Doeden Voters Wanted Outsider Governor, Must Now Vote for Ahlers and McCleerey

Governor candidate learned the hard way that South Dakotans like courtesy and specifics

Toby Doeden speaks to reporters at his election night watch party in Aberdeen on July 28, 2026, after losing the runoff for the South Dakota Republican nomination for governor. With Doeden is his wife, Liz. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)Looking back, there has to be some reason why the first-place finisher in South Dakota’s Republican governor primary failed so miserably in the runoff. Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden finished fir…

Doeden Voters Wanted Outsider Governor, Must Now Vote for Ahlers and McCleerey

Abram Naber, 42, of Rapid City, said in a primary day polling place interview with Searchlight that he didn’t cast a vote in the congressional, legislative or local races: “Just Toby.” “He’s an outsider of the political spectrum,” Naber said. “I think we need fresh meat, fresh blood in the Governor’s Office” [Joshua Haiar, “Toby Doeden: A Bitcoin Evangelist and Anti-Property-Tax Crusader Who Wants to Be Governor,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.…