Larry Rhoden (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 39th

lieutenant governor of South Dakota The lieutenant governor of South Dakota is the second-ranking member of the executive branch of South Dakota state government and also serves as presiding officer of the South Dakota Senate. The lieutenant governor succeeds to the officer of go ...

since 2019. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he previously served in both houses of the

South Dakota Legislature The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, whic ...

Early life

Rhoden was born and raised on a farm and grew up attending church. After graduating high school, he served in the

South Dakota National Guard The South Dakota National Guard is part of the South Dakota Department of Military & Veterans Affairs. It was created in 1862 as the State Militia. Its headquarters is located in Rapid City, South Dakota. It consists of the South Dakota Army Natio ...

from 1978 to 1985, carrying on a family legacy of military service that began in the Revolutionary War. While his children were young, he served as a church trustee and earned a seat on the local school board, and led the Board of Directors for the Cenex area. He graduated from Sunshine Bible Academy in 1977.

Career

Rhoden served in the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided int ...

from 2001 to 2008, spending four years as majority leader. After being term-limited, Rhoden was elected to the state senate. In 2010, Rhoden ran for senate majority leader, but lost to Russell Olson. Rhoden served on the Agriculture and Natural Resources committee and the State Affairs committee. He has backed bills to arm volunteers in schools, and sponsored a legislative finding saying that the " Founding Fathers freely and willingly abjured all legislative and executive authority to regulate gun ownership and usage… to individual citizens."

2014 U.S. Senate candidacy

Rhoden ran for a United States Senate seat in 2014, calling himself a "conservative voice for limited government." Rhoden spoke out against abortion, same-sex marriage, "career politicians," "activist judges," and immigration "amnesty." Rhoden signed a pledge to never raise taxes, and supports de-funding the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

. Rhoden spoke at a conference organized by the conservative organization

RedState ''RedState'' is an American conservative political blog. Prior to 2017, it organized "RedState gatherings", a summer convention for conservative activists and grassroots political activism which featured many prominent public figures in conserv ...

, criticizing fellow candidate

Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...

's position on taxes. Rounds defeated Rhoden by a margin of 41,377 to 13,393 in the June 2, 2014 primary.

Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota (2019-present)

2018 gubernatorial election

Kristi Noem Kristi Lynn Noem (; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of South Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019 and a member ...

announced on June 20, 2018, that Rhoden would be her running mate as lieutenant governor. Noem had previously referred to the role of a prospective lieutenant governor, stating that "I would do it a little differently maybe than Daugaard and

Michels Michels is a surname, derived from Michaels, which in turn is derived from the given name Michael. Notable people with the surname include: * Birgit Michels (born 1984), German badminton player * David Michels, British businessman *Jan Michels, Dut ...

have done it." She further stated that "I don’t see the lieutenant governor filling as big a role as Michels did. I'm just a believer that there are certain decisions the governor has to make, and so maybe it would be more of a traditional role than what we saw in the last administration."

Tenure

Rhoden assumed office on January 5, 2019. On May 5, 2020, Governor Noem announced that South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman would be resigning effective May 8, 2020, and that Rhoden was being named interim agriculture secretary. On August 27, 2020, Governor Noem announced that she was merging the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which would be called the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and be led by Secretary Hunter Roberts, and thereby ending Rhoden's interim role as Ag secretary. On June 20, 2020, at the Republican State Convention, Rhoden was elected to be one of South Dakota's three Republican Presidential Electors along with Governor

and Attorney General

Jason Ravnsborg Jason Richard Ravnsborg (born April 12, 1976) is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the Repub ...

Personal life

Rhoden lives in

Union Center, South Dakota Union Center is a small rural village in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. It is an unincorporated community, which was designated as part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program on June 10, 2010. It was not co ...

. He and his wife, Sandy, have four children and 4 grand children. Rhoden is a rancher by trade and runs and owns a cow-calf operation and custom welding business.

References

External links

Larry Rhoden at BallotpediaProject Vote Smart – Larry Rhoden (SD)
profile

profile
Official Lieutenant Governor biography
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoden, Larry 1959 births 2020 United States presidential electors Lieutenant Governors of South Dakota Living people Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives People from Meade County, South Dakota People from Sturgis, South Dakota Ranchers from South Dakota Republican Party South Dakota state senators 21st-century American politicians