List of governors of South Dakota

The Governor of South Dakota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The current Governor is Republican Kristi Noem, serving since 2019. The Governor has the power to sign or veto laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly into emergency session. They have an ex officio South Dakota Governor's Residence. The governor may only serve two terms consecutively, and becomes eligible for reelection after four years out of office.[1] South Dakota is a strongly Republican state; only six Governors have not been members of that party and the governorship has been held by Republicans since 1979, the longest Republican streak and the longest overall streak of one party control in the country.

Governors of Dakota Territory

Governors of South Dakota

Political party

  Republican (27)   Populist (1)   Democratic (5)

#	Governor (birth and death)			Took office	Left office	Party	City elected from	Lieutenant Governor		Notes
1			Arthur C. Mellette (1842–1896)	March 22, 1889	January 3, 1893	Republican	Watertown		James H. Fletcher George H. Hoffman	[2]
2			Charles H. Sheldon (1840–1898)	January 3, 1893	January 1, 1897	Republican	Pierpont		Charles N. Herreid
3			Andrew E. Lee (1847–1934)	January 1, 1897	January 8, 1901	Populist	Vermillion		Daniel T. Hindman John T. Kean
4			Charles N. Herreid (1857–1928)	January 8, 1901	January 3, 1905	Republican	Eureka		George W. Snow
5			Samuel H. Elrod (1856–1935)	January 3, 1905	January 8, 1907	Republican	Clark		John E. McDougall
6			Coe I. Crawford (1858–1944)	January 8, 1907	January 5, 1909	Republican	Huron		Howard C. Shober
7			Robert S. Vessey (1858–1929)	January 5, 1909	January 7, 1913	Republican	Wessington Springs		Howard C. Shober Frank M. Byrne
8			Frank M. Byrne (1858–1927)	January 7, 1913	January 2, 1917	Republican	Faulkton		Edward Lincoln Abel Peter Norbeck	[3]
9			Peter Norbeck (1870–1936)	January 2, 1917	January 4, 1921	Republican	Redfield		William H. McMaster
10			William H. McMaster (1877–1968)	January 4, 1921	January 6, 1925	Republican	Yankton		Carl Gunderson
11			Carl Gunderson (1864–1933)	January 6, 1925	January 4, 1927	Republican	Mitchell		Alva Clark Forney
12			William J. Bulow (1869–1960)	January 4, 1927	January 6, 1931	Democratic	Beresford		Hyatt E. Covey (Republican) Clarence E. Coyne (Republican) John T. Grigsby (Democratic)
13			Warren Green (1869–1945)	January 6, 1931	January 3, 1933	Republican	Hazel		Odell K. Whitney
14			Tom Berry (1879–1951)	January 3, 1933	January 5, 1937	Democratic	Belvidere		Hans Ustrud Robert Peterson
15			Leslie Jensen (1892–1964)	January 5, 1937	January 3, 1939	Republican	Hot Springs		Donald McMurchie
16			Harlan J. Bushfield (1882–1948)	January 3, 1939	January 5, 1943	Republican	Miller		Donald McMurchie A. C. Miller
17			Merrell Q. Sharpe (1888–1962)	January 5, 1943	January 7, 1947	Republican	Kennebec		A. C. Miller Sioux K. Grigsby
18			George T. Mickelson (1903–1965)	January 7, 1947	January 2, 1951	Republican	Selby		Sioux K. Grigsby Rex A. Terry
19			Sigurd Anderson (1904–1990)	January 2, 1951	January 4, 1955	Republican	Webster		Rex A. Terry
20			Joe Foss (1915–2003)	January 4, 1955	January 6, 1959	Republican	Sioux Falls		L. Roy Houck
21			Ralph Herseth (1909–1969)	January 6, 1959	January 3, 1961	Democratic	Houghton		John F. Lindley
22			Archie M. Gubbrud (1910–1987)	January 3, 1961	January 5, 1965	Republican	Alcester		Joseph H. Bottum Nils Boe
23			Nils Boe (1913–1992)	January 5, 1965	January 7, 1969	Republican	Sioux Falls		Lem Overpeck
24			Frank Farrar (b. 1929)	January 7, 1969	January 5, 1971	Republican	Britton		James Abdnor
25			Dick Kneip (1933–1987)	January 5, 1971	July 24, 1978	Democratic	Salem		William Dougherty Harvey L. Wollman	[4]
26			Harvey L. Wollman (b. 1935)	July 24, 1978	January 1, 1979	Democratic	Hitchcock		Vacant
27			Bill Janklow (1939–2012)	January 1, 1979	January 6, 1987	Republican	Flandreau		Lowell C. Hansen II
28			George S. Mickelson (1941–1993)	January 6, 1987	April 19, 1993	Republican	Brookings		Walter Dale Miller	[5]
29			Walter Dale Miller (1925–2015)	April 19, 1993	January 7, 1995	Republican	New Underwood		Steve T. Kirby
30			Bill Janklow (1939–2012)	January 7, 1995	January 7, 2003	Republican	Brandon		Carole Hillard
31			Mike Rounds (b. 1954)	January 7, 2003	January 8, 2011	Republican	Pierre		Dennis Daugaard
32			Dennis Daugaard (b. 1953)	January 8, 2011	January 5, 2019	Republican	Garretson		Matt Michels
33			Kristi Noem (b. 1971)	January 5, 2019	Incumbent	Republican	Castlewood		Larry Rhoden

Succession

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented South Dakota except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	U.S. Congress		Other offices held
		House	Senate
Coe I. Crawford	1907–1909		S
Peter Norbeck	1917–1921		S
William H. McMaster	1921–1925		S
William J. Bulow	1927–1931		S
Harlan J. Bushfield	1939–1943		S
Richard F. Kneip	1971–1978			United States Ambassador to Singapore*
Bill Janklow	1979–1987 1995–2003	H
Mike Rounds	2003–2011		S
Kristi Noem	2019–present	H

Notes

1. "§ 2". South Dakota Constitution. pp. Article IV, § 2. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
2. Mellette was the final governor of the Dakota Territory prior to his election as the first Governor of South Dakota.
3. Won over James Wallace McCarter
4. Kneip resigned to become Ambassador to Singapore on July 24, 1978; he was succeeded by Harvey L. Wollman.
5. Mickelson was killed in a plane crash on April 19, 1993; he was succeeded by Walter Dale Miller.

See also

• South Dakota
• Governor of South Dakota
• Timeline of South Dakota