Larry Rhoden has won the Republican nomination for Governor after beating Toby Doeden in South Dakota’s first ever primary runoff election held on Tuesday (July 28, 2026). Rhoden, who currently serves as Governor, received 71% of the votes cast by Republicans while Doeden received 29%. Rhoden and Doeden were the top two vote getters out of a field of four candidates in the June 2, 2026, Republican Primary Election. In the June election, Doeden received the most support, getting 31% of the vote. However, because he didn’t reach the 35% threshold set by state law, it triggered the runoff primary election with Rhoden, who received 25% of the vote. Other candidates in that race were Dusty Johnson who got 23% of the vote and Jon Hansen who got 21% of the vote. Following the June Primary, the Republican Party in South Dakota saw their voter list surge by more than 7000 names as people from other political parties switched to the GOP in order to vote in the runoff. Rhoden and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Dan Ahlers will face-off in the Nov. 3 General Election. ...read more read less