Larry Rhoden

Larry Rhoden (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the 34th governor of South Dakota.^[1]

Larry Rhoden
Rhoden in 2025
34th Governor of South Dakota
Incumbent
Assumed office January 25, 2025
Lieutenant	Tony Venhuizen
Preceded by	Kristi Noem
39th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota
In office January 5, 2019 – January 25, 2025
Governor	Kristi Noem
Preceded by	Matt Michels
Succeeded by	Tony Venhuizen
Secretary of Agriculture of South Dakota
Acting May 8, 2020 – August 27, 2020
Governor	Kristi Noem
Preceded by	Kim Vanneman
Succeeded by	Hunter Roberts (Agriculture and Natural Resources)
Member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from the 29th district
In office January 10, 2017 – January 5, 2019
Preceded by	Dean Wink
Succeeded by	Kirk Chaffee
In office January 9, 2001 – January 13, 2009
Preceded by	Kenneth McNenny
Succeeded by	Dean Wink
Member of the South Dakota Senate from the 29th district
In office January 13, 2009 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Kenneth McNenny
Succeeded by	Gary Cammack
Personal details
Born	(1959-02-05) February 5, 1959 (age 66) Sturgis, South Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Sandy Murphy ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	4
Residence	Governor's Residence
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Service years	1978–1985
Unit	South Dakota National Guard

A member of the Republican Party, Rhoden served from 2001 to 2009 as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019 as a member of the South Dakota Senate, and from 2019 to 2025 as the 39th lieutenant governor of South Dakota.^[2][3][4] He ran for U.S. Senate in the 2014 election, losing in the Republican primary to Mike Rounds.^[5] In January 2025, he became governor after Governor Kristi Noem resigned to become United States Secretary of Homeland Security.^[6]

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 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.^[7]

Career

Rhoden served in the South Dakota House of Representatives 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.^[8]

Rhoden served on the Agriculture and Natural Resources and the State Affairs Committees.^[9] He backed bills to arm volunteers in schools, and sponsored a legislative finding that the "Founding Fathers freely and willingly abjured all legislative and executive authority to regulate gun ownership and usage… to individual citizens."^[8]

2014 U.S. Senate candidacy

Main article: 2014 United States Senate election in South Dakota

Rhoden ran for the U.S. Senate 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".^[10] Rhoden signed a pledge to never raise taxes, and supported de-funding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[11]

Rhoden spoke at a conference organized by the conservative organization RedState, criticizing fellow candidate Mike Rounds's position on taxes.^[12] In the June 2 primary, Rounds defeated Rhoden, 41,377 votes to 13,393.^[13]

Lieutenant governor of South Dakota (2019–2025)

2018 gubernatorial election

Main article: 2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election

On June 20, 2018, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kristi Noem 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."^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

Governor of South Dakota (2025–present)

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump 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.^[6][18] On January 29, he chose Tony Venhuizen as his lieutenant governor.^[19] Venhuizen was unanimously confirmed by the South Dakota Senate and South Dakota House of Representatives the following day.^[20][21]

Early in his term, Rhoden worked with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to order the return of the Mount Rushmore fireworks show in 2026.^[22]

Personal life

Rhoden lives in Union Center, South Dakota. He and his wife, Sandy, have four children and seven grandchildren.^[2][23] Rhoden is a rancher by trade and runs and owns a cow-calf operation and custom welding business.^[4][24]