South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden wants to keep his job as the state’s executive leader for another four years.

Rhoden, the 34th governor of South Dakota, is slated to make a “special announcement” at the Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City on Nov. 18, according to a listing on Eventbrite.

State Sen. Arch Beal, a Sioux Falls Republican and co-chair of the Strong, Safe & Free PAC, a political action committee aligned with Rhoden, told the Argus Leader in a Nov. 18 phone call that Rhoden plans make his West River announcement in the City of Presidents.

“As far as I can say, he’s running,” Beal said.

Rhoden has been a long-rumored entrant to the state’s gubernatorial election in 2026. He will be the latest and likely last Republican to join next year’s GOP primary contest after Dusty Johnson, South Dakota’s lone representative in the U.S. House; Aberdeen businessman and conservative activist Toby Doeden; and State House Speaker Jon Hansen.

Chamberlain independent Terry Gleason and 20-year-old Democrat Robert Arnold, of Pierre, have also started campaigns for the governor’s seat.

Rhoden launched a campaign website through his formal gubernatorial committee in August, which allowed online visitors to make donations of $10, $25, $50, $100 or other amounts to his campaign.

The South Dakota governor has remained reticent in the past to show his hand in terms of his campaign efforts. Asked by the Argus Leader in August if the creation of his campaign website, which is paid for by his gubernatorial committee, indicated he would run to retain his executive office, he said the public is free to “interpret” the campaign page as they see fit.

More: Gov. Rhoden launches campaign website but leaves governor run open to ‘interpretation’

Ian Fury, Rhoden’s campaign spokesperson, acknowledged the Tuesday event in a Nov. 12 phone call with the Argus Leader. He declined to confirm whether the governor would address his entrance to the governor race.

Mike Derby, a Republican state representative based in Black Hawk and chair of Rhoden’s supporter PAC, would not outright confirm Rhoden’s intent to announce his run for governor.

Asked if Rhoden planned to make public his gubernatorial ambitions at the Rapid City event, Derby said, “I think it would be worth your while [to go].”

Rhoden was previously critical of the idea of announcing a campaign bid in 2025. Also asked by the Argus Leader in August when he would make his announcement, Rhoden said he would not declare his candidacy until at least after the state’s special legislative session on Sept. 23, when the Legislature voted on legislation to construct a new men’s prison in Sioux Falls.

Rhoden previously served as the 39th lieutenant governor of South Dakota under former Gov. Kristi Noem from Jan. 5, 2019 to Jan. 2025.

Rhoden succeeded to his current post on Jan. 25 midway through Noem’s second term as governor after she resigned to join President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

A lifelong South Dakotan, Rhoden currently lives in Union Center, a small rural community in Meade County, where he runs a ranching operation.

Prior to serving as Noem’s lieutenant governor, Rhoden served four terms as a state representative in the South Dakota legislature from 2001 to 2008.

Rhoden then switched chambers to the South Dakota Senate, in which he held a seat from 2009 to 2014.

His legislative winning streak was ended in 2014, however, after former two-term governor and now-U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds overcame Rhoden in that year’s Republican primary.

Rhoden returned to the South Dakota legislature in 2017, after winning his district’s seat in the state House, of which he was named Majority Whip. He planned to run again in 2018, but he withdrew from the race after being chosen as Noem’s running mate, according to previous Argus Leader reporting.

According to his biography page on the governor’s office website, Rhoden served six years in the South Dakota National Guard after graduating high school.