South Dakota was admitted to theUnion on November 2, 1889, and electsU.S. senators toclass 2 andclass 3. Its current U.S. senators are RepublicansJohn Thune (since 2005) andMike Rounds (since 2015).Karl E. Mundt is South Dakota's longest-serving senator (1948–1973).South Dakota is one of 15 states alongsideCalifornia,Colorado,Georgia,Hawaii,Idaho,Louisiana,Maine,Massachusetts,Minnesota,Missouri,Nevada,Pennsylvania, andUtah to have a younger senior senator and an older junior senator. South Dakota's class 3 seat also holds the distinction of having a futureSenate Majority Leader (John Thune) defeat and succeed a former Majority Leader (Tom Daschle).
| Class 2Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in2002,2008,2014, and2020. The next election will be in2026. | C | Class 3Class 3 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in2004,2010,2016, and2022. The next election will be in2028. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Senator | Party | Dates in office | Electoral history | T | T | Electoral history | Dates in office | Party | Senator | # | |
| 1 | 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 | Gideon C. Moody | 1 |
| 52nd | 2 | Elected in 1891.[1] | Mar 4, 1891 – Jul 1, 1901 | Independent | James H. Kyle | 2 | ||||||
| 53rd | Populist | |||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1894.Lost re-election. | 2 | 54th | ||||||||||
| Silver Republican | 55th | 3 | Re-elected in 1897.[2]Died. | |||||||||
| 56th | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 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 | 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 | Coe Crawford | 4 | ||||||
| 62nd | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 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 | 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 | Peter Norbeck | 6 | ||||||
| 68th | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 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 | William J. Bulow | Democratic | Mar 4, 1931 – Jan 3, 1943 | Elected in 1930. | 8 | 72nd | ||||||
| 73rd | 9 | Re-elected in 1932.Died. | ||||||||||
| 74th | ||||||||||||
| Dec 20, 1936 – Dec 29, 1936 | Vacant | |||||||||||
| Appointed to continue Norbeck's term.Lost nomination to a full term. | Dec 29, 1936 – Nov 8, 1938 | Democratic | Herbert Hitchcock | 7 | ||||||||
| Re-elected in 1936.Lost renomination. | 9 | 75th | ||||||||||
| Elected to finish Norbeck's term.Retired. | Nov 9, 1938 – Jan 3, 1939 | Republican | Gladys Pyle | 8 | ||||||||
| 76th | 10 | Elected in 1938. | Jan 3, 1939 – Jan 3, 1951 | Republican | Chan Gurney | 9 | ||||||
| 77th | ||||||||||||
| 6 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Joe Bottum | 11 | ||||||||
| 88th | 14 | Elected in 1962. | Jan 3, 1963 – Jan 3, 1981 | Democratic | George McGovern | 12 | ||||||
| 89th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1966.Retired. | 14 | 90th | ||||||||||
| 91st | 15 | Re-elected in 1968. | ||||||||||
| 92nd | ||||||||||||
| 9 | 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 | 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 | James Abdnor | 13 | ||||||
| 98th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1984. | 17 | 99th | ||||||||||
| 100th | 18 | Elected in 1986. | Jan 3, 1987 – Jan 3, 2005 | Democratic | Tom Daschle | 14 | ||||||
| 101st | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 1990.Lost re-election. | 18 | 102nd | ||||||||||
| 103rd | 19 | Re-elected in 1992. | ||||||||||
| 104th | ||||||||||||
| 11 | 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 | John Thune | 15 | ||||||
| 110th | ||||||||||||
| Re-elected in 2008.Retired. | 21 | 111th | ||||||||||
| 112th | 22 | Re-elected in 2010. | ||||||||||
| 113th | ||||||||||||
| 12 | 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 the2026 election. | 24 | 120th | ||||||||||
| 121st | 25 | To be determined in the2028 election. | ||||||||||
| # | Senator | Party | Years in office | Electoral history | T | C | T | Electoral history | Years in office | Party | Senator | # |
| Class 2 | Class 3 | |||||||||||
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