Where Sioux Falls candidates stand on elections and how government runs
21 sourced statements in 10 races. Every candidate in each race is listed, including those with nothing on record. Nobody is scored or ranked.
U.S. Senate
- Mike Rounds (Republican, incumbent)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Brian L Bengs (Independent)
Congressional ethics: Bengs supports congressional term limits and a ban on stock trading by members of Congress and their spouses. (Brian Bengs for U.S. Senate)
Secretary of State
- Heather Baxter (Republican)
Public engagement: Baxter said she wants better communication between the Secretary of State’s office and county auditors, business owners and the public, and greater civic engagement and citizen oversight. (KOTA TV)
Website access: Baxter said she wants to modernize the office website and simplify public access to it. (KOTA TV)
- Tamara J. Lesnar (Libertarian)
Voting access: She says she is committed to making voting locations easier to access and supports protecting voters’ rights. The campaign also calls for a statewide database of ballot initiatives and signatures. (Lesnar for South Dakota)
Election tabulation: In 2026 coverage, Lesnar said she supports continuing to use voting tabulation machines and sees no compelling reason to eliminate them; she said widespread hand-counting would require more labor than local election offices can provide. (South Dakota Searchlight)
- Terrence Davis (Democratic)
Office responsiveness: Davis says his priorities include rebuilding trust through more timely responses to county auditors, the public and media, improving the Secretary of State’s website, and strengthening relationships with county auditors. (South Dakota Searchlight)
Election tabulation: He favors using election technology alongside human oversight and does not support statewide hand-counting as the primary method. (South Dakota Searchlight)
Voting rights: The party’s 2026 nominee announcement says Davis is running to serve with transparency, protect voting rights and ensure the systems supporting democracy work for everyone. (South Dakota Democratic Party)
State Auditor
- Catherine Barranco (Republican)
Efficiency and savings: Her campaign says she would identify savings, improve government efficiency and create opportunities for tax relief. (Catherine Barranco for State Auditor)
Financial oversight: Barranco says she would use Project BISON’s financial-system tools to strengthen pre-audits of claims and vouchers and identify problems earlier. (South Dakota Voter)
Audit review: She says she would add sharper review and analytics, including a dedicated effort to identify waste, fraud and inefficiency. (South Dakota Voter)
- Tom Cool (Democratic)
No public statement found in our sources.
State Treasurer
- Melissa Hull (Republican)
Fund security: She said the office evaluates banking tools and works with its bank to safeguard funds and prevent scams and cybersecurity threats. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting – Treasurer candidates interview)
- Margaret Kuipers (Democratic)
Oversight: She said the treasurer’s office needs oversight to ensure finances are handled properly, and described the office as largely nonpartisan oversight of decisions already made. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting – Treasurer candidates interview)
Transparency: She emphasized transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of public finances. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting – Treasurer candidates interview)
Commissioner of School and Public Lands
- Brock Greenfield (Republican, incumbent)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Raeann Mettler (Democratic)
Revenue and oversight: She supports fair-market-value trust-land leases, responsible long-term revenue options such as renewable energy, and protecting trust-land productivity through stewardship; she also calls for investment oversight and updated GIS and asset-management tools. (VOTE411 – Commissioner of School and Public Lands)
State Senate, District 16
- Kevin Jensen (Republican, incumbent)
Property rights: Jensen says he supports protecting property rights and election integrity. (Jensen For Senate)
House of Representatives, District 10 (two seats)
- Kimberly Petterson (Republican)
No public statement found in our sources.
- John Pohlman (Republican)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Adam Bair (Democratic)
Surveillance cameras: He said license-plate reader proposals should do more to ensure transparency, including making information available about how the technology identifies vehicles, who accesses the data, and how long it is stored. (KELOLAND)
- Kathleen Brudvig (Democratic)
No public statement found in our sources.
House of Representatives, District 13 (two seats)
- John Hughes (Republican, incumbent)
Transparency: He described himself as strongly supportive of transparency. (KELOLAND)
- Jack Kolbeck (Republican, incumbent)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Ali Horsted (Democratic)
No public statement found in our sources.
House of Representatives, District 14 (two seats)
- Taylor Rae Rehfeldt (Republican, incumbent)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Tyler Tordsen (Republican)
Constituent service: He says he will prioritize being accessible to constituents, effective in representing them, and accountable for his work. (Tyler Tordsen campaign website)
- Erinn Williams (Democratic)
No public statement found in our sources.
Minnehaha County Auditor
- Leah G. Anderson (Republican)
No public statement found in our sources.
- Curt Deedrich (Democratic)
Election access: Wants the county website to provide a direct elections link for people running for office and people registering to vote. (KELOLAND, Meet the candidates for Minnehaha County Auditor)
Election capacity: Says the county needs two or three additional vote-counting machines and more space for poll workers to review ballots the machines cannot read. (Sioux Falls Simplified, Meet the candidates for Minnehaha County Auditor)