How the Republican divide in deep red South Dakota backfired and led to wins for Dems

Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight
29 March
Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, speaks on the Senate floor on March 6, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

VERMILLION — Six South Dakota lawmakers — three Democrats and three Republicans — celebrated bipartisan accomplishments Thursday at an annual democracy conference, including their efforts to stop what one legislator called an influx of “bad bills” from reaching the governor’s desk.

Fourteen incumbent Republican lawmakers lost in the 2024 primaries, with many challengers capitalizing on opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed multibillion-dollar pipeline project. That produced a large class of freshman Republican legislators, and last year’s Republican leadership group lost support, resulting in a new leadership team when the Legislature convened in January.

Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, said those changes produced bills that pitted Republicans against each other, leading Democrats and some Republicans to work together against legislation they both opposed. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Legislature 96-9.

“Unfortunately this year, a lot of times it was killing bad bills that we were the most successful,” Smith said.

Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, speaks on the Senate floor on March 6, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Rep. Drew Peterson, R-Salem, said he ran for a caucus leadership position ahead of the session but “lost by a few.” He said some Republicans who failed to gain a leadership post worked with Democrats on some issues.

“I wasn’t in leadership this year, but we still lead within our group,” Peterson said. “Collectively we could get 36 to 42 votes between the Democrats and Republicans, and we did our job.”

Peterson and Smith were among the lawmakers who participated in a legislative panel discussion at the annual conference hosted by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.

As evidence of bipartisan efforts between Democrats and some Republicans, the lawmakers highlighted the amending of legislation dubbed the “locking up librarians” bill, by removing a proposed criminal penalty for distributing harmful or obscene material to minors and instead requiring an appeals process for challenging materials in school and public libraries. The amendment passed the Senate 18-16 before the bill passed the chamber 32-2. The House accepted the amendments in a 36-34 vote, and Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the bill this month.

Attempt to revive ‘locking up librarians’ bill fails; version with appeal process goes to governor

There was also bipartisan cooperation against a failed attempt to stop funding the state’s controversial Future Fund, which is an economic development fund controlled by the executive branch, and several failed bills intended to provide property tax relief to South Dakotans.

Sioux Falls Democratic Rep. Erik Muckey said he most clearly saw the shift within the Republican Party in the Future Fund debate, where he said some Republicans reacted to a lack of oversight for the fund by supporting its elimination without “actually digging into” how it works.

“We’re trying to take down an agency, effectively,” Muckey said, “but we don’t actually know what the agency does, the process to get there or what the consequences of a bill is that we didn’t even all probably read, frankly.”

Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermillion, said the push for property tax relief included a determination by some freshmen lawmakers to pass property tax cuts without considering costs. That’s primarily because some lawmakers, he said, were quick to “slam something through” and slow to research and understand a bill’s consequences.

The Legislature ultimately passed Rhoden’s legislation including a temporary cap on countywide assessment increases, with plans to dig into the property tax system further with a summer task force.

Other notable efforts that some Republicans and Democrats worked together on failed, such as funding the replacement of the state penitentiary.

The Legislature lost leadership with deep institutional knowledge because of the primary defeats, said Sen. Sydney Davis, R-Burbank, leading to less understanding among lawmakers of the process and why bills failed in past sessions.

Davis said some bills saw several layers of amendments, which hinders how lawmakers and the public vet bills in the committee process.

“That’s a drain on the process and the system,” she said.

One of the new legislative leaders, House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, told South Dakota Searchlight by phone that he saw factions of Republicans working with Democrats during the session. He described the comments made during the panel as part of an attempt to frame the session as “fraught and chaotic.”

The bills highlighted by lawmakers during the panel weren’t bad, he said, but were emblematic of the divide within the Republican Party. The Future Fund and property tax discussions, he said, showed the divide is centered on government involvement in economic development and government spending.

“What some people call bad, others call conservative,” Odenbach said.

Odenbach said the next session will be different as freshman lawmakers have a year under their belts and a better understanding of the legislative process. The divide, he said, will remain.

“The South Dakota Republican Party is changing,” Odenbach said. “It’s going back to its roots and we’re going to redefine what it means to be a conservative. It’ll take a few twists and turns until we get there.”

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

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