Previous Governors of South Dakota
Governors who previously held office in South Dakota, with term dates and party affiliation.
Larry Robert Rhoden is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the 34th governor of South Dakota.
Kristi Noem was elected Governor of South Dakota in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. A farmer and rancher, she previously served four terms in the U.S. House. She gained national attention for keeping South Dakota largely open during the COVID-19 pandemic and briefly served as Secretary of Homeland Security in 2025.
Dennis Martin Daugaard is an American attorney and politician who served as the 32nd governor of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first chief executive of a U.S. state to be the child of deaf parents. Before being elected governor, he was a lawyer, banker, development director for a nonprofit organization; he also served as a state senator from 1997 to 2003 and the 37th lieutenant governor of South Dakota from 2003 to 2011.
Marion Michael Rounds 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 from 2003 to 2011.
William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party. He holds the record for the longest tenure as the governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.
Walter Dale "Walt" Miller was an American politician and member of the Republican Party. He served as the 29th governor of South Dakota from 1993 to 1995, having assumed the office upon the death of George S. Mickelson. He was, at age 67 upon taking office, the oldest person to serve as the governor of South Dakota.
George Speaker Mickelson was an American politician and Vietnam War veteran who served as the 28th governor of South Dakota from 1987 until his death in 1993 in a plane crash near Zwingle, Iowa.
William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party. He holds the record for the longest tenure as the governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.
Harvey Lowell Wollman was an American politician who served as the 26th governor of South Dakota from 1978 to 1979. He was the first lieutenant governor in the history of South Dakota to succeed to the governorship. To date, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as South Dakota's governor.
Richard Francis Kneip was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 25th governor of South Dakota from 1971 until 1978 and the 6th United States Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the first Catholic Governor of South Dakota, he is the most recent Governor of South Dakota elected from the party, and the only Governor of his party to be elected more than twice.