Rough Tough Cowboy Larry: Pipsqueak Dusty Threatened Me!

In a sign that Ian Fury is failing to demonstrate his incredible competence in campaign comms, Larry Rhoden is whimpering that Dusty Johnson tried to bully him out of the gubernatorial race:

Rhoden spoke at the South Dakota NewsMedia Association conference in Deadwood. He didn’t name Johnson directly during his comments but later confirmed to News Watch that’s who he was talking about.

When responding to a question regarding concerns over a lack of civility in the race, Rhoden said that Johnson, through a mutual friend, tried to dissuade him from running for re-election by insinuating he would direct a large portion of his campaign war chest, including funds from super political action committees associated with him, against Rhoden if he ran.

“They let me know he had more than just the $6 (million) or $7 million in his personal fund. That he also had these dark money super PACs that he could maintain cover on. In fact, that’s exactly what he did when he released the ads,” Rhoden said. “In the interviews he did, he said ‘No, that wasn’t me, that was them.’ Well, why did you tell me about it? That blows my mind.”

…Rhoden provided more details of the exchange to News Watch, explaining that a mutual friend of his and Johnson’s called him shortly after last year’s legislative session when he was debating whether to enter the race.

“He called one of them up and he said, ‘Tell Larry, if he gets in the race, I will drop a million bucks on his head, drive his numbers down into the single digits, and I just don’t want to have to do that,'” Rhoden told News Watch.

“He (Johnson) was presenting it like he was doing me a favor,” Rhoden said. “It’s blackmail, basically” [Alexander Rifaat, “Rhoden: Johnson Tried to Keep Me from Entering Governor’s Race,” South Dakota News Watch, 2026.05.01].

I suppose Ian might be trying to sell the idea in a roundabout way that big tough cowboy Larry isn’t afraid of anybody. But that possible message gets muddled in the image this talk creates of 5’11”, 145-pound policy nerd Dusty threatening Larry—and “Threatened” is the word other outlets are using. That image is as ridiculous as imagining me picking a fight with former legislator Stace Nelson. The folks who aren’t laughing are more likely to say, “Boy, that little fella’s got spunk!” If Ian’s message lands with anyone, what are they supposed to say—”Oh, poor Larry, getting picked on by scrawny old Dusty”?

Rhoden fouls the message further by calling the alleged threat “blackmail”. That’s not nearly as heinous as Kristi Noem calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists, but it is as legally wrong. Blackmail is, “Give me your money or I’ll release this incriminating evidence!” Dusty and his dark-money PACkers at “Rushmore Principles” aren’t running photos of Larry cheating on Sandy with a member of the Noem family (Kristi, Bryon, whoever) or falsely tying him to EB-5 or GEAR UP. They’re just saying Rhoden raised taxes.

Telling Larry or any politician, “If you run, we’re going to run ads blasting your record” isn’t blackmail. I’m not even sure you can call it a threat. It’s just a statement of what anybody running for office ought to expect from the competition.

Come on, Larry—even if incredibly competent Ian thought crying “Blackmail!” was a good idea, this “boo-hoo” act does not become you. It just pushes you faster toward real tears on Primary Night when you have concede to the apparent real tough guy in the race, Dusty Johnson.