Democratic secretary of state candidate outraises 2022 candidate, gets Republican incumbent's endorsement. Governor candidate reports no out-of-state or federal PAC money.
Campaign finance reports released Monday and Tuesday have illustrated how candidates for statewide office have funded their campaigns and spent those dollars before Nov. 3.
Candidates for statewide office, including governor and executive offices like secretary of state and public utilities commission, are required to submit campaign finance reports at the end of the year and before the primary and general elections.
Molly Wetsch
As of Tuesday morning, reports for the Democrat running for governor and secretary of state had been filed. Reports for Republicans Gov. Larry Rhoden and Heather Baxter, the party's secretary of state candidate, were still not available.
Davis largely out-raises predecessor
Terrence Davis, the Democratic candidate for South Dakota Secretary of State, has reported raising $96,138 since he began campaigning in August 2025. Of that, $44,154 came from individual donors. Davis gave three loans to the campaign totaling $37,411. He has reported spending $37,055 since campaigning began.
Davis has nearly tripled the individual contribution amount raised by his predecessor, Democrat Tom Cool, who ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2022 against the current secretary of state, Republican Monae Johnson.
Cool reported $69,467 of income to his campaign that year. Of that, $50,000, was from a loan to the campaign from Cool himself. He raised just $19,467 from outside sources, $13,317 of which was from individual contributors.
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Johnson reported raising $77,302 during her 2022 campaign. She notably endorsed Davis in September after being defeated by Baxter at the June Republican convention.
"I am a Republican. Terrence is a Democrat. I understand that this decision will disappoint some people in my party and anger others. After serving in the Secretary of State's Office for more than a decade, first as an employee and now as Secretary, I know the difference between campaigning for this office and carrying the responsibility of leading it," Johnson said in the statement announcing her endorsement.
Baxter has called herself a "strong proponent of election integrity and accountability" and has supported hand-counting ballots.
"I stand with President Trump and echo his concerns over identified security issues in our elections such as citizenship and identification requirements, inaccurate voter rolls, mail in ballots, and voting machine issues. I fully support robust post-election audits, improved hand counting methods, and thorough disaster recovery plans," Baxter's website reads.
Johnson's statement highlighted concerns about Baxter's positions on election security, citing "significant differences between candidates in this contest."
"South Dakota deserves a Secretary of State who will strengthen confidence through performance rather than provocation; who will support election officials rather than burden them for political effect; who will protect voter access and election security without pretending those goals are enemies; and who will treat the office's employees, voters, candidates and business owners with dignity," Johnson said in her statement.
Ahlers received no federal PAC money
Dan Ahlers, the Democrat challenging Rhoden for governor, has received most of his fundraising income from contributions from individuals, according to his campaign finance report.
He raised almost than $146,000 from the June primary to mid-October in individual donations. So far, he has reported raising $252,830 total during the campaign period.
Molly Wetsch
Ahlers notably did not report receiving any money from out-of-state or federal political action committees, or PACs, though he did receive $4,600 from Democratic Forum of Southeast Dakota, Democracy in Action and West River Alliance for Democracy, which are in-state PACs. He also received $800 from PAC Grassroots Dakota before the June primary.
Ahlers' biggest expenses from June to October came from advertising and salaries, which equaled nearly $120,800 combined out of his total of almost $155,400 in operational expenditures.
Reports were due Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. for candidates running in state offices, though several candidates' reports, including Rhoden's and Baxter's, were not available on the Secretary of State's website as of Oct. 20.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, subscribe for free and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Contact reporter/Report for America corps member Molly Wetsch: 605-531-7382/ molly.wetsch@sdnewswatch.org. Contact reporter Emily DeCock: 605-736-4396/ emily.decock@sdnewswatch.org.
