Mike Rounds

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Republican candidates running for some of South Dakota’s top state and federal offices are distancing themselves from President Trump online and in their messaging.

This comes as the GOP faces a potentially tough midterm contest and a so-called “blue wave.”

Julia Hellwege, Diane Jones Meier distinguished professor of gender and public policy and an associate professor of political science, told KOTA Territory News that one of the most common bellwethers for an election is the economy. Rising costs, high fuel prices and mounting disapproval over tariffs under the Trump administration are causing political anxiety among voters, she said.

A poll commissioned by South Dakota News Watch and released Wednesday, Oct. 28, showed South Dakotans are split on the president’s job performance, with 49% approving and 49% disapproving among registered voters.

Hellwege said voters’ dissatisfaction with the Trump administration could hurt Republican candidates.

“Whoever is in charge at the time when gas prices go up is going to be penalized at the ballot box, and it’s only going to be much more difficult the closer to the election that we are,” Hellwege said in an Oct. 28 interview.

Larry Rhoden and Mike Rounds have been walking a tightrope on how much they align with Trump to distance themselves from some of the president’s more unpopular policies.

That contrast became most apparent Monday, when KOTA Territory News asked incumbent Sen. Rounds why he had removed nearly all mentions of Donald Trump on his campaign website. Archived versions of his campaign page included a video of Trump’s endorsement of the senator as late as September 22.

By September 30, nearly all mentions of Trump were virtually scrubbed.

Rounds addressed this for the first time in a Monday press gaggle: He chalked it up to an “upgrade” to his website and said it’s not unusual for campaigns to adjust their political messaging as Election Day nears.

“There are areas where we disagree with the president,” Rounds said. “We disagree with him on some of the tariffs that he’s put in place. We’ve disagreed with some of his immigration policies ... If you take a look at any of the stories that are in it or any of the explanations that are in it, there’s been no change at all. We’re still recommending and we’re still recognizing what the president has done. We’ve changed none of that, but in some of the headlines, we focus more now on general election voters than primary voters.”

Rhoden has been a steady ally of the Trump administration since he ascended to the role of South Dakota governor after former Gov. Kristi Noem exited the office for a position in the president’s Cabinet as Homeland Security secretary in early 2025.

In mid-2025, Rhoden launched Operation: Prairie Thunder, an immigration enforcement effort meant to assist the federal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement with deporting undocumented immigrants. Rhoden later roped South Dakota National Guard troops into processing documents for ICE, and he also signed 287(g) agreements, which allow trained state and local law enforcement to operate on behalf of federal immigration authorities.

But Trump’s agriculture policies, such as the move to import Argentinian beef, was something ill-received by Rhoden.

“There was [sic] some statements made by the president that were devastating to the markets at that time, and I expressed that I disagreed wholeheartedly on those.”

Dan Ahlers, the Democratic candidate for South Dakota governor this election, was critical of the shift away from Trump and viewed it as a sign of desperation in their campaigns.

“Even when Larry has tried to distance himself from Argentinian beef, it wasn’t the first time Trump had talked about it this,” Ahlers told KOTA Territory News in an Oct. 28 interview. “Where was he then?”

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.