The conservative movement in South Dakota recently experienced a significant impact on its conservative voting bloc in the legislature. These are the conservative lawmakers who fight for the values itemized in the South Dakota Republican Platform, including limited government, lower taxes, individual responsibility, and election integrity. Unfortunately, due to massive anti-conservative PAC spending and a failure by the Republican House Majority Leader to unite conservatives during the session and ahead of the election, the Establishment wing of the South Dakota GOP has taken control of the legislature and the Governor’s office.

Corporatocracy is in full effect in the South Dakota political sphere, where corporations, out-of-state PACs, government agencies, and lobbyists compete for ownership of the executive and legislative offices. They use this power for unchecked spending increases, anti-conservative influence, and handouts of millions of dollars in “grants” that were widely implemented leading up to and during the past election cycle.

Republican House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach recently gave a self-serving podcast interview to one of the state’s most liberal media organizations, the South Dakota Searchlight on August 14, 2026. In this interview, Rep. Odenbach misdiagnosed the state and path of South Dakota politics, demonstrating either deliberate or blind ignorance of the facts surrounding his attempt to run a “conservative term.”

The Three Political Camps

Rep. Odenbach begins the interview by acting surprised that there are three camps in the South Dakota political sphere. Since political pundits and even liberal media organizations have identified these for decades, most of the public has become clearly aware of them.

Camp 1: the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). 
This is the group that follows very little of our platform and aligns with Democratic philosophies; however, its members are usually in agreement on the Second Amendment and limiting abortion. They favor unlimited spending, are bent on ever-increasing government, support all forms of welfare expansion, and worship government “economic development,” including the use of eminent domain for green-energy pipelines, fancy government building expansions, data centers, and ranchland replacement. Many of the RINO legislators were actually registered as Democrats before changing to or running under the Republican Party. Familiar names include Larry Rhoden, Dusty Johnson, and others with dismal Citizens for Liberty scores found at www.sdcitizensforliberty.org/scorecards, that often match Democratic scores, such as Senators Wiph (20%), Sauder (24%), Davis (28%), Kolbeck (28%), Vilhauer (28%), Duhamel (29%), Reed (30%), Crabtree (32%), Diebert (32%), Schoenfish (32%), Zikmund (36%), Rohl (40%), and Representatives Reisch (12%), Shorma (13%), Roe (15%), Duffy (16%), Derby (19%), Csmowski (20%), Mortenson (20%), Fosness (20%), Heermann (23%), Kull (23%), Stevens (23%), VanDiepen (23%), Weems (23%, Rehfeldt (24%), Walburg (25%), Arlint (26%), Halverson (26%), Kassin (26%), Kolbeck (26%), Massie (26%), Mulder (26%), Peterson (26%), Roby (26%), DeGroot (29%), Reimer (29%), Ladner (30%), Weisgram (30%), Moore (32%), Jamison (34%) . Most government agency heads and most of the lobbyists in Pierre are included in this camp.

Camp 2: the Establishment – aligned Pseudo-conservatives, or “Con, Inc.”. 
This group, up to a point, has resisted government “economic development,” Second Amendment limits, and pro-abortion expansion, but regularly drifts into tax increases, “attractive” fee increases, big-budget spending, and government growth (as witnessed by several new tax and fee burdens placed on citizens over the past couple of years, massive budget and welfare expansions, and approvals and recommendations to grow government programs and oversight). Familiar names include Senators Hulse (45%), Otten (48%), Mehlhalf (52%), Perry (56%), Hohn (68%), and Representatives Fitzgerald (37%), Bahmuller (41%), Greenfeld (42%), Goodwin (50%), Pourier (52%), Novstrup (53%), Heinemann (61%), Hughes (61%), Jorgenson (61%), Odenbach (61%), Overweg (61%), Shubeck (65%), May (66%).

Camp 3: the Actual Conservatives. 
These legislators desire to strictly follow and implement the policies outlined in the Republican Party Platform.  Many within this group of conservatives also serve in the South Dakota Freedom Caucus (SDFC) and/or share its mission of protecting freedom and limiting government. Those in this camp include voting against major budget increases and fees, attempting to reduce the size of government and bureaucracy, stopping new taxpayer-funded government-run school programs, and resisting lobbyist influence. Familiar names include Senators Jensen (72%), Karr (72%), Lapka (72%), Peterson (72%), Voight (72%), Grove (76%), Marty (76%), Nelson (76%), Voita (80%), Blanc (84%), Howard (84%), Pischke (88%), Carley (93%), and Representatives Gosch (70%), Nolz (73%), Schwans (73%), Soye (75%), Andera (76%), Andera (76%), Hanse (76%), Sjaarda (76%), Lems (80%), Manhart (80%), Schaefbauer (80%), Garcia (84%), Auch (84%), Kayser (84%), Aylward (87%), Hunt (88%), Ismay (88%), Mulally (91%), Baxter (92%), Randolph (92%), Rice (92%), Jordan (96%), Jensen (96%).

