Hansen and Lems Highlight Gubernatorial Campaign Goals
In Brief: Candidates discuss what they can do for Watertown, statewide issues in extensive KXLG interview
Image from hansenlems2026.com
By Steve Jurrens, KXLG Radio
WATERTOWN, S.D. (KXLG Radio) —South Dakota House Speaker Jon Hansen and Speaker Pro Tempore Karla Lems, running as a Republican ticket for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, made a focused campaign stop in Watertown on Friday.
They engaged with local Republican community members. Their day included a discussion with the Codington County Republican Women's group, followed by a public meet and greet, and a show of support for a local family event.
KXLG News was invited to cover the Republican Women’s group meeting, and shortly after, Hansen and Lems stopped by KXLG studios for a short exclusive interview.
The legislative leaders, who have formally launched their gubernatorial campaigns, reiterated their platform while discussing their stop in Watertown…
Hansen highlighted their work on issues ranging from private property rights to Amendment G.
Hansen, a resident of Dell Rapids and married with six children, emphasized his long-standing commitment to preserving South Dakota's "faith, family, and freedom."
Lems, from Canton, discussed her work in the legislature.
She also shared her recent trip to Washington, D.C. with Hansen to advocate for South Dakota's property rights law (HB 1052) against potential federal overreach.
When asked about what sets their campaign apart from other declared candidates, Hansen reiterated their "track record" and "authenticity."
A key point of their platform, discussed by Hansen, is reducing the power of the Governor's office
Hansen criticized the existing "slush fund" that allows the governor to allocate money to businesses, citing examples such as the "True Shrimp" company in Madison, which received millions in taxpayer money but never materialized.
The issue of property taxes was another focus of their message. Hansen described the current property tax system as "flawed," arguing it taxes "unrealized gains" and creates a feeling of never truly owning one's property.
He announced the creation of a legislative task force, which recently held its first meeting in Sioux Falls, with a "minimum goal" to deliver a "50 percent property tax cut for owner-occupied property owners in South Dakota."
Lems echoed the importance of property taxes and property rights, listing them as top issues she hears about from citizens across the state. She also highlighted the need for greater "government transparency" and accountability.
Following their interview, Hansen and Lems attended a meet-and-greet at Pizza Ranch from 3 to 4 p.m., allowing them to interact directly with attendees. To conclude their day in Watertown, the candidates joined the Haven Center’s family field day at Stoke’s Thomas Lake City Park at Lake Kampeska in Watertown, SD, demonstrating their support for the local pregnancy center and its mission.
Both candidates concluded their remarks by urging voters to support their campaign. They directed interested individuals to their website, hansenlems2026.com, and their social media platforms for more information.
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The Heart of Everything, I don't necessarily disagree with you. You'll note that the story is from a radio colleague, where the reporting standards and deadlines are different than NPN's. However, I think, in this environment of shrinking newsrooms in all media, this type of reporting is still necessary to provide citizens at least some baseline information on the candidates and the issues. Plus, to be frank, even NPN has a need to "feed the beast" with daily content.
The readership stats for the story are above the average of most NPN stories. Thank you for your well considered comments. I value you being a loyal NPN reader and appreciate the feedback. I'll keep what you say in mind as I select stories from outside NPN's authorship.
This is the sort of nothing burger journalism I hate—essentially it just repeats what the candidates said—no questions about how they’ll achieve their 50% reduction in property tax or about how they feel about the decline in infant and maternal mortality that has occurred in the state since the abortion ban they support went into effect or how they plan to fill the gap when thousands of South Dakotans lose their health insurance or how rural hospitals will cope when Medicaid cuts hit.
It’s easy to make promises—but rational people want to know how you’ll accomplish those promises. Same thing applies to Doeden. He promises to eliminate property taxes and voices support for Donald’s immigration “policies” which basically appears to empower a national police force to deport every brown-skinned person and, increasingly, just anyone who voices an opposing point of view.
Johnson doesn’t make as many wild promises, but he too dodges tough questions and takes no responsibility for what his support of Trump’s policies mean for agriculture exports or what his support of tariffs means (essentially a tax on all Americans) for prices or what his support for 9 billion dollars of rescissions in violation Congress’s power of the purse or what dismantling the DOE will mean for public education in SD. More than anything, it’s the trillions of dollars this will add to the deficit—suddenly he no longer cares about the debt ceiling (increased by 5 trillion dollars), he no longer cares about whether a president is experiencing health problems, he no longer cares that a crime family is making money off the office of the President, he no longer cares for the constitution he swore to uphold.
This type of obfuscation and deflection still flies in South Dakota—but when the economic impacts and constitutional impacts are felt by the 70 plus percent of Americans who oppose the work of this mad king, people will demand change. They’ll demand that priorities shift—it won’t be to provide tax breaks to billionaires, it will be to focus on priorities that actually serve the public good.