Majority and Minority Leaders in the SD State Legislature

In Pierre, the day-to-day business of the State Legislature is managed by the party floor leaders. In each house, the majority leader plans the calendar and makes the appropriate motions to keep legislative business moving. Majority leaders and minority leaders manage their caucus meetings and represent their members in negotiations.

(This page is an up-to-date version of a post originally posted here; See the overview of legislative leadership for other leadership positions in the State Legislature.)

The South Dakota State Legislature first designated official party floor leaders in 1955. Six leaders have gone on to become governor: Ralph Herseth, Archie Gubbrud, Richard F. Kneip, Harvey Wollman, Walter Dale Miller, and Mike Rounds.

The longest serving party floor leader in state history is Homer Harding. Harding represented Pierre in the State Senate for 18 years, from 1971-88. He led Senate Republicans for a record-setting 14 years, serving as minority leader from 1975-76 and then as majority leader from 1977-88.

The term limits era has brought about more frequent turnover in leadership. Since term limits took effect in 2000, the only legislator to serve more than four years as a floor leader was Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton, who served six years as house minority leader from 2009-14. Hunhoff had previously served two years as senate minority leader, in 1997 and 1998, before unsuccessfully running for governor in 1998.

In addition to Hunhoff, many other floor leaders have been candidates for governor: Elvern Varilek, Roger McKellips, Lars Herseth, Jim Hutmacher, Scott Heidepriem, Dave Knudson, Billie Sutton, and Jamie Smith.

Barbara Everist of Sioux Falls served in 2001 and 2002 as the senate majority leader, the first woman to serve as a party floor leader. Kris Langer was the second when she served as senate majority leader in 2019-20. Women have also served in other leadership roles, including speaker of the house and president pro tempore of the senate. Troy Heinert of Mission, the senate minority leader from 2019-22, was the first tribal member to serve as a party floor leader, and Will Mortenson of Pierre is the first tribal member to lead a majority caucus or a Republican caucus.

Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, has been the home to ten party floor leaders, more than any other city: Senate Majority Leaders Barbara Everist, David Knudson, and Blake Curd; Senate Minority Leaders Scott Heidepriem and Reynold Nesiba; House Majority Leaders Elton Johnson, Lawrence Piersol, and Bill Peterson; and House Minority Leaders Dennis McFarland and Jamie Smith.

Many other cities have been home to more than one floor leader. These include several of the state’s largest communities, such as four each from Rapid City and Aberdeen, three from Madison and Pierre, and two each from Mitchell, Watertown, Yankton, and Deadwood. Several small towns have also produced more than one, however, including Alcester (Archie Gubbrud and Roger McKellips), Gettysburg (Ralph Nauman and Corey Brown), Houghton (father-and-son Ralph and Lars Herseth), Salem (Richard F. Kneip and Kent Peterson), and Union Center (Larry Rhoden and Gary Cammack).

In addition to the father-son pair of Ralph and Lars Herseth, there is at least one other pair of family members who have served as floor leaders: House Minority Leader Bertram Ellingson of Sisseton and his grandson, Senate Minority Leader Jason Frerichs of Wilmot.

Below is the list of those who have held the offices of senate majority leader, senate minority leader, house majority leader, and house minority leader. Note that the legislature only met in odd-numbered years until 1963-64, when the state adopted annual legislative sessions.

#	SENATE MAJORITY LEADER	PARTY	SESSIONS	CITY
1	Alfred D. Roesler¹	R	1955–1957	Deadwood
2	Arthur W. Jones	D	1959	Britton
3	Alfred D. Roesler	R	1961–1966²	Deadwood
4	Robert Hirsch	R	1967–1969	Tripp
5	Lloyd Schrag	R	1970–1972	Marion
6	Harvey Wollman	D	1973–1974	Frankfort
7	Homer Kandaras	D	1975–1976	Rapid City
8	G. Homer Harding	R	1977–1988	Pierre
9	George Shanard	R	1989–1992	Mitchell
10	Roger D. McKellips	D	1993–1994	Alcester
11	M. Michael Rounds	R	1995–2000	Pierre
12	Barbara Everist⁴	R	2001–2002	Sioux Falls
13	Eric H. Bogue	R	2003–2006	Dupree
14	David L. Knudson	R	2007–2010	Sioux Falls
15	Russell D. Olson	R	2011–2013	Madison
16	Timothy A. Rave	R	2014–2015	Baltic
17	Corey W. Brown	R	2016	Gettysburg
18	R. Blake Curd	R	2017–2018	Sioux Falls
19	Kristen K. Langer	R	2019–2020	Dell Rapids
20	Gary L. Cammack	R	2021–2022	Union Center
21	Casey J. Crabtree	R	2023–	Madison

