Doeden advances to South Dakota GOP governor runoff

Businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination for South Dakota governor after a crowded and combative primary failed to produce a candidate with enough votes to win outright.

CBS News and NBC News projected that Doeden, a self-described political outsider, secured a place in the July 28 runoff. A second runoff spot remained contested among Gov. Larry Rhoden, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and South Dakota House Speaker Jon Hansen. Under the rules cited by both outlets, the primary goes to a runoff because no candidate was on track to receive 35% of the vote.

The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democratic former state Sen. Dan Ahlers, who ran unopposed for his party’s nomination. The Republican nominee is expected to be favored in November. Democrats have not held the South Dakota governor’s office since the 1970s, and President Donald Trump carried the state by 29 percentage points in 2024.

Trump did not endorse a candidate in the GOP primary.

Doeden, who owns car dealerships, rental properties and other investments in South Dakota, has lent his campaign roughly $4 million, according to CBS News. He presented himself to voters as an anti-establishment candidate, pledging to phase out property taxes and cut spending while criticizing what he called “career establishment politicians.” On his campaign website, NBC News reported, Doeden described himself as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”

Rhoden entered the race as the sitting governor after rising from lieutenant governor when Trump selected former Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security last year. NBC News reported that Rhoden, who previously served as agriculture secretary and as a lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime as he sought a full four-year term.

Johnson, South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House, also sought the nomination. NBC News reported that he previously chaired the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership posts before becoming speaker.

The primary turned increasingly bitter in its final months, especially over taxes and loyalty to Trump. Doeden and Johnson criticized Rhoden and Hansen for supporting increases in state and county sales taxes to pay for a package of property tax cuts. A political action committee called Rushmore Principles spent more than $1 million on anti-Rhoden advertising that focused in part on the sales tax issue, CBS News reported.

Hansen and Rhoden defended the tax legislation and accused Johnson of misrepresenting it. Rhoden also alleged that Johnson, whom he labeled a “Washington politician,” was behind the group’s attack ads. Johnson denied that claim.

Doeden and a political action committee supporting him also accused Johnson of being insufficiently supportive of Trump during his time in Congress. Johnson, in turn, argued that Doeden’s plan to eliminate property taxes is unrealistic.

The runoff will determine which Republican emerges from a primary shaped by tax policy, anti-establishment messaging and competition for conservative voters in a state where the GOP has long dominated statewide races.