US Midterms 2026
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Mike Rounds, a Republican U.S. senator from South Dakota since 2015 and the state's governor from 2003 to 2011, is seeking a third Senate term against independent Brian Bengs in 2026.
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Mike Rounds.
Recent media coverage for Mike Rounds.
We’re following the U.S. Senate race between Brian Bengs (I) and Mike Rounds (R) and the gubernatorial race between Dan Ahlers (D) and Larry Rhoden (R), as well as the race for the single U.S. House seat.
There are 35 Senate seats up for grabs in the 2026 midterm elections.
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BengsNo story this week names this candidate.
Marion Michael Rounds was born on October 24, 1954, in Huron, South Dakota, the oldest of 11 children, and has lived in Pierre, the state capital, since the age of three.
His father's jobs included state director of highway safety, and his brother Tim Rounds later held a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives.
Rounds completed a political science degree at South Dakota State University, located in Brookings, where he met Jean Vedvei; the couple wed in 1978 and raised four children, and she died in 2021.
He is a former partner in Fischer Rounds & Associates, an insurance and real estate firm with several offices around the state.
In 1990 Rounds won the District 24 seat in the South Dakota Senate, defeating incumbent Jacqueline Kelley with 53%. He became minority whip in 1993 and majority leader in 1995, and term limits ended his legislative service in 2001.
In the 2002 governor's race he won the Republican primary by 15 points and then the November 5 general election with 56.8% over Democrat Jim Abbott; he was reelected in 2006 with 61.7%. He served as the state's 31st governor from 2003 to 2011 and chaired the Midwestern Governors Association in 2008.
When Democratic senator Tim Johnson retired, Rounds won the open seat in 2014 with 50.37% in a field that included Rick Weiland and Larry Pressler. In 2020 he defeated Scyller Borglum, 75% to 25%, in the Republican primary and Democrat Dan Ahlers in the general election.
He is a co-chair of the Senate AI Caucus.
Rounds is running for a third term in the November 3, 2026, election, with President Donald Trump's endorsement since July 21, 2025. He won the June 2 Republican primary with 75.8%. The Democratic nominee, former state trooper Julian Beaudion, withdrew on August 4. Rounds faces Brian Bengs, the Democrats' 2022 Senate nominee, who filed as an independent in May.
