Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to reporters from a podium on July 28, 2025, at the Public Safety Administration Building in Sioux Falls. Also visible are, from left, Dan Satterlee, director of the state Division of Criminal Investigation, and Sam Olson, Minneapolis field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
Election years call for politicians to do some tricky maneuvering. While an elected official will present a new initiative as a way to help constituents, opponents are likely to label it as a cynical attempt to curry favor with voters.
That’s where Gov. Larry Rhoden finds himself right now after the announcement of Operation Prairie Thunder. It commits the National Guard, Highway Patrol and Corrections Department to support federal immigration enforcement, and commits state troopers to saturation patrols in Sioux Falls.
National Guard soldiers will help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with administrative tasks, Highway Patrol troopers will do immigration enforcement during the regular course of their work, and Corrections Department personnel will coordinate with ICE to deport inmates in state custody who entered the country illegally.
Critics of the program have complained that Rhoden is using state resources to further his own political ambitions, even though the governor has not revealed whether he will seek election to the office he gained when Kristi Noem joined President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
“While I agree that we need to hold criminals accountable and be tough on crime, this goes too far,” said Sen. Liz Larson, a Democrat from Sioux Falls.
If Democrats think Prairie Thunder is Rhoden’s first attempt to use his office for political gain, they’re late with their criticism.
Since mid-March, the governor has been running a shadow reelection campaign through his Open for Opportunity Tour.
Rhoden introduced that initiative as a continuation of Noem’s Open for Business program. According to a news release from the governor’s office, “The Open for Opportunity Tour will feature Governor Rhoden visiting communities across South Dakota to highlight their economic development efforts, learn their specific needs, and work together to chase down opportunities.”
In effect, Rhoden stepped into office and onto the campaign trail. The Open for Opportunity Tour is introducing business leaders to their new governor. It is also introducing the new governor to an ever-growing group of potential political donors.
An unscientific search of state news releases found that since March 17 Rhoden has made 17 Open for Opportunity trips to 25 communities. From Sioux Falls to the Standing Rock Reservation, from Mud Butte to Mitchell, from Box Elder to Huron, Rhoden is getting to know the business leaders in each community as well as fattening his Rolodex.
On one hand, it’s refreshing to have a governor who is more interested in traveling in the state than out-of-state. Of course all of these trips are state funded, your tax dollars at work as Rhoden scores some political points.
The irony here is that for all Rhoden’s work currying favor with business leaders, Prairie Thunder will likely alienate some of them. Pledging to round up illegal aliens will make it tougher to fill those jobs that only immigrants are willing to tackle.
While South Dakota is Open for Opportunity, one of those opportunities has been for Rhoden to run a political campaign using state funds. In essence, the governor is using an office he wasn’t elected to as a means to jumpstart a campaign he hasn’t announced yet. Now that’s quite an opportunity.
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