Governor Larry Rhoden has made clear from the beginning of his reëlection campaign that, if voters will stick with hime, he’ll stick with Tony Venhuizen as his Lieutenant Governor. Meanwhile, Rhoden’s runoff opponent, Aberdeen car-and-booze salesman and landlord Toby Doeden, has refused to say whom he would pick as second in command.
But in a remarkable tactical error just two days before the runoff, Doeden announces that he has asked primary loser and Speaker of the House Jon Hansen to be his running mate three times… and Hansen has turned him down each time:
Jon Hansen was my top pick for Lt. Governor.
I offered him the position three times.
-February of 2025 (I informed him I planned to run for Governor and would like him to be my running mate.)
-December of 2025. (I asked him to join our campaign and serve as my running mate.)
-June 3rd 2026. (He called me to congratulate me on my tremendous victory. I told him that he too deserved congratulations for a job well done. I asked him to serve as my Lt. Governor, and to help build my administration. )
Building a winning organization, is a game of addition, NOT subtraction. My objective as Governor is not to tear anyone down, but to build our state up.
Having Jon as my running mate would have united our party in a way likely never seen before. It is unfortunate that some folks in his orbit would rather see the conservative movement fail, than for Jon and I to succeed together [Toby Doeden, campaign FB, 2026.07.26].
Doeden says more, but I can hardly get past Doeden’s laughable claim that his intention is not to tear anyone down and his lapse into the familiar, lazy Trumpian “never seen before” trope, which signals Doeden’s full descent into nothing-burgerism.
But the key point here is that two days before the polls close, Doeden tells all the disappointed Hansen supporters whose votes he desperately needs that their man Jon has refused his offer to be Lieutenant Governor. And if Jon Hansen doesn’t want to work for Toby Doeden, why would a Jon Hansen voter want to vote for Toby Doeden?
Doeden seems to think he can win an election simply by running his mouth and throwing his cash. He apparently has no sense of how to build a team or a coalition to work together for victory. He can’t even manage his communications for an effective, consistent, winning message two days before the runoff vote.