South Dakota’s U.S. Senate race has effectively become a two-person contest between Republican Sen. Mike Rounds and independent Brian Bengs after Democrat Julian Beaudion withdrew from the race in August.
Beaudion, who had been the Democratic nominee, formally withdrew Aug. 4. The South Dakota Secretary of State now lists Rounds and Bengs as the active candidates for the Nov. 3 general election.
Rounds, 71, is seeking a third six-year term after previously serving two terms as South Dakota governor. He has centered his reelection campaign on taxes, agriculture, preparations for the B-21 bomber at Ellsworth Air Force Base, economic development and continued investment at the underground research facility at the former Homestake Mine.
Bengs, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who ran as a Democrat against Sen. John Thune in 2022, is running this year as an independent. He has increasingly focused his campaign on corporate political influence, artificial intelligence and data-center development.
At a Sept. 3 press conference, Bengs criticized Rounds over campaign contributions connected to AI companies, data-center interests and other large donors. Bengs has argued that South Dakota communities should have greater control over data-center development and that corporate interests should have less influence over elections.
Rounds’ campaign has rejected that criticism and defended the state’s existing approach to local control and development.
The race also features a substantial financial gap. Campaign-finance figures through June showed Rounds with about $3.18 million in total receipts compared with roughly $782,000 for Bengs.
Polling has varied considerably depending on the sponsor. A July Public Opinion Strategies survey conducted for the National Republican Senatorial Committee showed Rounds leading Bengs 56% to 33% among likely voters. An August Impact Research poll conducted for Bengs showed the candidates tied at 44%.
Rounds also enters the fall campaign with President Donald Trump’s endorsement, a notable reversal from their public dispute several years ago. Trump sharply criticized Rounds in 2022 after the senator said the 2020 presidential election was fair, but endorsed him for reelection in 2025.
Rounds subsequently won the Republican primary comfortably before turning his attention to the general election.
South Dakota has strongly favored Republicans in recent statewide federal elections. Rounds won reelection in 2020 by more than 31 percentage points, while current independent race assessments continue to rate the seat as safely Republican.
Bengs is attempting to overcome that political environment by running outside the two-party structure and emphasizing independence from corporate and partisan interests.
With the Democratic nominee no longer on the ballot, South Dakota voters face an unusual general-election matchup between a two-term Republican incumbent and an independent challenger seeking to make campaign finance, technology and Washington politics central issues in the race.
The election is Nov. 3.
By: Montana Newsroom News Wire