Votes that cost Johnson in the primary will stand up well to the scrutiny of history

It wasn’t just the ads, of course, but they sure didn’t help.

Dusty Johnson had plenty of money to spend on campaign advertisements. And he spent it freely throughout his run for the Republican nomination for governor. But they didn’t work for me. And obviously they didn’t work for a lot of GOP primary voters.

Which is strange, because Johnson is a solid public speaker and experienced retail politician — energetic, articulate and engaging. But the scripts and settings for most of his campaign ads seemed contrived, sometimes putting Johnson in unconvincing positions such as pretending to help with farm and ranch work.

His smiles on camera seemed almost painful. And he appeared stiff and uncomfortable on the screen, like a high-school freshman trying out for a part in a school play that was just a little too much for him.

Doeden and Rhoden advance to runoff in Republican governor primary, Johnson falls to third

In reality, the governor’s job would not have been too much for Johnson at all. As a former chief of staff to then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a twice-elected state public utilities commissioner and a four-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Johnson went into the primary campaign with plenty of experience to be governor.

He just couldn’t convince voters that he was the right man for the job.

By “voters,” I don’t mean a cross section of South Dakotans. I mean a subset of Republicans, those voting in the primary election, where the most fervent of the MAGA crowd are sure to show up.

And being a real MAGA man has been a difficult role for Johnson. He tries to talk the MAGA talk and walk the MAGA walk, but he’s still at his core an old-school South Dakota Republican, generally polite in his rhetoric and reasonable in his conservatism.

A guy willing, from time to time, to cast a vote consistent with personal values, even if it conflicts with political expediency.

Can a guy like that still win a Republican primary in our state? Good question.

First place at 31% went to Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, a Donald Trump wannabe who has some of the president’s political swagger and appeal to voters who want to smash the establishment. Doeden wants to slash state government spending and eliminate property taxes, although he hasn’t clearly explained how to do it or how to maintain essential services.

Doeden has already spent more than $4 million of his personal wealth and is geared up to spend more. Because he didn’t get the 35% needed to avoid a runoff, he will face Gov. Larry Rhoden, who finished second with 25%. Johnson got 23%, a demoralizing finish for a guy considered the front-runner for much of the race. And state Speaker of the House Jon Hansen got fourth with 21% — quite respectable for an underfunded candidate.

Rhoden ran on an admirable body of work compiled since January of 2025, when he moved up from lieutenant governor after former Gov. Kristi Noem joined the Trump administration. More limited in funds than either Johnson or Doeden, Rhoden spent wisely on campaign ads that were as genuine as Johnson’s were awkward.

Beyond advertising, Johnson faced some stiff headwinds in a primary heavily influenced by “drain-the-swamp” voters. Congress in general has a miserable approval rating, which Johnson couldn’t escape entirely. And his commendable work as a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the House might sell well in a general election, but many MAGA voters seem to prefer troublemakers to problem-solvers.

Having four candidates competing for a reduced number of voters in a primary was a further complication. And some of Johnson’s votes of conscience during his first few years in the House were used against him in campaign attack ads.

A Rhoden ad pointed out Johnson’s vote in 2019 against an emergency funding declaration by Trump to fund border-wall construction. Acting out of legitimate concern for the separation of powers, Johnson was one of just 13 Republicans in the House to vote against the presidential  overreach.

Johnson said at the time his vote was consistent with conservative principles and with his oath to the Constitution. But that vote followed him through the years. So did his vote in 2021 to form an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol (he later voted against creating the Democratic-led House Select Committee that ultimately conducted the investigation).

Johnson sought to strengthen his MAGA standing in recent years. But those past votes wouldn’t go away. Rhoden used one ad that called the Jan. 6 committee a “witch hunt” against Trump, concluding with: “Dusty Johnson. If he’s not with Trump, he’s not with us.”

That’s effective messaging in the GOP primary these days. But the votes themselves will likely stand up well to the scrutiny of history, as will Johnson’s overall service in Congress.

Maybe that’s some consolation as he finishes the last seven months of his U.S. House term and begins to consider what might come next in life.