Republican who oversees South Dakota's elections endorses a Democrat in
the race to succeed her
[September 22, 2026]
By SARAH RAZA
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota’s Republican secretary of state is
breaking with her party and endorsing the Democrat running for the
office, saying “the integrity, stability, and professionalism of this
office is at stake.”
Secretary of State Monae Johnson lost the nomination at the state GOP
convention in June to Heather Baxter, a state lawmaker whose campaign
website says she aligns with President Donald Trump and his concerns
about "inaccurate voter rolls, mail in ballots, and voting machine
issues.” A previous statement on Baxter's website said she supported
getting rid of voting machines in favor of hand-counting ballots, which
has been a theme among those pushing conspiracy theories that voting and
ballot counting machines can be rigged.
Johnson said she endorsed Democratic candidate Terrence Davis because he
brings law enforcement experience from his years as a state trooper, as
well as an educational background in law and policy. The secretary of
state’s office on Monday said Johnson would not comment beyond her
statement, which was published over the weekend.
“I am a Republican. Terrence is a Democrat. I understand that this
decision will disappoint some people in my party and anger others,”
Johnson wrote in a column published in South Dakota War College, a
conservative politics blog.
It’s not clear what impact the endorsement will have in South Dakota,
where no Democrat has held statewide office since 2015. The state has
voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the past three presidential elections.
Baxter downplayed Johnson's endorsement of her opponent.
“It’s not surprising that she’d rather back someone who won’t change
what she has done,” she said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Baxter sponsored a bill to prohibit the use of
automatic tabulating systems, though the legislation ultimately failed.
A previous version of her website stated that she “advocates for
hand-counted paper ballots, no more voting machines.” On Monday, Baxter
said she altered the wording because she does not have the power to
change the way ballots are tallied and she trusts auditors ”to do what’s
best for their counties.”
Hand-counting ballots has been shown to take far longer and is more
prone to error than using tabulator machines.
Baxter, who won election to the Legislature two years ago, said Trump’s
agenda on voting and elections is generally a “reinforcement of current
election laws.”
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South Dakota Republican Secretary of State Monae Johnson is pictured
in her office on Jan. 11, 2024, in Pierre, S.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura,
File)
Since taking office for his second term, Trump has attempted to
federalize election operations, even though the Constitution gives
states and in some cases Congress that authority. He has tried to put
the Postal Service at the center of deciding which voters can receive a
mail ballot, attempted to impose a proof-of-citizenship requirement for
registering to vote in this year's midterms and pushed a narrative that
noncitizens are marring U.S. elections.
Six years after he lost his bid for reelection to Biden, Trump continues
to spread false claims of widespread voting fraud.
South Dakota is the latest state where Republican candidates who align
with Trump's views on voting and elections have been on the ballot this
year for statewide office, in some cases winning their primaries.
Johnson's endorsement of a Democrat to succeed her in the office that
oversees elections is a bit of a turnaround. When she campaigned for the
position in 2022, she refused to say whether Democrat Joe Biden had won
the 2020 election and focused on “election integrity,” a phrase often
used by conspiracy theorists who refuse to acknowledge the outcome of
the 2020 presidential election.
Last year, Johnson apologized for accidentally releasing information
that revealed whether those on the state's voter rolls were seeking
government assistance such as food aid.
Jim Eschenbaum, chair of the South Dakota Republican Party, said GOP
delegates soured on Johnson after she failed to appear before a
legislative committee to answer questions about a contract her office
had awarded to an electronic poll book company. She eventually was
issued a subpoena.
“An involved citizenry just won’t stand for that from their elected
officials, period,” he said in a text to The Associated Press.
For his part, Davis emphasized that the secretary of state's office is
nonpartisan and that its mission is to serve all residents “honestly and
fairly.”
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