List of Governors of South Dakota

Last updated

The Governor of South Dakota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The current Governor is Republican Kristi Noem, serving since 2019. The Governor has the power to sign or veto laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly into emergency session. He has an ex officio North Dakota Governor's Residence. The governor may only serve two terms consecutively, and becomes eligible for reelection after four years out of office. [1] South Dakota is a strongly Republican state; only six Governors have not been members of that party and the governorship has been held by Republicans since 1979.

Governor of South Dakota head of state and of government of the U.S. state of South Dakota

The Governor of South Dakota is the head of the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state 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 Kristi Noem, a Republican who took office on January 5, 2019.

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

South Dakota State of the United States of America

South Dakota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who compose a large portion of the population and historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the seventeenth largest by area, but the fifth smallest by population and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls, with a population of about 187,200, is South Dakota's largest city.

Contents

Governors of Dakota Territory

Governors of South Dakota

Political party

   Republican (27)   Populist (1)   Democratic (5)

#Governor
(birth and death)		Took officeLeft officePartyCity elected fromLieutenant GovernorNotes
1 Governor Arthur C Mellette.jpg   Arthur C. Mellette
(1842–1896)		March 22, 1889January 3, 1893 Republican Watertown   James H. Fletcher
George H. Hoffman 		[2]
2 Charles H. Sheldon.jpg   Charles H. Sheldon
(1840–1898)		January 3, 1893January 1, 1897Republican Pierpont   Charles N. Herreid
3 Andrew E. Lee.jpg   Andrew E. Lee
(1847–1934)		January 1, 1897January 8, 1901 Populist Vermillion   Daniel T. Hindman
John T. Kean
4 Charles N. Herreid.jpg   Charles N. Herreid
(1857–1928)		January 8, 1901January 3, 1905Republican Eureka   George W. Snow
5 Samuel H. Elrod 001.jpg   Samuel H. Elrod
(1856–1935)		January 3, 1905January 8, 1907Republican Clark   John E. McDougall
6 Crawfordcoe.jpg   Coe I. Crawford
(1858–1944)		January 8, 1907January 5, 1909Republican Huron   Howard C. Shober
7 RobertSVessey.jpg   Robert S. Vessey
(1858–1929)		January 5, 1909January 7, 1913Republican Wessington Springs   Howard C. Shober
Frank M. Byrne
8 FrankMByrne.jpg   Frank M. Byrne
(1858–1927)		January 7, 1913January 2, 1917Republican Faulkton   Edward Lincoln Abel
Peter Norbeck 		[3]
9 PeterNorbeck R-SD.jpg   Peter Norbeck
(1870–1936)		January 2, 1917January 4, 1921Republican Redfield   William H. McMaster
10 WHMcMaster.jpg   William H. McMaster
(1877–1968)		January 4, 1921January 6, 1925Republican Yankton   Carl Gunderson
11 Gundersoncarl.jpg   Carl Gunderson
(1864–1933)		January 6, 1925January 4, 1927Republican Mitchell   Alva Clark Forney
12 William John Bulow.jpg   William J. Bulow
(1869–1960)		January 4, 1927January 6, 1931 Democratic Beresford   Hyatt E. Covey (Republican)
Clarence E. Coyne (Republican)
John T. Grigsby (Democratic)
13 Warren Green.jpg   Warren Green
(1869–1945)		January 6, 1931January 3, 1933Republican Hazel  Odell K. Whitney
14 Tom Berry.jpg   Tom Berry
(1879–1951)		January 3, 1933January 5, 1937Democratic Belvidere  Hans Ustrud
Robert Peterson
15 Leslie Jensen.jpg   Leslie Jensen
(1892–1964)		January 5, 1937January 3, 1939Republican Hot Springs  Donald McMurchie
16 BushfieldH.jpg   Harlan J. Bushfield
(1882–1948)		January 3, 1939January 5, 1943Republican Miller  Donald McMurchie
A. C. Miller
17 Merrell Q. Sharpe.jpg   Merrell Q. Sharpe
(1888–1962)		January 5, 1943January 7, 1947Republican Kennebec  A. C. Miller
Sioux K. Grigsby
18 George T. Mickelson.jpg   George T. Mickelson
(1903–1965)		January 7, 1947January 2, 1951Republican Selby   Sioux K. Grigsby
Rex A. Terry
19 Sigurd Anderson.jpg   Sigurd Anderson
(1904–1990)		January 2, 1951January 4, 1955Republican Webster   Rex A. Terry
20 Joe Foss official portrait as Governor.jpg   Joe Foss
(1915–2003)		January 4, 1955January 6, 1959Republican Sioux Falls  L. Roy Houck
21 Ralph Herseth.jpg   Ralph Herseth
(1909–1969)		January 6, 1959January 3, 1961Democratic Houghton  John F. Lindley
22 Archie M. Gubbrud 1962.jpg   Archie M. Gubbrud
(1910–1987)		January 3, 1961January 5, 1965Republican Alcester   Joseph H. Bottum
Nils Boe
23 Nils Boe.jpg   Nils Boe
(1913–1992)		January 5, 1965January 7, 1969Republican Sioux Falls   Lem Overpeck
24 Frank Farrar.png   Frank Farrar
(b. 1929)		January 7, 1969January 5, 1971Republican Britton   James Abdnor
25 Dick Kneip.jpg   Dick Kneip
(1933–1987)		January 5, 1971July 24, 1978Democratic Salem   William Dougherty
Harvey L. Wollman 		[4]
26 Harvey Wollman.png   Harvey L. Wollman
(b. 1935)		July 24, 1978January 1, 1979Democratic Hitchcock Vacant
27 William Janklow (South Dakota Governor).jpg   Bill Janklow
(1939–2012)		January 1, 1979January 6, 1987Republican Flandreau   Lowell C. Hansen II
28 George S. Mickelson.jpeg   George S. Mickelson
(1941–1993)		January 6, 1987April 19, 1993Republican Brookings   Walter Dale Miller [5]
29 Walter Miller.png   Walter Dale Miller
(1925–2015)		April 19, 1993January 7, 1995Republican New Underwood   Steve T. Kirby
30 William Janklow (South Dakota Governor).jpg   Bill Janklow
(1939–2012)		January 7, 1995January 7, 2003Republican Brandon   Carole Hillard
31 Mike Rounds official photo.JPG   Mike Rounds
(b. 1954)		January 7, 2003January 8, 2011Republican Pierre   Dennis Daugaard
32 Dennis Daugaard crop.jpg   Dennis Daugaard
(b. 1953)		January 8, 2011January 5, 2019Republican Garretson   Matt Michels
33 Kristi L. Noem 113th Congress.jpg   Kristi Noem
(b. 1971)		January 5, 2019IncumbentRepublican Castlewood   Larry Rhoden

