DESPITE RECENT HISTORY, REPUBLICANS HAVE NOT ALWAYS CONTROLLED THE LEGISLATURE IN SOUTH DAKOTA
PIERRE, S.D. (Todd Epp / SDBA) – After over three decades of complete Republican rule in the Capitol–including this legislative session–it hasn’t always been that way.
South Dakota’s political landscape has undergone significant transformations since its early days of statehood.
The Republican Party has maintained a dominant presence throughout most of the state’s history. However, historical records reveal periods of Democratic influence in the state’s legislature. It demonstrates a more complex political narrative than the current overwhelming Republican representation might suggest.
In the formative years of South Dakota’s statehood, the Democratic Party achieved notable success. In 1891, Democrats held a substantial majority in the State House, occupying 58 seats compared to the Republicans’ 20, with 44 seats held by Independents. The Democrats and Independents joined to organize the House that year.
This trend continued into 1893 when Democrats secured a majority in the South Dakota State Senate, albeit briefly before Republicans regained control in subsequent elections.
The early 1890s were characterized by a diverse political landscape, featuring not only Republicans and Democrats but also Independents, Populists, and Fusionists. In 1897, a Democrat/Populist coalition controlled both houses. The Senate comprised 21 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and 20 Populists, while the House had 39 Republicans, 10 Democrats, and 35 Populists.
The Democrats next took control during Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s landslide in 1932, controlling both houses in 1933 and 1935. This period marked the most Democratic legislature in state history, with Democrats holding 66.9% of the seats. In the 1937 session, Democrats controlled the Senate while Republicans retook the House.
Fast-forward to the early 1970s, another period of Democratic strength. In 1973 and 1974, during the Kneip Administration, Democrats controlled the legislature by the narrowest of margins: an 18-17 majority in the Senate and a 35-35 tie in the House. Under House rules, in the case of a tie, the Governor’s party organizes the House.
In 1975-76, Democrats retained control of the Senate, 19-16 but lost the House.
The 1990s brought another moment of Democratic influence, particularly in the State Senate. In 1993-94, during the final two years of the Mickelson/Miller Administration, the Democrats won control of the Senate with a 20-15 majority.
However, since these periods of Democratic success, the party has faced considerable challenges in gaining control of either chamber. The current political landscape in South Dakota reflects a significant shift from these earlier periods of more balanced party representation.
As of the 2025 legislative session, the Republican Party holds a commanding majority in both chambers of the South Dakota Legislature. In the Senate, Republicans maintain a 32-3 majority, with Democrats holding only three seats.
The situation in the House of Representatives is similarly lopsided, with Republicans holding a 64-6 majority.
A recent development in South Dakota’s political landscape is the appointment of former Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security. This has led to Republican Larry Rhoden assuming the role of Governor of South Dakota. This transition maintains the Republican state government trifecta, allowing the party to control the state’s legislative agenda and policy decisions.
The current political composition in South Dakota starkly contrasts the early years of statehood, the 1970s, and even the early 1990s, when Democrats held majorities or shared control in the legislature. Nonetheless, the legislature elected in 2024 is the most Republican since 1952, with 96 out of 105 seats controlled by Republicans at 91.4%.
While the Democratic Party maintains a presence in the state, its legislative influence has diminished recently. This shift in political power dynamics reflects broader trends in American politics, where many states have seen increasing polarization and consolidation of party control.
For South Dakota, this has meant strengthening Republican dominance in state government. However, this also does not mean that the Republican Party is monolithic. As it has for much of its history, there is factionalism within the party.
In 2022, more moderate, business-friendly Republicans took back control from more social issue-oriented Republicans. In 2024, the pendulum swung back, with the social issue Republicans bolstered by a populist backlash against Republican legislators who supported carbon sequestration pipelines.
As the legislature has just passed the halfway mark of the 38-day session, these two factions continue to tussle. There are disagreements on issues such as posting the Ten Commandments, funding for private and religious education, LBGT+ rights, and private companies’ usage of eminent domain.
Meanwhile, the nine Democrats in the legislature can only occasionally change the balance of power on some issues if they vote as a bloc. Democrats still introduce bills that get hearings on their agenda, acting as a small but still “loyal opposition” in Pierre.
