South Dakota’s governor hopefuls should be careful what they wish for in Trump era

There is early, bipartisan interest in serving as the next governor of South Dakota.

Republicans already have three announced candidates for the primary in 2026, with one more likely contestant waiting in the wings. Democrats have signed up a 19-year-old college student with hints that an adult or two may also seek that partys nomination.

So much early interest in the job is baffling because being governor of South Dakota is a task that is getting tougher by the day. So far, the U.S. House and Senate have acquiesced to the Trump administrations attempts to cancel federal funding that has already been approved by Congress. Those actions will mean profound changes for state budgets.

The irony is that the Republican candidates applying for such a tough job have all, to some degree, offered their loyalty to Donald Trump. According to a South Dakota Searchlight story, Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden has already spent $187,000 to build his name recognition in the state. In his commercials and mailings, the name that often appears next to Doedens is Trumps.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson doesnt have to run ads claiming loyalty to Trump as he has been in Washington, D.C., doing the presidents bidding. Johnson voted for a big, beautiful bill that is estimated to add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. He also gave his approval to the presidents plan to claw back money that had been allocated for South Dakota Public Broadcasting, financially hamstringing a state institution.

Not much is heard yet from state Speaker of the House Jon Hansen who doesnt have Doedens money or Johnsons name recognition. Since Hansen is from the same MAGA/patriot wing of the state Republican Party as Doeden, its unlikely he would break with Trump on any issue. Undeclared as a candidate so far is Gov. Larry Rhoden, who has had nothing but praise for the president.

Yet, as Trump and his minions continue to take a machete to the federal budget, he only serves to make life tougher for the next governor of South Dakota.

An easy reference for this can be found on South Dakota Searchlights Federal Fallout page, containing stories detailing the impact of federal budget cuts in this state. A scroll through the stories shows some of the challenges that the next governor will face as federal funding starts to disappear:

• $5 million of extra costs for the state to manage the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• $2.2 million cut from South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
• $5.6 million cut from efforts to expand digital access.
• $2.8 million for teacher training.

Remember, in South Dakota, a million dollars still goes a long way. Consequently, replacing a million dollars in the state budget will be hard work. The state budget is $7.3 billion. Of that, $3.1 billion comes from the federal government.

Ultimately, theres no telling how much the federal governments share of the state budget will shrink. Cutting foreign aid and funding for public broadcasting were just the first of Trumps rescission efforts to erase federal spending that has already been approved by Congress.

All of this is happening at a time when South Dakotans are upset about the continual rise in property taxes. The next governor will be faced with the task of figuring out how to moderate or cut those taxes while also finding a way to replace federal funds that have gone missing.

Some of these federal cuts will be felt in the next session of the Legislature.

A South Dakota Searchlight story about a meeting of state fiscal experts included a projection that lagging revenue could result in as much as $24.5 million less for the next state budget.

These candidates who want to be governor should pay close attention to the funding problems faced by Gov. Rhoden and legislators in the next session. There is still plenty of time between now and January for Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress to make more cuts. The struggles in Pierre will serve as a harbinger of the challenges the next governor will face.

Fear of Trumps wrath sparks an almost blind loyalty within the Republican Party. These GOP candidates for governor must ask themselves if they really want the job of running South Dakota government while the party leader they praise is working overtime to make the job more difficult.