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented South Dakota except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

GovernorGubernatorial term U.S. Congress Other offices held
House Senate
Coe I. Crawford 1907–1909S
Peter Norbeck 1917–1921S
William H. McMaster 1921–1925S
William J. Bulow 1927–1931S
Harlan J. Bushfield 1939–1943S
Richard F. Kneip 1971–1978 United States Ambassador to Singapore*
Bill Janklow 1979–1987
1995–2003		H
Mike Rounds 2003–2011S
Kristi Noem 2019–presentH

Notes

  1. ↑ "§ 2". South Dakota Constitution. pp. Article IV, § 2. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  2. ↑ Mellette was the final governor of the Dakota Territory prior to his election as the first Governor of South Dakota.
  3. ↑ Won over James Wallace McCarter
  4. ↑ Kneip resigned to become Ambassador to Singapore on July 24, 1978; he was succeeded by Harvey L. Wollman.
  5. ↑ Mickelson was killed in a plane crash on April 19, 1993; he was succeeded by Walter Dale Miller.

See also

This timeline of South Dakota is a list of events in the history of South Dakota by year.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

Related Research Articles

Governor of California head of state and of government of the U.S. state of California

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

Solid South Electoral support of the Southern United States for Democratic Party candidates from 1877 to 1964

The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in the southern states. The Southern bloc existed especially between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. During this period, the Democratic Party controlled state legislatures; most local and state officeholders in the South were Democrats, as were federal politicians elected from these states. Southern Democrats disenfranchised blacks in every state of the former Confederacy at the turn of the 20th century. This resulted essentially in a one-party system, in which a candidate's victory in Democratic primary elections was tantamount to election to the office itself. White primaries were another means that the Democrats used to consolidate their political power, excluding blacks from voting in primaries.

Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee

The Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate of Tennessee is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the State of Tennessee.

Louisiana State Senate

The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The current Senate President John Alario from Westwego.

Politics of North Dakota

The Politics of North Dakota were shaped historically by early settlement by people from the Northern Tier, who carried their politics west ultimately from New England, upstate New York, and the Upper Midwest. The area and state also received numerous European immigrants and migrants, particularly during the era of opening up of former Native American lands for sale and settlement. Since the late 19th century, the Republican Party has been influential in the state.

2004 United States elections Election in the United States on 2004

The 2004 United States elections were held on November 2, with President George W. Bush winning re-election. Riding Bush's coattails, the Republicans picked up net gains of 4 Senate seats and 3 House seats, increasing their majorities in both Houses of Congress. In the state governorships up for election, there was no net gain in seats for either party. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of North Dakota:

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of South Dakota:

2002 United States elections Election in the United States on 2002

The 2002 United States elections were held on November 5, in the middle of Republican President George W. Bush's first term. Unusual in midterm elections, the incumbent president's party gained seats in both chambers of the United States Congress. The Republicans picked up net gains of 2 Senate seats and 8 House seats.

2001 United States elections Election in the United States on 2001

The 2001 United States elections were held on November 5 of that year. The 2001 recession was a dominant issue throughout the year as well as to a lesser extent the September 11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror, the latter of which would become especially important issue in the next year.

2016 United States elections election in the United States on 2016

The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. During this presidential election year, the President of the United States and Vice President were elected. In addition, elections were held for all 435 voting-member seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate to determine the 115th Congress.