List of United States senators from South Dakota

Current delegation

South Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, and elects U.S. senators to class 2 and class 3. Its current U.S. senators are Republicans John Thune (since 2005) and Mike Rounds (since 2015). Karl E. Mundt is South Dakota's longest-serving senator (1948–1973).

List of senators[edit]

#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T	C	T	Electoral history	Dates in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 2 Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020. The next election will be in 2026.						C	Class 3 Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2022. The next election will be in 2028.
1	File:RichardFPettigrew.jpg Richard Pettigrew	Republican	Nov 2, 1889 – Mar 3, 1901	Elected in 1889.	1	51st	1	Elected in 1889. Lost re-election.	Nov 2, 1889 – Mar 3, 1891	Republican	File:GideonMoody.jpg Gideon C. Moody	1
						52nd	2	Elected in 1891.^[1]	Mar 4, 1891 – Jul 1, 1901	Independent	File:James Henderson Kyle.jpg James H. Kyle	2
						53rd				Populist
				Re-elected in 1894. Lost re-election.	2	54th
		style="background-color:Template:Silver Republican Party/meta/color;" width=10px \| " \| Silver Republican				55th	3	Re-elected in 1897.^[2] Died.
						56th
2	File:Robert Gamble.jpg Robert J. Gamble	Republican	Mar 4, 1901 – Mar 3, 1913	Elected in 1901.^[3]	3	57th				Republican
									Jul 1, 1901 – Jul 11, 1901	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Kyle's term. Elected in 1903 to finish Kyle's term.^[4]	Jul 11, 1901 – Mar 3, 1909	Republican	File:Kittredgealfred.jpg Alfred B. Kittredge	3
						58th	4	Elected to a full term in 1903.^[5] Lost renomination.
						59th
				Re-elected in 1907. Lost renomination.	4	60th
						61st	5	Elected in 1909. Lost renomination.	Mar 4, 1909 – Mar 3, 1915	Republican	File:Crawfordcoe.jpg Coe Crawford	4
						62nd
3	File:ThomasSterling.jpg Thomas Sterling	Republican	Mar 4, 1913 – Mar 3, 1925	Elected in 1913.	5	63rd
						64th	6	Elected in 1914. Retired.	Mar 4, 1915 – Mar 3, 1921	Democratic	File:ESJohnson.jpg Edwin S. Johnson	5
						65th
				Re-elected in 1918. Lost renomination.	6	66th
						67th	7	Elected in 1920.	Mar 4, 1921 – Dec 20, 1936	Republican	File:PeterNorbeck R-SD.jpg Peter Norbeck	6
						68th
4	File:WHMcMaster.jpg William McMaster	Republican	Mar 4, 1925 – Mar 3, 1931	Elected in 1924. Lost re-election.	7	69th
						70th	8	Re-elected in 1926.
						71st
5	File:William John Bulow.jpg William J. Bulow	Democratic	Mar 4, 1931 – Jan 3, 1943	Elected in 1930.	8	72nd
						73rd	9	Re-elected in 1932. Died.
						74th		Re-elected in 1932. Died.
									Dec 20, 1936 – Dec 29, 1936	Vacant
								Appointed to continue Norbeck's term. Lost nomination to finish Norbeck's term.	Dec 29, 1936 – Nov 8, 1938	Democratic	File:Herbert Emery Hitchcock.jpg Herbert Hitchcock	7
				Re-elected in 1936. Lost renomination.	9	75th			Dec 29, 1936 – Nov 8, 1938	Democratic	File:Herbert Emery Hitchcock.jpg Herbert Hitchcock	7
						75th		Elected to finish Norbeck's term. Retired.	Nov 9, 1938 – Jan 3, 1939	Republican	File:Gladys Pyle.jpg Gladys Pyle	8
						76th	10	Elected in 1938.	Jan 3, 1939 – Jan 3, 1951	Republican	File:John Chandler Gurney.jpg Chan Gurney	9
						77th
6	File:BushfieldH.jpg Harlan J. Bushfield	Republican	Jan 3, 1943 – Sep 27, 1948	Elected in 1942. Died.	10	78th
						79th	11	Re-elected in 1944. Lost renomination.
						80th
Vacant			Sep 27, 1948 – Oct 6, 1948
7	File:SenatorVeraBushfield(R-SD).jpg Vera C. Bushfield	Republican	Oct 6, 1948 – Dec 26, 1948	Appointed to finish her husband's term. Resigned when successor appointed.
Vacant			Dec 26, 1948 – Dec 31, 1948
8	File:KarlEarlMundt.jpeg Karl Mundt	Republican	Dec 31, 1948 – Jan 3, 1973	Appointed to finish Bushfield's term, having been elected to the next term.
				Elected in 1948	11	81st
						82nd	12	Elected in 1950.	Jan 3, 1951 – Jun 22, 1962	Republican	File:Francis Higbee Case.jpg Francis Case	10
						83rd
				Re-elected in 1954.	12	84th
						85th	13	Re-elected in 1956. Died.
						86th
				Re-elected in 1960.	13	87th
									Jun 22, 1962 – Jul 9, 1962	Vacant
								Appointed to finish Case's term. Lost election to full term.	Jul 9, 1962 – Jan 3, 1963	Republican	File:Bottum.jpg Joe Bottum	11
						88th	14	Elected in 1962.	Jan 3, 1963 – Jan 3, 1981	Democratic	File:George McGovern bioguide.jpg George McGovern	12
						89th
				Re-elected in 1966. Retired.	14	90th
						91st	15	Re-elected in 1968.
						92nd
9	File:James Abourezk.jpg James Abourezk	Democratic	Jan 3, 1973 – Jan 3, 1979	Elected in 1972. Retired.	15	93rd
						94th	16	Re-elected in 1974. Lost re-election.
						95th
10	File:Larry Pressler.jpg Larry Pressler	Republican	Jan 3, 1979 – Jan 3, 1997	Elected in 1978.	16	96th
						97th	17	Elected in 1980. Lost re-election.	Jan 3, 1981 – Jan 3, 1987	Republican	File:JamesAbdnor.jpg James Abdnor	13
						98th
				Re-elected in 1984.	17	99th
						100th	18	Elected in 1986.	Jan 3, 1987 – Jan 3, 2005	Democratic	File:Tom Daschle, official Senate photo.jpg Tom Daschle	14
						101st
				Re-elected in 1990. Lost re-election.	18	102nd
						103rd	19	Re-elected in 1992.
						104th
11	File:Tim Johnson official portrait, 2009.jpg Tim Johnson	Democratic	Jan 3, 1997 – Jan 3, 2015	Elected in 1996.	19	105th
						106th	20	Re-elected in 1998. Lost re-election.
						107th
				Re-elected in 2002.	20	108th
						109th	21	Elected in 2004.	Jan 3, 2005 – present	Republican	File:John Thune, official portrait, 111th Congress.jpg John Thune	15
						110th
				Re-elected in 2008. Retired.	21	111th
						112th	22	Re-elected in 2010.
						113th
12	File:Mike Rounds official Senate portrait.jpg Mike Rounds	Republican	Jan 3, 2015 – present	Elected in 2014.	22	114th
						115th	23	Re-elected in 2016.
						116th
				Re-elected in 2020.	23	117th
						118th	24	Re-elected in 2022.
						119th
To be determined in the 2026 election.					24	120th
To be determined in the 2026 election.					24	121st	25	To be determined in the 2028 election.
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 2							Class 3

