With Rhoden set to move up – Who will incoming Governor Rhoden pick as his Lt? And who would you suggest?
With South Dakota’s political universe jumbled around like a giant handful of Yahtzee dice, the question now is who will Larry Rhoden go to to serve in the job he’s held himself for the past 6 years. Who will the incoming new Governor pick to serve as his Lt. Governor?
If Larry intends to run himself for the job – and I have heard he is already starting to make fundraising calls – he’s going to have to pick someone who can fill the bill. The would most likely be running with him in the next election in what will be a very crowded field led by Congressman Dusty Johnson who already has $6 million in the bank. Add to that list fellow Meade County scion and current Attorney General Marty Jackley. Throw someone from the hard right in there, such as incoming House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach. And we will have someone else who rolls the dice for the sake of rolling the dice.
Who can the new Governor pick that would set himself up to improve his competitiveness for June 2026 GOP primary? Who can he pick that would get through the House and the Senate in the selection process? Who can he pic that will bolster his Gubernatorial Street-cred? Or, who might be willing and capable of doing it, since they’re going to be thrown in the deep end without a net?
Here are suggestions of three who could serve some of those needs for the new Governor, and should be on his list of hopefuls:
Outgoing SDGOP Chair John Wiik – Wiik has served in both the House and the Senate alongside Rhoden, and has a decade of legislative experience to go alongside his time as the Republican Party Chairman. Wiik would know many of the players on the ground, and have a valuable rolodex that the new Governor could call on in raising funds and people in assembling a team to mount a campaign for statewide office. Yes, Larry knows many of the same people, but as the candidate his job would be different, and Wiik could put his skills in place to help wrangle the team. Politics aside, Wiik has long been a budget man, and that will be where many of the new Governor’s headaches would be as the COVID-funded land of plenty runs dry, and South Dakota needs to get back to normal revenue expectations.
State Auditor Rich Sattgast – Sattgast is the longest serving state official in Pierre right now, currently in the second term of his second run at State Auditor, having served across three Chief Executives now as auditor or treasurer. State Government is in upheaval at the moment as checks and balances of the executive branch are under fire with instances of employees being light-fingered in Revenue and DSS as those checks and balances have been eroded, sometimes in the name of efficiencies over the years. Sattgast is not unaware of this, as he has lamented as some budgetary functions have been assumed by others due to software functionality changes and updates over the years. He may be in an unique position to lead reforms, and to help restore more robust standards. Plus, Sattgast has been untouched by intra-party battles, and can flow between the factions at a time when others are being named to blacklists.
State Senator Erin Tobin – Erin would provide an interesting contrast to the current Lt. Governor as a medical professional, business owner, and sharing his background in Agriculture. Elections are about the future, and Tobin’s relative youth would provide a contrast to Rhoden, but still retain that strong relationship to our state’s ag industry. Conservative, smart and well spoken, even though she lost a close race in one of the craziest primaries we’ve ever seen, as opposed to making another run at the legislature sometimes the best path forward takes a quick jog sideways. Rhoden would do well to have Tobin serve as a surrogate as he hits the campaign trail.
Those are the three suggestions from me who the incoming Governor might pick – who would your choices be for our incoming Governor Larry Rhoden to pick as South Dakota’s next Lt. Governor?
**Update**
Aside from the idle speculation here and war-gaming it out in the comment section, I am hearing 2 names consistently from multiple sources – Tim Rave and Steve Westra are said to be two of the top contenders at the moment. Although there are some who say there should be a woman in the office, which if this is the case, helps out those who would like to see an Erin, a Taylor, a Sue, a Sydney or someone else be considered for the job as our State’s #2.