While the 2026 election is still far off in political time, as history has shown, things can change. Forces out of South Dakota Republicans’ and Democrats’ control–such as how South Dakotans receive the second Trump Administration–could determine if more Democrats win legislative seats for the 2027 session–or if Republicans continue their historic domination.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE SUPPORTS HIGHER AGE LIMITS FOR LOTTERY TICKETS AND MORE VIDEO LOTTERY MACHINES PER BUSINESS
PIERRE, S.D. (Makenzie Huber / South Dakota Searchlight) – A South Dakota Senate committee advanced bills Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre to raise the age for buying a lottery ticket and increase the number of video lottery machines allowed per business, while defeating a bill to raise video lottery betting limits.
Raising minimum lottery ticket age
The Senate Commerce and Energy Committee voted 5-3 to endorse Senate Bill 203 to raise the minimum age to purchase a lottery ticket from 18 to 21. That would align with other age restrictions for gaming, drinking and purchasing tobacco products, said Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen.
The South Dakota Lottery opposed the bill, adding that less than 1% of lottery ticket sales are from adults between 18 and 21 years old. But losing those sales would cost the state roughly $860,000 annually, based on last fiscal year’s sales.
Video lottery machine numbers, bet limits
Lawmakers on the committee also voted 5-3 to pass Senate Bill 205, which would raise the maximum number of video lottery machines at an establishment from 10 to 15 machines. They voted 5-3 to defeat Senate Bill 206, which would double betting limits for video lottery machines.
The difference, said Sen. Steve Kolbeck, R-Brandon, is between regulation and expansion.
Increasing the number of machines at an establishment could increase the number of machines throughout the state. But the focus is primarily to allow “flexibility” for business owners with multiple locations to move their machines to where they’re more successful, Kolbeck said.
The state and business owners split income from the video lottery machines in half, but the business owners are responsible for machine upkeep, employing staff to monitor the machines, overhead expenses and more.
“This gives them leeway to make their margin in overhead,” Kolbeck said, “not necessarily add more machines.”
The legislation to increase betting limits is an expansion, Kolbeck later said in opposition to SB 206.
Representatives of gaming businesses said the increase is an inflationary adjustment, since the state’s maximum betting limit hasn’t increased from $2 since 1989. But lawmakers weren’t convinced.
SB 203 and SB 205 will head to the Senate floor.
GROWTH IN SIOUX FALLS PROMPTS BOVERNOR RHODEN TO ADD HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPERS TO THE CITY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Joshua Haiar / South Dakota Searchlight) – South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden announced plans Friday to add an additional Highway Patrol squad for the Sioux Falls area.
“My philosophy is that the best way to fight crimes is to hire more officers,” Rhoden told a room full of press and public safety officials at the Sioux Falls Public Safety Campus. “Not to increase penalties.”
The plan includes adding eight troopers and a sergeant to the existing 27 Highway Patrol officers in the Sioux Falls area.
Rhoden said it will require $1 million in one-time money to get the squad up and running, and an additional $1.4 million in ongoing costs to keep them paid and patrolling. The governor plans to shift money around in the state’s highway fund to pay for the plan. The fund receives revenue from sources including fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees.
The plan still needs legislative approval. Rhoden said leading lawmakers are on board with the idea.
Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum said the extra help is needed. He said the city is receiving 5,000 more calls for service annually than it did five years ago, and responded to over 130,000 calls for service last year alone. The city’s population has swollen from around 150,000 to more than 200,000 during the last 15 years.
“We know that the continued strain on our resources will grow as our population grows,” Thum said.
According to a presentation by the state Department of Public Safety to lawmakers last month, the Highway Patrol currently has 201 positions and 21 vacancies statewide, with the vacancies mostly in rural areas where the department has difficulties with recruitment. Officers from urban areas are rotated out to the rural areas to provide patrol coverage while vacancies persist.
MAN FOUND IN DITCH LATER DIES AT NORTHWEST IOWA HOSPITAL
SIOUX CENTER, IA (KTIV) – On Saturday morning, Feb. 15, at 9:47 a.m., a Sioux County Sheriff Deputy, assisted by others, found a man in a ditch near Sioux Center.
The man was found in the east ditch of Harrison Avenue four miles south of Sioux Center.
According to a press release, that same morning at 2:45 a.m., a person matching the description of the man was reportedly kicking a residence door in an apparent attempt to gain entry.
The man allegedly was not wearing pants or underwear and did not live at the residence.
When law enforcement arrived on scene after receiving the call, they searched the area and could not find the man, even after deploying a drone.
The person found in the ditch was also not wearing pants or underwear and is believed to be the same man who was allegedly kicking at a residence door multiple hours earlier.
After being transported to Sioux Center Health, he was pronounced dead.
Foul play is not suspected. The name of the man is being withheld pending notification of family.
