Dennis Daugaard for Governor

Lieutenant Governor
I was elected Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota in 2002, for a four-year term, and re-elected in 2006. As Lt. Governor, I serve as President of the Senate, a role in which I direct the debate when the Senate convenes each day during the legislative session. I also assist the Governor in pursuing his legislative agenda, and assume other duties as he may direct.

During the 2009 session, I led the effort to create the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority, a seven-person board that will work with local leaders in the cities and counties around Ellsworth Air Force Base to coordinate economic development and secure the long-term future of the Base.  Although this legislation was initially met with some opposition, I worked with all the stakeholders to craft a bill that ultimately passed with only one “nay” vote.

I have also taken an active role in promoting the Honor Flight Program, which arranges chartered flights to take South Dakota’s World War II veterans to Washington, DC to visit the WWII Memorial.  I have led the effort to raise funds for this program, and helped to publicize the program to veterans and their families.

Over the past several years, I have been particularly interested in developing the former Homestake Mine into the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. I have spent considerable time learning about and working toward that development. I have also assisted the Governor to develop and pass tax incentives to encourage the establishment of wind farms in South Dakota.

In addition to these roles, I have served as Chairman of the Workers Compensation Advisory Council, which considers proposed changes to Workers Compensation law in South Dakota. I have also served as a member of the Constitutional Revision Commission and was Chairman of the Zaniya Task Force, which researched and developed proposals to reduce the number of South Dakotans without health insurance.

State Senate
Prior to serving as Lieutenant Governor, I served six years in the State Senate. I was first elected in 1996, and was re-elected by wide margins in 1998 and 2000. My legislative record was particularly focused on protecting children, helping the disabled, and getting tough on crime.

While in the legislature, I served on the following Senate Committees: State Affairs, Commerce, Education, Taxation, Judiciary, and Government Operations & Audit. I served on the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council, as an elected representative of my Senate peers, and received the “Friend of Ethanol” award. During the special session called by Governor Janklow to consider the sale of the state cement plant, I was one of two senators chosen by my peers to analyze the language of the proposed contract.

My first four years in the State Senate coincided with Mike Rounds’ last four years as Senate Majority Leader, and we became friends. In late June 2002, Mike Rounds announced that I had accepted his offer to be his running mate on the November general election ballot. Mike stated that the criteria used in selecting a running mate were simple:

“If something were to happen to me, I wanted the person that I believe would be a good governor. Secondly, I wanted a person that would be a team player, bringing special talents and experience to the job. Senator Dennis Daugaard fits that description.”