Tony Venhuizen has a post over at his website SoDak Governors this AM already detailing some interesting facts about the man who will become South Dakota’s next Governor upon Kristi Noem’s impending resignation due to her appointment as Secretary of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump:
- Rhoden, who was the 39th Lt. Governor of South Dakota, will be the 34th Governor of South Dakota. He will be the third lieutenant governor to succeed to the governor’s office, following Harvey Wollman, who took office when Richard F. Kneip resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, and Walter Dale Miller, who took office after George S. Mickelson died in a plane crash.
- Rhoden will serve a longer term than either Wollman or Miller. Wollman served for 161 days and Miller served for 1 year and 263 days. Rhoden will serve approximately two years, depending on when Governor Noem takes on her new role (the current gubernatorial term ends on January 9, 2027).
- Neither Wollman nor Miller were elected to their own four-year term as governor; it remains to be seen if Governor Rhoden will seek reelection.
- Our new First Lady will be Rhoden’s wife of 43 years, Sandy (Murphy) Rhoden, a native of Madison.
- The Rhodens have four sons, Jesse, Cody, Reggie, and Tristen, and six grandchildren. South Dakota’s 1st first couple, Arthur and Margaret Mellette, also had four sons.
- Both Larry and Sandy Rhoden are twins. Larry has a fraternal twin sister, while Sandy has an identical twin sister. As best I can tell, Rhoden is the first South Dakota governor to be a twin.
Go read the entire post on Larry Rhoden, the man who will become our State’s 34th Governor here.
Noem will be a huge improvement over Alejandro N. Mayorkas. This is great news for our state and West River to have Lt. Gov. Rhoden step into the role as Governor.
Good choice! Hope this is true.
Rhoden is a good man. The 2026 race for Gov just got more interesting. Dusty will certainly have an edge with all that money in the bank, but things are a little more fuzzy than they were a week ago.
Next big question is who Rhoden picks as Lt. Gov.
I nominate Grudznick! A Rhoden Rhanger!
If this turns out to be true, one by the name of cory heidelberger will be seething with rage and jealously and his NDS will kick into overdrive. Here we have Governor Kristi Noem who’s political career is now elevated to a national/international level and on the other hand cory is relegated to posting third rate “novels” on his own website.
Rent Free.
Why are people still posting about the guy? Who cares what he thinks? You continuously bringing him up is getting weird now.
“weird”
National democrat talking point…how original.
Governor Rhoden will have a tough road in the next two legislative sessions but with his experience and pragmatic toughness, he will serve us well.
He has been an integral part of the Noem administration during some dark hours in our history and has been a strong asset in emerging from those dark hours in grand fashion.
South Dakota is blessed to have this gentlemen as our next Governor.
For sure.
I’m already calling him Governor Awesome.
but but but nobody voted for him to be governor LOL just like the cheating democrats