U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson formally entered the 2026 race for South Dakota governor Monday, promising to bring a positive leadership style to efforts to strengthen families, better educate children and drive new economic growth.

The 48-year-old Republican, who grew up in Pierre, has served in Congress since 2019. He announced it at an event in Sioux Falls and was expected to repeat the announcement in Rapid City later in the day.

“I love this state and I think the next 20 years for South Dakota could be the best years in our history. But I don’t think it’s inevitable,” Johnson told News Watch in an interview prior to the announcement. “To realize that future, we’ve got to have a real plan, we need real leadership, and I’m excited to build that plan and that team.”

The general election is Nov. 3, 2026, but the Republican primary on June 2 is where Johnson will encounter the stiffest challenge. Two GOP candidates have already announced – state Speaker of the House Jon Hansen and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden – and it’s possible that incumbent Gov. Larry Rhoden might also seek to keep his job.

Rhoden became governor in January when former Gov. Kristi Noem left to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. Robert Arnold, a 19-year-old college student at Dakota State University, is the only Democrat to announce his candidacy so far.

Johnson said he won’t be surprised if the primary campaign becomes a bitter affair.

“We’re in a pretty ugly political era, I think we all know that, and it’s not too hard to imagine that we’ve got campaigns that will trade off fear and anger,” Johnson said. “Those aren’t my politics, which are about addition and multiplication, not division and subtraction, because I don’t think the politics of division or anger are going to give South Dakota what it needs over the next 20 years.”

Johnson has served as South Dakota’s only congressman since 2019, succeeding Kristi Noem’s congressional tenure, and has taken moderate stances during his time in Washington. He has supported antitrust legislation and opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified the Supreme Court’s federal recognition of gay marriage.

He sometimes joined a minority of Republicans in voting against President Donald Trump, including when he voted to override Trump’s veto of a measure that revoked his declaration of an emergency at the southern border. He was later one of 35 House Republicans who voted to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Prior to his announcement, Johnson provided written answers to questions posed by News Watch about what his administration would look like. Here are his responses:

If elected governor, what will be your top priorities?

1. Putting students first. I intend to be laser-focused on improving student achievement, supporting our public schools, and will also work to empower parents to make the best decisions about their children’s education. We should make college and tech schools affordable for South Dakota families, giving every hardworking student a chance to build their life here in South Dakota.
2. Building safer communities. Our towns are safer by the brave men and women who serve as police officers, deputies, and sheriffs. They deserve our unwavering support. I’ll work with law enforcement to get fentanyl and methamphetamine off our streets.
3. Supporting agriculture’s next generation. We need an ag economy that is focused on the future and that supports landowner decisions. It’s imperative we protect private property rights, including the private property right to build on your own land. The success of South Dakota’s ag producers today will be the strength of rural America for decades to come.
4. Rooting out waste and maintaining limited government. Our state government should be efficient, effective, responsive, and transparent. Government should be constrained to a few key areas, and one of them is building and maintaining infrastructure. South Dakotans deserve safe roads and bridges, and deserve efficient processes that allow them to get driver’s licenses and camping reservations.
5. Lifting up families. Being a father to my three sons is the greatest job title I’ve ever had, and South Dakota should be doing more to support families. I believe we can make South Dakota the best state in the nation to raise kids.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the state right now?

1. We all know South Dakota is a great place to live and we can’t afford to take that for granted. Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas — in fact, it’s the opposite. We need a leader with the energy, and an actual plan, to drive our commonsense values forward.
2. We need to make sure our students are graduating from high school prepared and confident to take on the challenges ahead. 
3. We need to make sure our farmers and ranchers are able to pass down their operations to the next generation – or to an entity with similar values so that ownership of our land stays local. 
4. When we say that South Dakota is a great place to start your business, it needs to be true. It’s not about saying yes to every company, but it’s about saying yes to the right ones that propel our state forward. Economic growth is a rising tide that can lift all boats when harnessed correctly. 

If elected, what are fundamental issues on which you hope or believe you can make lasting change?

1. Our state has experienced success because of key decisions that helped transform our economy – from our banking industry, the founding of world-class hospital systems, to biofuels. It’s time to go out and find the next big thing.
2. Taxpayers want to know how their money is being spent. I’m committed to leading a transparent state government that works lean and efficiently to deliver essential services to all South Dakotans. I believe we can transform how state government works. 
3. I hope that if I have the opportunity to continue serving the people of South Dakota as their next governor, that I would leave that office knowing that I served with integrity. I might not always see eye-to-eye with someone, but there’s no doubt I will have treated him or her with respect—and there’s something to be said about that. 

Johnson gave an exclusive interview to the Brookings Register's editorial board last October. That conversation can be read here (part I) and here (part II).

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.