Everybody counts if they'll hold that oath. This page fills in as we find the real, sourced answer — never with a guess. A blank means we haven't found it yet, not that it doesn't matter.
The idea behind this page, in the words that started it:
"Everybody counts in this site if they will hold that Oath of Office — what if somebody did not know they could vote for them because I want it to show we the people what we can do when we can see?"
So this page doesn't tell you who to vote for. It shows you who's actually running, what they've actually said and filed, and the same numbers for everyone in the race — side by side, sourced, no label on top of it. You draw the conclusion. We just make sure you can see it.
Real, fixed dates from South Dakota's own election authority — not a reminder we made up, a countdown against the actual deadline. Counting down in your own device's clock, local time.
Source: South Dakota Secretary of State, 2026 Election Information, and South Dakota Codified Law 12-2-3 (poll hours). "7:00 PM local time" means whichever time zone your own county sits in.
Five official, government-run links. Not us, not a party, not a PAC — the actual agencies that run elections.
Six boxes. Check them as you actually do them — not as a promise, a record. Nothing here is saved on our end; the whole checklist lives in the link itself, so it only goes where you send it.
Check a few boxes, then copy the link — the checked state travels with the URL itself, so pasting it to someone else, or bookmarking it, brings the same boxes back checked. The download is a plain text file, nothing sent anywhere.
The sitting governor is on the ballot for his first full term — and he didn't come in first in his own party's first-round primary.
Larry Rhoden has been governor since 2025, not by election. He rose from lieutenant governor when Kristi Noem resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security — a real, dated vacancy, the same office-succession mechanism this site's vacancy lesson covers for a different office. This is the first time voters get an actual say in whether he keeps the job.
Every field below is sourced. A blank stays a blank until we find the real number.
| Candidate | Party | Current / former office | Running mate | 2026 primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Rhoden Incumbent since 2025 |
Republican | Governor of South Dakota (2025–present); Lt. Governor (2019–2025) | Tony Venhuizen | 2nd in June primary (25.2%); won July 28 runoff, 70.8% (83,582 votes) |
| Dan Ahlers | Democratic | Executive Director, South Dakota Democratic Party; former State Senator (2009–2011) and State Representative (2006–2008) | — not yet found | Unopposed |
| Rhoden did not lead the first round. Toby Doeden took 30.6% (41,712 votes) to Rhoden's 25.2% (34,321 votes) in the June primary — and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, already tracked on this site's own map, ran third at 23.4% (31,856 votes). No candidate reached the 35% needed to win outright, which is what triggered the July 28 runoff Rhoden then won decisively. | ||||
| Campaign money for this race — not yet pulled. Statewide South Dakota races file with the SD Secretary of State's own campaign finance system, not the FEC. Logged, not built yet. | ||||
Sources: 2026 South Dakota gubernatorial election, Wikipedia, citing South Dakota Secretary of State canvass data · South Dakota Secretary of State, 2026 Run-Off Election State Canvass and Certificate (official, certified) · South Dakota Searchlight, Ahlers campaign launch, 2026-02-10
An incumbent seeking a third term.
Every field below is sourced. A blank stays a blank until we find the real number.
| Candidate | Party | Current / former office | June 2, 2026 primary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Rounds Incumbent, seeking 3rd term |
Republican | U.S. Senator (2015–present) | Won nomination, 75.8% (101,284 votes) |
| Brian Bengs | Independent | Military officer; Democratic nominee for this same seat in 2022 | — running independent, no primary |
| No Democratic nominee this cycle — Bengs is running as an independent rather than under the Democratic banner he carried in 2022. | |||
| Campaign money for this Senate race — not yet pulled from this cycle's filings. Logged, not built yet. | |||
Sources: 2026 U.S. Senate election in South Dakota, Wikipedia, citing South Dakota Secretary of State canvass data · South Dakota Secretary of State, 2026 Run-Off Election State Canvass and Certificate (official, certified)
Still blank, on purpose: every dollar figure for both races above. Not built yet. Check back, or if you find it first with a source, that's homework too.
In the meantime: this site already tracks real, sourced money for South Dakota's federal delegation currently in office — including Sen. John Thune, not up in 2026 — a different set of people than the 2026 nominees above. See who's #PAC_FUNDED and who's #HIGH_PAC_SHARE → Or meet the whole federal delegation directly on the map →
Beta. Nine states built so far. Every number here is dated and linked to where it came from. A blank means we haven't found the real answer yet — we don't fill it with a guess to make the page look finished.
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