US Rep. Dusty Johnson announces he's entering race to become South Dakota governor
Johnson's office issued a news release announcing his plans shortly before he was set to speak at a Sioux Falls hotel.
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.
Now the 48-year-old aims to become the first elected governor since Noem, who used her time in Pierre to build a national profile and draw attention to the small-population Midwest state. Noem has since become Trump's secretary of Homeland Security, leaving her position in January which was filled by current governor Larry Rhoden.
Johnson is entering what could be a crowded Republican primary next June, competing against state Rep. Jon Hansen, an Aberdeen businessman who championed a landowner movement against a carbon capture pipeline. Johnson may also be challenged by Rhoden, though the latter has not yet announced a gubernatorial campaign.
Johnson first entered public office when he was elected to be a public utilities commissioner in 2004 and became the youngest commissioner in the nation at age 28. He later served as chief of staff for South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
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Legislature passes and Evers signs budget after sprint to get ahead of Trump big bill
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The 2025-27 budget is the product of weeks of negotiations between Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor — the first bipartisan agreement of its kind since Evers was elected seven years ago, ushering in an era of divided government. "We're at a time in politics in America where people believe that it's hard to get anything done, where two sides are such polar opposites on so many issues," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, ahead of the vote. "But … on an issue like (the budget), it really took both sides to come to the table, listen to the other and try to be able to put our differences aside and focus on what brings us together." The state leaders raced to pass the state budget Wednesday to lock in more funding for hospitals before President Donald Trump signs into law a plan that would prevent such increases in the future. 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Throughout the debate, Republicans praised the budget as one that was improved by the removal of some of Evers' proposals, while Democrats credited the Senate seats they picked up last fall with earning them a seat at the negotiating table. The overall package cuts taxes by $1.3 billion, spends hundreds of millions on building projects on University of Wisconsin System campuses, expands Medicaid funding, increases funding for special education and funds new childcare programs, among other measures. In all, it spends $111 billion, a 12% increase over current spending levels. The agreement gives Republicans a win with the $1.3 billion tax cut plan that expands the state's second-lowest tax bracket to include more filers, exempt some retirement income from taxation, eliminate the residential utilities sales tax and create a film tax credit capped at $5 million per year. Democrats see a win in funding levels for the UW System, which saw one of the biggest turnarounds in the budget as a result of the bipartisan negotiations. Republicans in June threatened to cut universities by $87 million. Instead, the state's public universities will receive a more than $256 million boost over the next two years, the largest increase in more than 20 years, according to the governor's office. But the budget plan caused heartburn among lawmakers on each side of the aisle. "It's going to drive up property taxes, the least popular form of tax that we hear complaints about — why?" Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said on the floor before voting against the plan. "This budget just does not meet the mark of the political moment we find ourselves in." Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, voted against the budget despite it containing "a lot of good stuff," including funding for mental health, UW capital projects and a film production tax credit. 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Is a Republican who voted against state budget in one of Wisconsin's most flippable seats?
It's fair to say election season is never really over in Wisconsin. Democrats are already looking ahead to the fall 2026 elections, when they'll have more chances to pick up seats in the state Legislature, and perhaps flip control of the state Senate. The State Senate Democratic Committee is already eyeing one competitive seat, held by Republican state Sen. Rob Hutton of Brookfield.'Senator Hutton is in the most flippable Senate seat in Wisconsin,' the SSDC, which works to get Democrats elected to the chamber, posted on X on June 27, 2025. This is all in the context of the state's two-year budget and speculation at the time that Hutton might vote against it. Hutton ultimately voted 'no' on the budget, joining three Republicans and 10 Democrats in the Senate who rejected the full plan because it either spent too much or didn't invest enough in areas like K-12 education. In a statement after his vote, Hutton said the budget would create a deficit, 'putting Wisconsin families in a worse spot for the future.' 'In a time of economic uncertainty, when our spending decisions warrant further restraint and discernment, we need a budget that creates proper spending priorities and puts taxpayers first,' Hutton said. Wisconsin voters are likely to hear lots about toss-up legislative seats and how incumbents voted on policies in the budget. Let's determine whether Hutton's district, which includes communities west of Milwaukee like Brookfield, Wauwatosa, Pewaukee and West Allis, is truly the most competitive. We contacted the SSDC, which said it ran the math based on voting results from the 2024 presidential and Senate elections. Democrats see two other seats as competitive, those held by Sen. Howard Marklein of Spring Green and Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine. Both Republicans voted for the budget. The question for us is whether Hutton's seat is more competitive than the other two. Based on the committee's math, former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin carried Hutton's district by a higher percentage than they carried the other two districts. In Hutton's district, about 6,500 more voters cast ballots for Harris than President Donald Trump, compared to around 1,000 in the two other districts. And around 5,400 more voters in Hutton's district voted for Baldwin over Republican candidate Eric Hovde, significantly more than in the other two competitive districts. The SSDC didn't provide a breakdown of the district's voting pattern in the state Supreme Court race, but said liberal Justice Susan Crawford's performance in Hutton's district added to its conclusion. John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University, did a similar analysis. His findings confirmed that Harris and Baldwin performed better in Hutton's district than in three other battleground districts. Meanwhile, Johnson found Crawford carried Hutton's district by double digits – Crawford actually had a higher margin in Marklein's district. We're getting way into the details, but all this supports Democrats' claim that Hutton's district is at least one of the two most flippable in Wisconsin. Of course, races for the state Legislature are different than those for president, Senate and state Supreme Court. We can't look at how much Hutton won by in 2024 in his new seat, because he wasn't on the ballot last year. In 2022, when his district lines were different, he won by about seven percentage points. Democratic candidate Sarah Harrison is running against Hutton this time around. She ran for state Assembly in 2024, losing to Republican Rep. Adam Neylon from Pewaukee by about 18 points. PolitiFact Wisconsin asked Hutton for further comment but didn't hear back. The State Senate Democratic Committee said Hutton 'is in the most flippable Senate seat in Wisconsin.' Hutton was one of 53 lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, who voted against the state budget. Calculations from the SSDC and an independent researcher confirm Harris and Baldwin carried Hutton's district by a higher percentage than two other competitive districts held by Republicans. And while Crawford performed slightly better in one of those other battlegrounds, she still carried Hutton's district by a significant margin. None of this confirms Hutton's seat will turn blue next year, but it is likely the Senate's most competitive seat. We rate the claim True. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, After an intense election season, the political focus shifts to state races in Wisconsin, Nov. 11, 2024. X, Wisconsin Senate Democrats, June 27, 2025. MacIver Institute, Budget Delay Is an Opportunity for Reform, Sen. Rob Hutton, June 27, 2025. Wisconsin State Legislature, 2025 Senate Vote 81, July 2, 2025. Wisconsin State Senator Rob Hutton, Statement on Budget, July 2, 2025. Wisconsin State Legislature, Senate District 5. Email exchange, Will Karcz, State Senate Democratic Committee communications director, July 1, 2025. Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog, John Johnson, What the Supreme Court Election tells us about Wisconsin's Legislative Districts, June 4, 2025. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2022 Wisconsin State Senate - District 5 Election Results. WisPolitics, Harrison campaign: Announces bid for Wisconsin State Senate district 5, June 13, 2025. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2024 Wisconsin General Elections Results - State Assembly District 15. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Legislature passes and Evers signs budget after sprint to get ahead of Trump big bill, July 3, 2025. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Does GOP state budget holdout have most competitive seat in Wisconsin?
