Marty Jackley
Marty Jackley, a Republican serving as attorney general of South Dakota, is his party's nominee for South Dakota's open at-large U.S. House seat in 2026 against Democrat Nikki Gronli.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Marty Jackley.
- Education
- Sturgis Brown High School (1988)
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, 1992)
University of South Dakota School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1995)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Marty Jackley, whose full name is Martin Jacob Jackley, was raised in Sturgis, South Dakota, and graduated from Sturgis Brown High School in 1988.
He graduated cum laude from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1995.
From 1995 through 1997 he served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Richard Battey of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
Career
After his clerkship, Jackley became a partner at the Rapid City law firm Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson, and Ashmore, focusing on construction and engineering law and real property disputes, while also prosecuting controlled substance felonies as a special assistant attorney general.
In 2006 President George W. Bush nominated him as United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him unanimously. He held that post until 2009, when Governor Mike Rounds appointed him attorney general of South Dakota, and he won re-election in 2010 and 2014.
Jackley sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2018 and lost the June primary to U.S. Representative Kristi Noem, receiving 44% of the vote to her 56%. He then rejoined Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson and Ashmore, opened a law office in Pierre and, from August 27, 2019, served as Jones County States Attorney until he was succeeded by Kirby Krogman in January 2021. Jackley won the 2022 attorney general election unopposed and returned to the office in 2023.
2026 race
Marty Jackley is the Republican nominee for South Dakota's at-large seat in the U.S. House, which is open in 2026; its incumbent, Republican Dusty Johnson, was re-elected with 72.0% of the vote in 2024. Jackley chose to forgo a fourth term as attorney general and filed to run for Congress.
In the June 2, 2026, Republican primary, he received 79.2% of the vote against James Bialota Jr., a small business owner and real estate investor.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Nikki Gronli, a former South Dakota state director for USDA Rural Development who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.