#	SENATE MINORITY LEADER	PARTY	SESSIONS	CITY
1	Ralph Herseth¹	D	1955	Houghton
2	Arthur W. Jones	D	1957	Britton
3	Alfred D. Roesler	R	1959	Deadwood
4	Arthur W. Jones	D	1961–1968²	Britton
5	Richard F. Kneip	D	1969–1970	Salem
6	Harvey Wollman	D	1971–1972	Frankfort
7	E. C. Pieplow	R	1973–1974	Aberdeen
8	G. Homer Harding	R	1975–1976	Pierre
9	Eugene Mahan	D	1977–1978	Burbank
10	Jacob Krull	D	1979–1982	Watertown
11	Roger D. McKellips	D	1983–1992	Alcester
12	Harold Halverson	R	1993–1994	Twin Brooks
13	R. Lars Herseth	D	1995–1996	Houghton
14	Bernie Hunhoff	D	1997–1998	Yankton
15	James K. Hutmacher	D	1999–2002	Chamberlain
16	Garry A. Moore	D	2003–2006	Yankton
17	Scott N. Heidepriem	D	2007–2010	Sioux Falls
18	Jason E. Frerichs	D	2011–2014	Wilmot
19	Billie H. Sutton	D	2015–2018	Burke
20	Troy E. Heinert⁵	D	2019–2022	Mission
21	Reynold F. Nesiba	D	2023–	Sioux Falls

#	HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER	PARTY	SESSIONS	CITY
1	Albro C. Ayres¹	R	1955	Deadwood
2	Archie Gubbrud	R	1957	Alcester
3	Carl T. Burgess	R	1959	Rapid City
4	Joe R. Dunmire	R	1961	Lead
5	Carl T. Burgess	R	1963–1964²	Rapid City
6	Elton F. Johnson	R	1965–1966	Sioux Falls
7	Frank McKenzie	R	1967–1968	Winner
8	James L. Rothstein	R	1969–1972	Mobridge
9	Lawrence L. Piersol	D³	1973–1974	Sioux Falls
10	Walter Dale Miller	R	1975–1978	New Underwood
11	Jospeh H. Barnett	R	1979–1986	Aberdeen
12	Walter Dale Miller	R	1987	New Underwood
13	Jerome Lammers	R	1988–1992	Madison
14	Larry E. Gabriel	R	1993–1998	Cottonwood
15	Steve K. Cutler	R	1999–2000	Claremont
16	William G. Peterson	R	2001–2004	Sioux Falls
17	Larry L. Rhoden	R	2005–2008	Union Center
18	Robert L. Faehn	R	2009–2010	Watertown
19	David E. Lust	R	2011–2014	Rapid City
20	Brian G. Gosch	R	2015–2016	Rapid City
21	Lee D. Qualm	R	2017–2020	Platte
22	Kent S. Peterson	R	2021–2022	Salem
23	Will D. Mortenson⁵	R	2023–	Pierre

#	HOUSE MINORITY LEADER	PARTY	SESSIONS	CITY
1	Carl H. Furchner¹	D	1955–1957	Plankinton
2	Robert Chamberlin	D	1959	Hecla
3	Ralph A. Nauman	D	1961	Gettysburg
4	Elvern Varilek	D	1963–1970²	Geddes
5	Bernie Kopecky	D	1971–1972	Aberdeen
6	Joseph H. Barnett	R³	1973–1974	Aberdeen
7	Dennis McFarland	D	1975–1976	Sioux Falls
8	Bertum Ellingson	D	1977–1978	Sisseton
9	R. Lars Herseth	D	1979–1986	Houghton
10	Robert N. Duxbury	D	1987–1994	Wessington
11	Craig D. Schaunaman	D	1995–1996	Aberdeen
12	Patrick E. Haley	D	1997–2000	Huron
13	M. K. “Mel” Olson	D	2001–2004	Mitchell
14	Dale E. Hargens	D	2005–2008	Miller
15	Bernie Hunhoff	D	2009–2014	Yankton
16	Spencer L. Hawley	D	2015–2018	Brookings
17	J. R. “Jamie” Smith	D	2019–2022	Sioux Falls
18	Oren L. Lesmeister	D	2023–	Parade

In 1955, state legislators for the first time formally selected party floor leaders – majority and minority leaders – in each house.
Beginning in 1963, the State Legislature held annual, rather than biennial, sessions.
The 1973–74 House of Representatives was evenly divided and, by state law, was organized by the Democrats as the governor’s party.
Everist was the first woman to serve as a party floor leader.
Heinert was the first tribal member to serve as a party floor leader. Mortenson was the first tribal member to lead a majority caucus.

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