The Libertarian Party of South Dakota, the only active alternative political party in the state, convened in Chamberlain Saturday to nominate candidates for public office. The Libertarians rustled up only two members willing to run: Tamara Lesnar of Grenville will run for Secretary of State, while Tracey Quint of Sioux Falls will run for District 11 House.
Lesnar is challenging three other declared candidates: incompetent incumbent Republican Secretary of State Monae Johnson, even worse Republican legislator Heather Baxter, and Democratic newcomer Terrence Davis.
In District 11, Quint will appear on the ballot with one Democrat, Sonja Mentzer, and the two Republicans who win the three-way primary among incumbent Reps. Keri Weems and Brian Mulder and challenger John Kunnari.
Lesnar has run twice for the Libertarians, for U.S. Senate in 2022 (finishing third out of three with 4% of the statewide vote) and for District 1 House in 2024 (finishing sixth out of six with 3% of the District 1 vote). Quint ran for Governor in 2022 (finishing third out of three with 3% of the statewide vote). Libertarians have never beaten anyone in a South Dakota election, except each other: Josh Dennert in 2024 outpolled his District 1 House ticketmate Lesnar with 4%.
Lesnar’s candidacy has distinct legal importance for the party. State law (SDCL 12-5-1.5 + SDCL 12-1-3) says that to keep their status as a recognized political party, a party must have a candidate for statewide office in at least one of the last two general elections. Lesnar and Quint both achieved that goal in 2022 (Lesnar with 4.22%, Quint with 2.85%). Gideon Oakes did the same for the Libertarians with his 5.28% finish in the 2024 Public Utilities Commissioner race. If Lesnar weren’t running for SOS, Oakes’s 2024 result would preserve the Libertarians’ recognized party status for another cycle, but the Libertarians would have to run a viable statewide candidate in 2028 to keep going.
The Libertarians are fielding fewer candidates than they have since 2016, when they regained their current party status. The number of registered Libertarians doubled from 2016 to 2024, but over the last two years, Libertarian registration has plateaued. The Libertarians came within 7 registrants of 3,000 last May, but their total has retreated since then by nearly 200 to 2,804. Libertarians currently constitute 0.45% of South Dakota registered voters. In Quint’s District 11, Libertarians constitute 0.51% of registered voters.
| Year | Statewide Candidates | Legislative Candidates | County Candidates | Registered Voters as of early May |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,395* |
| 2018 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1,719 |
| 2020 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1,938 |
| 2022 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2,657 |
| 2024 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2,923 |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,804 |
*Secretary of State first posted registered Libertarians numbers on July 5, 2016.
Well, as you know a Libertarian is simply a Republican that smokes dope. They move a little slower.
I long for the good ol’ days when Libertarians were the crazy wing of the GOP!