Angie Buhl O'Donnell is an American politician from

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the

South Dakota Senate The South Dakota Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district. It meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''99th Legislature (2025)' ...

from 2011 to 2017, where she represented the

Minnehaha County Minnehaha County is a county on the eastern border of the state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 197,214, making it the state's most populous county, and was estimated to be 208,639 in 2024. It contains over 22.56% o ...

-based 15th district. She was the first openly

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

member of the South Dakota Legislature.

Early life and education

A fourth generation South Dakotan, Buhl was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and raised in Yankton. An adoptee, her parents were small business owners. She graduated from the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...

in 2007 with a degree in psychology and music.

Career

In 2010, Buhl O'Donnell ran against incumbent state senator Kathy Miles, a fellow Democrat. In the primary election held on June 8, 2010, Buhl O'Donnell received 398 votes while Miles earned only 276. Buhl was therefore nominated and, since no Republicans or independents had filed, she won the general election unopposed. She took office in January 2011. Buhl O'Donnell is openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and was the first

member of the South Dakota Legislature. Buhl was re-elected in 2012 for a second term. Her 2012 reelection campaign won the support of the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and LGBTQ Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the United ...

. In 2014, she was the youngest member of the South Dakota Senate. Buhl won reelection in 2014, but chose not to run for reelection in 2016.

References

External links

Legislative homepageCampaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buhl, Angie Living people Politicians from Aberdeen, South Dakota Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota Democratic Party South Dakota state senators LGBTQ state legislators in South Dakota LGBTQ people from South Dakota University of South Dakota alumni American adoptees 1985 births Women state legislators in South Dakota Bisexual women politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American LGBTQ people American bisexual women American bisexual politicians 21st-century members of the South Dakota Legislature