Larry Rhoden (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the 34th

governor of South Dakota The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Larry Rhoden, a member of the Republican Party ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Rhoden served from 2001 to 2009 as a member of the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided ...

, from 2009 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019 as a member of 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)' ...

, and from 2019 to 2025 as the 39th

lieutenant governor of South Dakota A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. The rank i ...

. He ran for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

election, losing in the Republican primary to

Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...

. In January 2025 he became governor after Governor

Kristi Noem Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem ( ; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 8th United States secretary of homeland security since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2019 to 2025 as the 33rd ...

resigned to become

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

Early life

Rhoden was born and raised on a farm. He grew up attending church, and graduated from Sunshine Bible Academy in 1977. After high school, he served in the

South Dakota National Guard The South Dakota National Guard is part of the South Dakota Department of Military & Veterans Affairs. It was created in 1862 as the State Militia. Its headquarters is located in Rapid City, South Dakota. It consists of the South Dakota Army Nati ...

from 1978 to 1985. While his children were young, he served as a church trustee and on the local school board, and led the board of directors for the area Cenex.

Career

Rhoden served in the

from 2001 to 2008, including four years as majority leader. After being term-limited, he was elected to the state senate. In 2010, Rhoden ran for senate majority leader, but lost to Russell Olson. Rhoden served on the Agriculture and Natural Resources and the State Affairs Committees. He backed bills to arm volunteers in schools, and sponsored a legislative finding that the "

Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence ...

freely and willingly abjured all legislative and executive authority to regulate gun ownership and usage… to individual citizens."

2014 U.S. Senate candidacy

Rhoden ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2014, calling himself a "conservative voice for limited government". He spoke out against abortion, same-sex marriage, "career politicians", "activist judges", and immigration "amnesty". Rhoden signed a pledge to never raise taxes, and supported de-funding the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

. Rhoden spoke at a conference organized by the conservative organization RedState, criticizing fellow candidate

's position on taxes. In the June 2 primary, Rounds defeated Rhoden, 41,377 votes to 13,393.

Lieutenant governor of South Dakota (2019–2025)

2018 gubernatorial election

On June 20, 2018, Republican gubernatorial nominee

announced that Rhoden would be her running mate. Noem had said the role of a lieutenant governor, "I would do it a little differently maybe than Daugaard and Michels have done it... I don’t see the lieutenant governor filling as big a role as Michels did. I'm just a believer that there are certain decisions the governor has to make, and so maybe it would be more of a traditional role than what we saw in the last administration."

Tenure

Rhoden took office on January 5, 2019. On May 5, 2020, Noem announced that South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman would resign effective May 8, and that Rhoden was being named interim agriculture secretary. On August 27, Noem announced that she was merging the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources into a Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to be led by Secretary Hunter Roberts, thereby ending Rhoden's role as interim secretary. On June 20, 2020, at the Republican State Convention, Rhoden was elected to be one of South Dakota's three Republican presidential electors, along with Noem and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

Governor of South Dakota (2025–present)

In November 2024, President-elect

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

announced that he would nominate Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security. After her confirmation on January 25, 2025, she resigned as governor of South Dakota and Rhoden was sworn in by Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen. On January 29, he chose Tony Venhuizen as his

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. Venhuizen was unanimously confirmed by the

and

the following day. Early in his term, Rhoden worked with

Interior Secretary The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum ( ; born August 1, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 55th United States Secretary of the Interior, United States secretary of the interior since February 1, 2025, under President Donald Tru ...

to order the return of the

Mount Rushmore The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a National Memorial (United States), national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dak ...

fireworks show in 2026.

Personal life

Rhoden lives in Union Center, South Dakota. He and his wife, Sandy, have four children and seven grandchildren. Rhoden is a rancher by trade and runs and owns a cow-calf operation and custom welding business.

References

External links

Official site of the Governor of South DakotaLarry Rhoden at BallotpediaGoveror's official web page
profile , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoden, Larry 1959 births 21st-century members of the South Dakota Legislature 21st-century South Dakota politicians 2020 United States presidential electors Lieutenant governors of South Dakota Living people Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives People from Meade County, South Dakota People from Sturgis, South Dakota South Dakota National Guard personnel South Dakota Republicans Ranchers from South Dakota Businesspeople from South Dakota Republican Party South Dakota state senators Republican Party governors of South Dakota 2024 United States presidential electors