Updated to reflect results of the 2020 and 2022 general elections – the article now assumes that those elected in 2022 will take office in 2023 and serve a full two-year term.
August 2020 is the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women in the United States the right to vote. Women’s suffrage in South Dakota had actually been approved two years earlier, in a state constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 1918.
The first female legislator, Gladys Pyle, was elected in 1922; she went on to serve as Secretary of State and U.S. Senator. Another, Kristi Noem, became the first woman elected Governor in 2018; an earlier post looked at the various “firsts” for women in South Dakota politics. Another legislator, Susan Wismer, was the first female major-party nominee for Governor in 2014; another earlier post looked at women who ran for Governor prior to Governor Noem.
Twenty-nine female legislators have served for at least ten years. The longest serving among them is Jean Hunhoff. Hunhoff is the first female legislator in South Dakota to serve for 20 years, a milestone reached by 41 of her male colleagues.
Hunhoff, a Republican, can claim 24 years representing Yankton County in the State Legislature, assuming she completes her new term. Hunhoff served first in the House 2001-06, then in the Senate 2007-14, then back in the House 2015-20, then back in the Senate since 2021. Hunhoff has been a longtime member of the important Joint Appropriations Committee, serving as Senate Chair in 2009-10 and again since 2021.
The Hunhoff name is well-known in Yankton, and Jean Hunhoff is not the only member of the family to serve in the State Legislature. Her brother-in-law, Bernie Hunhoff, was the 1998 Democratic nominee for governor and is the longest-serving party floor leader in the term limits era.
Here is a list of all the twenty-eight women who have served in the South Dakota State Legislature for at least ten years:
| Legislator | Party | City | Tenure | Comments |
| Jean M. Hunhoff | R | Yankton | 24 | HR 2001-06, Sen 2007-14, HR 2015-20, Sen 2021-24 |
| Mary B. Edelen | R | Vermillion | 18 | HR 1973-80, HR 1983-92 |
| Ellen E. Bliss | R | Sioux Falls | 16 | HR 1953-68 |
| Doris P. Miner | D | Gregory | 16 | HR 1977-78, Sen 1979-92 |
| Phyllis M. Heineman | R | Sioux Falls | 16 | HR 1999-2008, Sen 2011-16 |
| Julie Bartling | D | Burke | 16 | HR 2001-04, Sen 2005-10, HR 2013-18. Asst. Minority Leader, 2013-18 |
| Mary A. McClure | R | Redfield | 15 | Sen 1975-89. First woman President Pro Tempore, 1979-89 |
| Frances S. “Peg” Lamont | R | Aberdeen | 14 | Sen 1975-88 |
| Janice K. Nicolay | R | Sioux Falls | 14 | HR 1983-96 |
| Deb Peters | R | Hartford | 14 | HR 2005-10, Sen 2011-18 |
| Debra R. Anderson | R | Sioux Falls | 13 | HR 1977-89. First woman Speaker of the House, 1987-88 |
| Kay S. Jorgensen | R | Spearfish | 12 | HR 1979-84, HR 1993-98 |
| Mary K. Wagner | R | Brookings | 12 | HR 1981-88, Sen 1989-92 |
| Della Wishard | R | Prairie City | 12 | HR 1985-96 |
| J. P. Duniphan | R | Rapid City | 12 | HR 1995-2002, Sen 2003-06 |
| Dorothy Nepstad | R | Mitchell | 10 | HR 1969-78 |
| Doris J. Kumm | R | Watertown | 10 | HR 1979-88 |
| Dorothy M. Kellogg | D | Watertown | 10 | HR 1981-84, Sen 1987-92 |
| Mary Vanderlinde | D | Sioux Falls | 10 | HR 1985-94 |
| Pamela A. Nelson | D | Sioux Falls | 10 | HR 1987-88, Sen 1989-96 |
| Barbara Everist | R | Sioux Falls | 10 | HR 1993-94, Sen 1995-2002. First woman Senate Majority Leader |
| Cheryl B. Madden | R | Rapid City | 10 | HR 1993-98, Sen 1999-2002 |
| Margaret Gillespie | D | Hudson | 10 | HR 2001-08, Sen 2009-10 |
| Joni M. Cutler | R | Sioux Falls | 10 | HR 2003-10, Sen 2011-12 |
| Shantel S. Krebs | R | Renner | 10 | HR 2005-10, Sen 2011-14 |
| Betty Olson | R | Prairie City | 10 | HR 2007-14, Sen 2015-16 |
| Susan Wismer | D | Britton | 10 | HR 2009-14, HR 2018-18, Sen 2019-20. First woman nominated by a major party for Governor. |
| Mary Duvall | R | Pierre | 10 | HR 2013-20, Sen 2021-22 |
| Liz May | R | Kyle | 10 | HR 2013-18, HR 2021-24 |
SoDak Governors 