Page 4 - 2019-annual-report

2019 Trail of Governors Annual Report

Gov. Dennis Daugaard, 32nd, 2011-2019

Daugaard served as governor during eight years of challenges
in South Dakota, including the Great Recession, an outcry for
increased teacher salaries, and severe flooding along the Mis-

souri River that dissects the state. As a fiscally conservative yet

determined leader, Daugaard was up to the challenges. The
governor cut spending to reduce the state’s budget, increased
teacher salaries via a one-half cent sales tax increase, and led

the way reforming juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

Daugaard grew up on a farm near Dell Rapids, raised by two
deaf parents in a fiscally conservative fashion. He went on to
become an attorney, working at a law office in Chicago before

returning to his home state to work in banking and in leader-

ship positions for the Children’s Home Society. His political
career began when he was elected as a legislator, and contin-
ued as he became lieutenant governor and then governor.

Daugaard’s statue on Washington Avenue and along the shore
of Capitol Lake shows him leaning against a shovel, as though

he just planted a tree. A closer look at James Michael Maher’s
sculpture shows the governor pinching a penny and giving the

deaf sign, “I love you.”

Dennis Daugaard - 32nd Governor of South Dakota

A vision to create a lasting legacy of South Dakota’s governors.