State Capitol in Pierre
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – After 14 incumbent South Dakota lawmakers lost their seats in the 2024 Republican primary, 16 lost on Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office.
The 2024 shakeup was described as “an earthquake” by Spearfish Rep. Scott Odenbach, a Republican incumbent who won his own primary that year and was elevated to majority leader of the House of Representatives with support from the newcomers.
In the 2026 primary, those former newcomers made up the majority of the ousted incumbents.
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken’s South Dakotans for Common Sense political action committee reported raising $340,500 and spending $214,000 since the beginning of the year. Much of that money went to support an organized effort to retake both legislative chambers at the state Capitol from the 2024 insurgents.
TenHaken was happy on Wednesday.
“South Dakotans are looking for practical, common-sense leaders who focus more on solving problems than scoring political points,” he said. “I’m encouraged by the results and optimistic about the direction our legislative makeup is heading.”
Odenbach, who had no primary opponent on Tuesday and whose own political action committee offered financial backing to his supporters in the Legislature, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
New leadership
Results are unofficial until canvassed, and several races are marked as potential recounts.
South Dakota Retailers Association President Nathan Sanderson said that based on his count, it’s a “near certainty” that new House and Senate leadership will be elected.
Several of the lawmakers who lost their seats in the 2024 primary regained them on Tuesday, and several of 2024’s victors won’t return to Pierre.
Lobbying groups like the Retailers Association, political action committees associated with U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson’s gubernatorial campaign and others aligned with South Dakota business interests spent heavily on legislative primaries involving those candidates.
Some current Republican state leaders, both inside and outside the Legislature, directed their campaign dollars toward efforts to defend the seats of the candidates whose victories two years ago helped create the largest freshman class of state lawmakers in more than three decades.
Many of the 14 lawmakers ousted in 2024’s primary had supported legislation that sought to regulate, rather than defeat, a proposal for a five-state carbon capture pipeline proposed by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions that would have run through eastern South Dakota.
Opponents of the legislation — expressing concern about the private property rights of landowners along the route — referred it to voters, who rejected it in the 2024 general election. Opponents also won enough legislative seats in 2024 to replace the Republican legislative leadership team and ultimately pass legislation banning eminent domain for carbon pipelines — a law that has so far kept the pipeline out of the state.
Pendulum swings away from 2024 winners
Some of Tuesday’s clearest wins for those dissatisfied with the 2024 primary’s outcome came in the state Senate. Katherine Washnok defeated Senate Assistant Majority Leader Carl Perry in Aberdeen. Like Odenbach, Perry was both an incumbent and pipeline opponent in 2024, and secured a leadership position in 2025.
Former legislator David Johnson of Rapid City, meanwhile, defeated incumbent Sen. Curt Voight.
Sen. Glen Vilhauer defeated Rep. Josephine Garcia for a Watertown Senate seat. Garcia is a member of the South Dakota Freedom Caucus, which describes itself as “for liberty, limited government, and conservative values” and supported anti-eminent domain legislation.
Only one member of the Freedom Caucus’ nine publicly listed members will return to Pierre. Three did not run this year, and five others lost their primary races: Sen. John Carley and Reps. Dylan Jordan, Logan Manhart, Heather Baxter and Tony Kayser, although recounts are possible in Baxter’s and Kayser’s races.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City, remains.
Some former lawmakers return
Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, identifies with the faction that retook some seats. He also expects new legislative leadership to be elected.
“The 2027 and 2028 sessions are going to feature some really talented public servants,” Rohl said.
The Senate wins for Rohl’s preferred colleagues were mirrored in the results for the House of Representatives. Ryan Kohl and former legislator Fred Deutsch led a five-candidate field in the Watertown area, with Freedom Caucus’ Dylan Jordan finishing fourth.
In Sioux Falls, Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt and former legislator Tyler Tordsen led their House race. That race is flagged for a recount, because Tordsen leads Kayser by 52 votes, within the recount margin.
In a district encompassing parts of the northeastern Black Hills and nearby rural areas, Gary Deering and former legislator Gary Cammack finished ahead of Reps. Kathy Rice of Blackhawk and Terri Jorgenson of Piedmont, who both received support from current House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach’s Liberty Tree PAC.
Candidates supported by Odenbach’s PAC also had some successes:
- Rapid City Sen. Taffy Howard defeated Jason Green of Rapid City.
- Sen. Mykala Voita of Bonesteel defeated former Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner.
- Sen. Lauren Nelson defeated former Sen. Jean Hunhoff in Yankton.
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