SCOUTING REPORT | 2026 election maneuvering, SDSU's diminutive leader, DWU's new knee docs

A weekly digest of interesting local, state, national and even international developments

While most voters are focused on the election that is less than two months away, the undercurrents to the 2026 election in South Dakota are growing stronger. That’s because much will be at stake in South Dakota. There will be a new governor elected and potentially a new U.S. senator and state congress member.

The current occupant of the U.S. House seat, Rep. Dusty Johnson, recently hosted a retreat of close supporters at a rural hunting lodge. Invited guests included former Gov. Dennis Daugaard and supporters of his orbit – many of the big-dollar donors who are the lifeblood to Republican candidates in the state. Johnson, who served as Daugaard’s chief of staff in his first term, is exploring his own bid for governor in 2026, and the hunting lodge gathering was intended to show polling of Johnson against potential GOP rivals for the office, including Attorney General Marty Jackley and Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden.

The Daugaard model for running is one that Johnson could copy. After current Sen. Mike Rounds won his second term for governor in 2006, Daugaard – lieutenant governor – made it known that he was running for governor in 2010. While he didn’t clear the deck of competitors, he consolidated support among many of the big donors and set out to meet fundraising goals ahead of the contest.

Johnson doesn’t have a four-year runway. He must first win re-election in November against Democratic challenger Sheryl Johnson. Assuming he does that, he can then do the hard pivot to the governor’s race. But he has one advantage his potential competitors don’t: money. At the end of June, his federal campaign fund had $4.6 million in cash on hand. He will spend some of that in this election, but will likely emerge with millions of dollars remaining, and those federal dollars can be transferred into a state account for governor.

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