	Mellette
15	Leslie Jensen	REP	1937–1939	1892–1964	Hot Springs	Fall River
16	Harlan J. Bushfield	REP	1939–1943	1882–1948	Miller	Hand
17	M. Q. Sharpe	REP	1943–1947	1888–1962	Kennebec	Lyman
18	George T. Mickelson	REP	1947–1951	1903–1965	Selby	Walworth
19	Sigurd Anderson	REP	1951–1955	1904–1990	Webster	Day
20	Joe Foss	REP	1955–1959	1915–2003	Sioux Falls	Minnehaha
21	Ralph Herseth	DEM	1959–1961	1909–1969	Houghton	Brown
22	Archie Gubbrud	REP	1961–1965	1910–1987	Alcester	Lincoln
23	Nils Boe	REP	1965–1969	1913–1992	Sioux Falls	Minnehaha
24	Frank Farrar	REP	1969–1971	1929–2021	Britton	Marshall
25	Richard F. Kneip³	DEM	1971–1978	1933–1987	Salem	McCook
26	Harvey Wollman³	DEM	1978–1979	1935–2022	Frankfort	Spink
27	William J. Janklow	REP	1979–1987	1939–2012	Flandreau	Moody
28	George S. Mickelson⁴	REP	1987–1993	1941–1993	Brookings	Brookings
29	Walter Dale Miller⁴	REP	1993–1995	1925–2015	New Underwood	Meade
30	William J. Janklow⁵	REP	1995–2003	1939–2012	Brandon	Minnehaha
31	M. Michael Rounds	REP	2003–2011	1954–	Pierre	Hughes
32	Dennis Daugaard	REP	2011–2019	1953–	Dell Rapids	Minnehaha
33	Kristi Noem⁶	REP	2019–2025	1971–	Castlewood	Hamlin
34	Larry R. Rhoden⁶	REP	2019–	1959–	Union Center	Meade

Mellette was the final Governor of Dakota Territory and the first Governor of South Dakota.
Lee, a Populist, was elected on a “fusion” ticket representing the Populist and Democratic parties.
Kneip resigned in 1978 to become U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and was succeeded by Lt. Governor Wollman.
Mickelson died in an airplane crash in 1993 and was succeeded by Lt. Governor Miller.
Janklow was the first former governor to return to the office.
Noem was the first woman to serve as governor. She resigned in 2025 to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and was succeeded by Lt. Governor Rhoden.

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