Saying it’s time for a ‘new chapter,’ Dusty Johnson announces his campaign for governor

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, speaks with students on May 19, 2023, in Sioux Falls. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Dusty Johnson will run for governor of South Dakota next year, he confirmed Monday during a campaign event in Sioux Falls.

The announcement was a formality after Johnson was widely rumored to be a candidate and said last week that he planned to make a political announcement Monday.

The 48-year-old Johnson, a Republican and married father of three from Mitchell, currently serves as South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He said in a press release Monday morning that it’s been “the honor of my lifetime” to serve in Congress, “but it’s time for a new chapter — a chapter that drives South Dakota to a brighter future where we build better schools and safer communities, a chapter that governs with conservative principles to create new jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities in every community, and a chapter where being a workhorse, not a show horse, still means something.”

Johnson is serving his fourth term in Congress. He previously worked as an executive of Mitchell-based telecommunications company Vantage Point Solutions from 2014 to 2018, as chief of staff to then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard from 2011 to 2014, and as an elected member of the state Public Utilities Commission from 2004 to 2011.

Gov. Kristi Noem resigned earlier this year to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in President Donald Trump’s administration. Her lieutenant governor, Larry Rhoden, succeeded her and is serving the remainder of her term through next year. Rhoden has not announced whether he will be a candidate to keep the job.

Two other men have already declared their candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor: state House Speaker Jon Hansen and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden. Republican voters will pick their nominee in the June 2, 2026, primary election.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old college student Robert Arnold has announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor.

Johnson’s decision to run for governor will open up his seat in the U.S. House. Last week, Republican state Attorney General Marty Jackley said he plans to seek that office next year, which will create an open race next year 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.