Show notes
Scott Odenbach is a Republican state representative for District 31, which covers all of Lawrence County in the northern Black Hills. He lives in Spearfish, is an attorney, and has served in the South Dakota House since 2021. In the 1990s he was executive director of the Minnehaha County Republican Party.
Recorded in January 2024 and first published Jan. 16, 2024. The bills discussed were in the 2024 legislative session: HJR 5001 (statewide primaries for constitutional offices) and SB 13 (letting the candidate for governor pick a running mate). The "open primaries initiative" was the petition drive that became Amendment H on the November 2024 ballot.
Update (Oct. 2026): HJR 5001 never reached voters. The House State Affairs Committee killed it on Jan. 17, 2024, the day after this episode came out, by deferring it to the 41st day on an 8-5 vote after a motion to pass it failed 6-7. SB 13 passed the Senate but was tabled in House State Affairs in February 2024. The running-mate change became law the next year as HB 1164, which Gov. Larry Rhoden signed in March 2025, so candidates for governor now choose their own lieutenant governor. Amendment H, the top-two open primary, was defeated in November 2024, 65.6% to 34.4%. The other statewide nominations stayed with the conventions: at the June 2026 Republican state convention in Rapid City, about 700 delegates chose the party's nominees for attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands and the PUC. Odenbach is seeking another House term in 2026. He and fellow incumbent Mary Fitzgerald had no Republican primary in District 31, and they face Democrat Morgan Plucker in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. (Sources are linked below.)
About the guest
Rep. Scott Odenbach (South Dakota Legislature): https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4797/Detail
Scott Odenbach's website: https://scottodenbach.com/
"Who's Afraid of the Precinct People?" by Rep. Scott Odenbach (Dakota War College, Jan. 2024): https://dakotawarcollege.com/guest-column-whos-afraid-of-the-precinct-people-by-state-rep-scott-odenbach-dist-31/
The bills
2024 House Joint Resolution 5001: https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24594
2024 Senate Bill 13: https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24407
2025 House Bill 1164 (governor candidates pick their lieutenant governor): https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/26126
SDCL 12-5-21 (what the state convention nominates): https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/12-5-21
Update sources
Primaries for attorney general, term limits for PUC nixed by House panel (South Dakota Searchlight, Jan. 17, 2024): https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/01/17/primaries-for-attorney-general-term-limits-for-puc-nixed-by-house-panel/
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment H (2024) (Ballotpedia): https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_Constitutional_Amendment_H,_Top-Two_Primary_Elections_Initiative_(2024)
State's top election official loses nomination to challenger who supports hand-counting (South Dakota Searchlight, June 27, 2026): https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2026/06/27/states-top-election-official-loses-nomination-to-challenger-who-supports-hand-counting/
State House District 31 (Ballotpedia): https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_House_of_Representatives_District_31
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