Living former senators[edit]

As of April 2024, there are three living former U.S. senators from South Dakota. The most recent senator to die was James Abourezk (served 1973–1979) on February 24, 2023. The most recently serving senator to die was James Abdnor (served 1981–1987) on May 16, 2012.

Senator	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Larry Pressler	1979–1997	(1942-03-29) March 29, 1942 (age 82)
Tom Daschle	1987–2005	(1947-12-09) December 9, 1947 (age 76)
Tim Johnson	1997–2015	(1946-12-28) December 28, 1946 (age 77)

Superlatives[edit]

Longest service[edit]

Senator	First served	Last served	Length of service
Karl E. Mundt	December 31, 1948	January 3, 1973	24 years, 3 days (8,769 days)
George McGovern	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1981	18 years, 0 days (6,575 days)
Larry Pressler	January 3, 1979	January 3, 1997	18 years, 0 days (6,575 days)
Tom Daschle	January 3, 1987	January 3, 2005	18 years, 0 days (6,575 days)
Tim Johnson	January 3, 1997	January 3, 2015	18 years, 0 days (6,574 days)

Shortest service[edit]

Senator	First served	Last served	Length of service
Gladys Pyle			1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days (55 days)
Vera C. Bushfield			2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days (81 days)
Joseph H. Bottum			5 months, 3 weeks and 4 days (178 days)
Gideon C. Moody			1 year, 4 months and 1 day (486 days)
Herbert E. Hitchcock			1 year, 10 months, 1 week and 3 days (679 days)

Youngest at beginning of service[edit]

Senator	Date of birth	First served	Age
Larry Pressler	March 29, 1942	January 3, 1979	36 years, 9 months and 5 days
James H. Kyle	February 24, 1854	March 4, 1891	37 years and 8 days
Tom Daschle	December 9, 1947	January 3, 1987	39 years and 25 days
Alfred B. Kittredge	March 28, 1861	July 11, 1901	40 years, 3 months and 13 days
George McGovern	July 19, 1922	January 3, 1963	40 years, 5 months and 15 days

Oldest at end of service[edit]

Senator	Date of birth	Last served	Age
Thomas Sterling	February 21, 1851	March 3, 1925	74 years and 10 days
William J. Bulow	January 13, 1869	January 3, 1943	73 years, 11 months and 21 days
Karl E. Mundt	June 3, 1900	January 3, 1973	72 years and 7 months
Herbert E. Hitchcock	August 22, 1867	November 8, 1938	71 years, 2 months and 17 days
Tim Johnson	December 28, 1946	January 3, 2015	68 years and 6 days

Notes[edit]

↑ "SENATOR JAMES H. KYLE". The New York Times. February 17, 1891. p. 5.
↑ "SENATOR KYLE RE-ELECTED". The New York Times. February 19, 1897. p. 3.
↑ "R.J. Gamble Succeeds Pettigrew". The New York Times. January 23, 1901. p. 5.
↑ Journal of the Senate of the South Dakota Legislature Commencing January 6, 1903, Eighth Session. Pierre, South Dakota. 1903. p. 298. Search this book on
↑ Journal of the Senate of the South Dakota Legislature Commencing January 6, 1903, Eighth Session. Pierre, South Dakota. 1903. p. 299. Search this book on

[NYTSD1891-1] "SENATOR JAMES H. KYLE". The New York Times. February 17, 1891. p. 5.

[NYTSD1897-2] "SENATOR KYLE RE-ELECTED". The New York Times. February 19, 1897. p. 3.

[NYT1901-3] "R.J. Gamble Succeeds Pettigrew". The New York Times. January 23, 1901. p. 5.

[4] Journal of the Senate of the South Dakota Legislature Commencing January 6, 1903, Eighth Session. Pierre, South Dakota. 1903. p. 298. Search this book on

[5] Journal of the Senate of the South Dakota Legislature Commencing January 6, 1903, Eighth Session. Pierre, South Dakota. 1903. p. 299. Search this book on

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