The media seems to understand these three camps. Even one of the more liberal-leaning media organizations, Keloland, reported on March 12, 2026, that “one quarter” of all the Republicans in the legislature “who argued it would be spending too much,” including the SDFC, led the largest resistance to a massive taxpayer budget increase in 15 years during the 2026 session.

The public also seems to understand these three camps. While the RINOs often like to co-opt the term “conservative” in campaign marketing and even call themselves that, most of the public sees that nearly none of their votes are actually conservative. The Establishment camp 2 confuses the public. Its members use the conservative moniker, but usually only half of their votes are conservative and the remaining align with the RINOs. Finally, the public understands that the liberal media blasts the Actual Conservative – camp 3, with attacks trying to make them appear extreme or “too conservative.”

Rep. Odenbach’s confusion and apparent surprise at three separate camps is either not genuine or shows that he is completely out of touch with the South Dakota Republican Party. Through the liberal Searchlight media podcast, Rep. Odenbach took a few hits at the South Dakota Freedom Caucus.

He first turned his anger on the initial primary election losses of his two preferred candidates for governor, John Hansen and Larry Rhoden, blaming the SDFC. He incorrectly accuses SDFC members of supporting Toby Doeden during the initial primary; however, he fails to remember that the SDFC had legislators supporting both Hansen and Doeden, many with public endorsements. SDFC stayed neutral and never took a position between these two candidates. Instead, only during the runoff between Rhoden and Doeden did SDFC make an endorsement for the only conservative left in the race.

Rep. Odenbach then complains about “attacks on Republican Leadership.” The record will show that the South Dakota Freedom Caucus never publicly attacked Republican leadership. However, the SDFC did speak out when there was disagreement on policy. The RINOs and Establishment will label disagreement as attacks on Republican leadership, but in reality, Rep. Odenbach’s complaints simply highlight the ideological and political divides within the party.

We should not be surprised that Rep. Odenbach seemed happy about members of the SDFC losing their seats. Like a typical Establishment politician, Rep. Odenbach made a 180-degree shift from his support for the conservative candidate for governor, Rep. Hansen, to pledging full support for RINO Governor Larry Rhoden in the runoff. Instead of pivoting to the conservative candidate in the runoff, Toby Doeden, Rep. Odenbach slid to the left rather than the right and fully embraced the RINO candidate he originally opposed.

Establishment Republican Leadership

A conservative leader in any state is someone who can rise above differences and regularly work toward unity under the Republican platform. True leaders do not attack conservative allies but rather attack and shine a light on the anti-conservative RINO’s, exposing their true nature as Democrats or those who would like to tear the party apart. The best leaders in the country truly lead and deliver solid conservative results.

Rep. Odenbach ignores the fact that he was the Majority Leader in this liberal Searchlight interview. He was the person 100% responsible for unity in the House Republican caucus. Numerous times throughout the legislative term, Rep. Odenbach lectured conservatives, spoke to the media about them, and attempted to tear them down rather than finding common ground among the three voting blocs. To establish unity, there must be baseline guiding principles to unite around. In this case, we have the Republican platform that must be followed. As the Republican Leader, Rep. Odenbach should regularly point to these guiding principles, not just half the time, but all the time. Doing so would have helped him be an effective leader.

Unfortunately, the term has ended for Rep. Odenbach, and leadership will now be handed to the RINO wing, mostly due to the Establishment’s inability to unite. Rep. Odenbach’s continued role in leadership remains in question.

The Future

We will see whether the RINOs and the Establishment legislators stay where they are in the following session, or whether they both slide even further to the left due to a lack of courageous leadership.

Their voting records, which cannot be finessed like the words of a politician, will be scored and monitored. The citizens of South Dakota will have to speak up, in particular to encourage their representatives to stay true to the U.S. Constitution, the South Dakota Constitution, and the Republican Platform 100% of the time.

The South Dakota Freedom Caucus is not going anywhere. The South Dakota Freedom Caucus will continue to defend conservative legislation, oppose leftist ideology, and work to ensure limited government, government accountability, and the protection of citizens’ rights. While House Leader Odenbach furthers the divide, the South Dakota Freedom Caucus will continue to welcome and encourage RINOs and Establishment legislators to join in bold support of our founding principles and be the rare conservative voices in Pierre!