Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of three stories that have appeared in The Brookings Register this week, featuring Republican candidates for two District 7 seats in the state House of Representatives. The top two vote-getters among candidates Doug Post, Tim Reed and Larry Tidemann will move on to the November general election to face Democratic challengers.

BROOKINGS – Larry Tidemann heard folks wanted him back in politics, so he’s running for a two-year seat as a state representative for District 7. 

The primary election is June 2, with the top two District 7 Republican candidates moving on to the Nov. 3 general election.

Tidemann came to Brookings to attend South Dakota State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in dairy science production and manufacturing and a master’s degree in dairy nutrition. He was in ROTC and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1970.

After graduation from SDSU, he became the Lincoln County Extension agent.

“After I’d worked there a year, I had to go to officer basic training in Fort Bliss, Texas,” he said.

He was the Lincoln County Extension agent for about 11 years. 

“Then I worked up here as the ag program leader with Cooperative Extension for 16 years. Then I worked as the director for the final six years,” he said, adding he was in charge of about 240 people when he was the director of Extension.

Tidemann retired from the university in 2004. Since his retirement, he’s done volunteer work.

He and wife Gail have two adult sons.

He was elected to the House of Representatives for District 7 in 2004 and served three terms before being elected to the Senate in 2010, serving four terms there.

Tidemann said working for Extension was “an excellent training ground to my political career” because it showed him how to lead a committee, keep people involved, and respect others’ ideas.

He was on the Appropriations Committee all 14 years of his legislative career; serving as vice chair or chair for 11 of those years. Tidemann said that experience was “very valuable.”

He said he enjoys going over numbers and figuring out where the dollars are most needed.

“I served on the Retirement Loss Committee, which is extremely important for Brookings and District 7 because we have about $38 million that comes into Brookings under the retirement system,” Tidemann said.

He chaired the Executive Board, which runs the Legislature during the non-legislative months, and oversees the retirement system and the Investments Council.

“South Dakota retirement system has been either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation going back to the early 2000s,” Tidemann said.

He served on the Government Operations and Audit Committee which looks at where the dollars were spent and if they were spent appropriately.

Tidemann has been out of the political game for a while, but got the call to return, literally.

“Gail was sewing masks and I was getting calls from people saying we need you in Pierre,” Tidemann said. Supporters got almost 100 signatures on his petition to run in just two days. 

He feels his past political experience – including balancing the state budget during the Great Recession after 2008 – is what South Dakota needs right now to recover from COVID-19. 

He can hit the ground running in Pierre because he knows “the process extremely well.”

A priority for him is to help rebuild the businesses affected by COVID-19. He realizes the tourism industry is taking a hit and agriculture is suffering, as well. He saw people use ingenuity to build a new normal after 2001.

“We have a lot of businesses that are still very viable in District 7. They’re doing things properly; they’re protecting their employees. That I think is going to help move Brookings and District 7 forward,” Tidemann said.

Education on all levels is a top priority “because that’s the next generation of workers,” Tidemann said, adding we have to make sure all students are ready to move on to the next level and prepare workers for the jobs of the future. He worries about the children who have not had classroom schooling in months and how far behind they will fall.

“Have our high schoolers learned all the things they need to do to be prepared for college or technical schools or the job they may want to go into?” Tidemann said.

He fears some universities across the nation may not make it and said now is not the time to cut funding to higher education. 

“We have an extremely talented staff and faculty at SDSU, both in teaching and in research. And you never know what the next discovery’s going to be,” Tidemann said.

Health care is another concern, particularly if we open up too soon and see a spike like Japan has, he said.

“There’s the haves and the have-nots across the state, but telehealth has played a major role as you can’t go to the clinic,” Tidemann said. “Maybe it’s gonna be more prevalent in the future.”

We have to plan now for the future, Tidemann said.

“We have a very strong work ethic in the Midwest. A lot of our country does not have that. That’s a strength that we need to keep here in this state,” Tidemann said.

“I see a bright future for us. I see a bright future for South Dakota once we get through this COVID,” he said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.