The Interview #124 | Toby Doeden - for Governor of South Dakota

Toby Doeden rolls into Milbank on a 66-county bus tour and sits down like an old neighbor—no handlers, no script, just a story about why a CEO decided to trade boardrooms for Pierre. Born in Groton and now in Aberdeen, he talks about growing up on free lunches, building companies from nothing, and the long stretch of years where he missed birthdays to break the chain of poverty. That grind shaped his campaign: run the state like a business, fix culture first, and use real efficiencies and a broader tax base—not higher rates—to pay for schools, roads, and rural healthcare. It’s also why he’s pressing a bigger idea: if you can truly own your land, the government shouldn’t be able to take it when times get hard. “Once you own your property,” he says, “the government should not be able to confiscate it because you can’t pay your property taxes.”

On the trail, Doeden bristles at donor-class politics; he says he turns down big checks so he can answer only to voters. His town halls run hours—he speaks, then hands the mic to the room and stays until every question is done. Policy lines emerge plainly: strictly pro-life; parental consent in schools; no new gun restrictions; opposition to eminent domain maneuvers like those tied to carbon pipelines. But between the heavy beats, the human moments land: grilling with a glass of cab and Hank Jr., digitizing old family videos that made him cry, and laughing about South Dakota’s curvy back roads. Whether you agree with him or not, his pitch is clear—govern like a relentless operator, rebuild trust from the ground up, and protect property rights as a cornerstone of freedom.

Find Toby’s schedule and policies at TobyDoeden.com. Support this listener-funded show at TheInterviewPodcast.org.