# Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota

The lieutenant governor of South Dakota is the second-ranking member of the executive branch of South Dakota state government and also serves as presiding officer of the South Dakota Senate. The lieutenant governor succeeds to the governorship if the office becomes vacant, and may also serve as acting governor if the governor is incapacitated or absent from the state.
Since 1974, the lieutenant governor has been elected on a ticket with the governor. Seven lieutenant governors have gone on to be elected governor in their own right: Charles N. Herreid (1900 & 1902), Frank M. Byrne (1912 & 1914), Peter Norbeck (1916 & 1918), William H. McMaster (1920 & 1922), Carl Gunderson (1924), Nils Boe (1964 & 1966) and Dennis Daugaard (2010 & 2014). Three others succeeded to the office of governor: Harvey L. Wollman, Walter Dale Miller, and Larry Rhoden.
The current lieutenant governor is Tony Venhuizen, since 30 January 2025.

## List of lieutenant governors
### Parties

Democratic (6)  Republican (34)
| No. | Lt. Governor | Party | From | To | Governor(s) served under |
| 1 | James H. Fletcher | Republican | 1889 | 1891 | Arthur C. Mellette |
| 2 | George H. Hoffman | Republican | 1891 | 1893 | Arthur C. Mellette |
| 3 | Charles N. Herreid | Republican | 1893 | 1897 | Charles H. Sheldon |
| 4 | Daniel T. Hindman | Republican | 1897 | 1899 | Andrew E. Lee |
| 5 | John T. Kean | Republican | 1899 | 1901 | Andrew E. Lee |
| 6 | George W. Snow | Republican | 1901 | 1905 | Charles N. Herreid |
| 7 | John E. McDougall | Republican | 1905 | 1907 | Samuel H. Elrod |
| 8 | Howard C. Shober | Republican | 1907 | 1911 | Coe I. Crawford Robert S. Vessey |
| 9 | Frank M. Byrne | Republican | 1911 | 1913 | Robert S. Vessey |
| 10 | Edward Lincoln Abel | Republican | 1913 | 1915 | Frank M. Byrne |
| 11 | Peter Norbeck | Republican | 1915 | 1917 | Frank M. Byrne |
| 12 | William H. McMaster | Republican | 1917 | 1921 | Peter Norbeck |
| 13 | Carl Gunderson | Republican | 1921 | 1925 | William H. McMaster |
| 14 | Alva Clark Forney | Republican | 1925 | 1927 | Carl Gunderson |
| 15 | Hyatt E. Covey | Republican | 1927 | 1929 | William J. Bulow |
| 16 | Clarence E. Coyne | Republican | 1929 | 1929 | William J. Bulow |
| 17 | John T. Grigsby | Democratic | 1929 | 1931 | William J. Bulow |
| 18 | Odell K. Whitney | Republican | 1931 | 1933 | Warren Green |
| 19 | Hans Ustrud | Democratic | 1933 | 1935 | Tom Berry |
| 20 | Robert Peterson | Democratic | 1935 | 1937 | Tom Berry |
| 21 | Donald McMurchie | Republican | 1937 | 1941 | Leslie Jensen Harlan J. Bushfield |
| 22 | Albert C. Miller | Republican | 1941 | 1945 | Harlan J. Bushfield Merrill Q. Sharpe |
| 23 | Sioux K. Grigsby | Republican | 1945 | 1949 | Merrill Q. Sharpe George T. Mickelson |
| 24 | Rex A. Terry | Republican | 1949 | 1955 | George T. Mickelson Sigurd Anderson |
| 25 | L. Roy Houck | Republican | 1955 | 1959 | Joe Foss |
| 26 | John F. Lindley | Democratic | 1959 | 1961 | Ralph Herseth |
| 27 | Joseph H. Bottum | Republican | 1961 | 1962 | Archie M. Gubbrud |
| 28 | Nils Boe | Republican | 1963 | 1965 | Archie M. Gubbrud |
| 29 | Lem Overpeck | Republican | 1965 | 1969 | Nils Boe |
| 30 | James Abdnor | Republican | 1969 | 1971 | Frank Farrar |
| 31 | William Dougherty | Democratic | 1971 | 1975 | Richard Kneip |
| 32 | Harvey L. Wollman | Democratic | 1975 | 1978 | Richard Kneip |
| 33 | Lowell C. Hansen II | Republican | 1979 | 1987 | Bill Janklow |
| 34 | Walter Dale Miller | Republican | 1987 | 1993 | George S. Mickelson |
| 35 | Steve T. Kirby | Republican | 1993 | 1995 | Walter Dale Miller |
| 36 | Carole Hillard | Republican | 1995 | 2003 | Bill Janklow |
| 37 | Dennis Daugaard | Republican | 2003 | 2011 | Mike Rounds |
| 38 | Matt Michels | Republican | 2011 | 2019 | Dennis Daugaard |
| 39 | Larry Rhoden | Republican | 2019 | 2025 | Kristi Noem |
| 40 | Tony Venhuizen | Republican | 2025 | Incumbent | Larry Rhoden |