When Republican Jon Hansen announced his intention to run for Governor of South Dakota, he also immediately announced that his pick for lieutenant governor was fellow state Representative Karla Lems.
Hansen thinks voters appreciate knowing from the start who his second in command would be, if he were to be elected in 2026.
Hansen says their campaign is not about he and Lems as individuals, it’s about what they can do together to make South Dakota better.
A seemingly never ending campaign cycle, lack of trust in some levels of government, feeling like their one individual vote doesn’t matter, and attack ads that intentionally twist information making a candidate’s true stance on an issue difficult to determine have all contributed to low voter turnout or voters disengaging from the election process completely in recent years.
Hansen says he gets it, but he believes it’s still important for people to vote.
Hansen is one of four republicans hoping to win the June 2, 2026, primary election. The others are current Governor Larry Rhoden, current South Dakota U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden. If none of them receive 35 percent or more of the republican vote, South Dakota law says the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff election to be held eight weeks after the primary election. In this case, that date would be July 28, 2026.
The winner goes on to face Democrat Dan Ahlers in the November General Election.
Incidentally, today (May 18, 2026) is the deadline to register to vote if you want to be eligible to cast a ballot in the June 2, 2026, Primary Election.
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