Johnson expected to announce for governor, Jackley ‘preparing to run’ for Johnson’s U.S. House seat

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, left, and Republican South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley. (South Dakota Searchlight photos)

With just under a year to go before the 2026 primary election, Republican political dominoes have begun to fall in South Dakota.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson said Friday that he’ll make a “political announcement” Monday — widely expected to be a run for governor. 

Earlier Friday, state Attorney General Marty Jackley said he’s “preparing to run” for the seat Johnson will apparently vacate.

Jackley made his announcement to KELOLAND news in a story published Friday morning, saying “the fight is in Washington.”

“From fentanyl and methamphetamine pouring across the southern border to public corruption and wasteful spending in Washington, I want to work with President Trump to find solutions,” Jackley said in a KELO video.

In a later interview with South Dakota Searchlight, Jackley said he’ll run as a “straightforward, very limited-government type of conservative” while opposing abortion and supporting gun rights. He also said he’ll run on his “record of action,” which he said includes “not just advocating but winning in the courts” on numerous issues while serving as attorney general.

Shortly after KELO published its story about Jackley, Johnson sent a press release saying he’ll make his own announcement at noon Monday at the Canopy by Hilton in Sioux Falls. He did not specify what he will announce.

For Johnson, a run for governor would be the culmination of a political journey two decades in the making. The 48-year-old is in the midst of his fourth term in the U.S. House after previously serving as an elected member of South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission from 2004 to 2011. He served as chief of staff to then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard from 2011 to 2014 and then worked in the private sector for Vantage Point Solutions, a telecommunications company in Mitchell, prior to his election to Congress.

Johnson brings a load of campaign cash to the race, with more than $6 million of total money spread among his federal campaign committee and several federal or state political action committees.

Jackley, 54, previously served as U.S. attorney for South Dakota and then as attorney general, but his political career was interrupted by a loss to Kristi Noem in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary race. Jackley was again elected attorney general in 2022.

It was Noem’s departure from the governor’s office in January — with two years left in her final term — that triggered the current maneuvering in the South Dakota Republican Party. Noem is now leading the federal Department of Homeland Security.

Noem’s lieutenant governor, Larry Rhoden, took over as governor and is serving the remainder of Noem’s term. He has not announced whether he will seek the party’s nomination for governor in the June 2026 primary.

Two other candidates have already announced their bids for the Republican gubernatorial nomination: state House Speaker Jon Hansen and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden. Robert Arnold, a 19-year-old college student, has announced his intention to run for the Democratic nomination.

Jackley is the first candidate to publicly announce his intention to run for the U.S. House. 

Jackley’s announcement will trigger a race for attorney general. Other major offices up for election next year in South Dakota include the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mike Rounds, who is expected to seek reelection. Democratic businessman and former state trooper Julian Beaudion is seeking his party’s nomination to challenge Rounds. Brian Bengs, who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat against U.S. Sen. John Thune in 2022, has said he will run as an independent next year against Rounds.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated since its initial publication with the addition of comments from Attorney General Marty Jackley.