Rick Knobe says he’s qualified but too old and too Sioux Falls to run for Governor:
I’m from Sioux Falls. Nobody from Sioux Falls has won the governorship. I’ve been here over 50 years. I did not attend school in South Dakota. No alma mater. No classmates.
And in some people’s minds, I’m old. Not sure how you feel about the number 78. That’s my current number. If I ran and was elected, I would be 80 when sworn in.
Based on recent history and current events, it’s clear being 80 is probably a deal-breaker. And should be.
Ok, I’m done now. This would be my platform — if I were running for governor [Rick Knobe, “I Am Qualified for Governor of Our State and I Am Ready to Serve. Here’s What I Would Do,” South Dakota Standard, 2025.09.04].
(And Spencer Gosch frets that Sioux Falls has too much pull? Sheesh!)
But were the man who mayored Sioux Falls from 1974 to 1984 to run to run South Dakota, I’d vault him to the top of my list for his promise to protect initiative and referendum:
We need to stop making it harder for people to vote. It should be easy to participate. The state motto: “Under God, the people rule,” is being abused, constantly making it harder to refer or initiate laws. That needs to stop. I would work against and veto bills getting between you and democracy. If necessary, I will use the power of the office — the bully pulpit — to help citizens refer bad laws and initiate good ones [Knobe, 2025.09.04].
That’s no idle promise: Knobe has publicly advocated for initiative and referendum rights as a necessary check on an unresponsive, anti-democratic Legislature.
Age be darned—Knobe, who spent much of his non-mayoral career talking policy on the radio, would have no problem keeping up with and out-debating his likely hyper-kinetic Republican opponent Dusty Johnson. With no big Dems chomping at the bit for the uphill battle, Knobe could be the right independent at the right time to break the Republicans’ 48-year lock on the big chair on the Second Floor.
The “too Sioux Falls” may be still true, unfortunately. A Sioux Falls address has often been the kiss of death for those whose dreams include offices higher than state senator. An exception is Gary Hanson has hung on at the PUC for several terms.
Knobe was an interesting mayor. He narrowly knocked off the last of a series of more traditional older Sioux Falls mayors identified as very close to a small group of big wheels who had overarching sway in city governance. He ran in the time after Watergate when a lot what is done in government at all levels of government was questioned. He was riding a populist wave with mostly conservative and some liberals uniting against the establishment which had been holding city government for a long time.
He immediately brought more transparency into city government, as I recall.
Maybe Knobe could channel that same establshment-busting wave in 2026. He could campaign as an alternative to the career establishmentarians who brought us six years of stagnation and closed government under Noem.