South Dakota AG wants to bring the state’s values to Capitol Hill after 16 years in office  

After serving four terms as South Dakota attorney general, Marty Jackley said he hopes to join Congress to represent his state’s values, including protecting taxpayers, public safety and agriculture.

“I just reached a point where I believe that the fight for what we care about and what we believe in South Dakota is in Washington,” Jackley told Heartlander News in an interview. “Whether it be limited government, government accountability, the freedoms that we live and enjoy in South Dakota, I think that Washington is the best place to take that fight.”

Jackley became a U.S. attorney in 2006 and received the “Prosecutor of the Year” award in 2008. In 2009, the governor appointed him South Dakota attorney general, and the South Dakota Senate unanimously confirmed him. He later served two terms as chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General, which he said strengthened his ability to build relationships and earn the respect of government officials across the country.

When U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, announced his campaign for governor last year, Jackley entered the race for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House. His background in law enforcement has given him experience with a broad range of federal and state issues that he said will help him represent South Dakota. Those priorities include government accountability, public safety, consumer and taxpayer protection, agriculture and energy independence.

“In South Dakota, we’re strong believers in limited government and protecting the taxpayers. We balance our budget every single year, just like South Dakotans do their personal checkbook,” Jackley said. “So, government accountability is important to me and important to South Dakotans.”

As attorney general, Jackley said his office has prosecuted more than a dozen public corruption cases, including a Medicaid fraud case involving $588,000 in which the defendant pleaded guilty last week. He also prosecuted a former South Dakota Department of Social Services employee accused of stealing $1.8 million from the agency’s Child Protection Services program. Jackley said he and other Republican attorneys general have worked with Vice President JD Vance and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to investigate fraud nationwide.

In addition to pursuing fraud cases, Jackley created the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force within the South Dakota attorney general’s office. The task force partners with sheriffs, police chiefs, state’s attorneys and federal officials. Jackley said he would bring that experience to Congress as part of a law-and-order agenda focused on public safety.

Jackley also said his background in agriculture and engineering shapes his policy priorities.

“I come from an agricultural state. I personally have a farm and a ranch, so it’s important to me. I understand it,” he said. “I’m hoping to be able to serve on the Judiciary and Agriculture committees. That’s important to me.”

He said those priorities align closely with Johnson’s, particularly on biofuels, value-added agriculture and energy independence.

Jackley described himself as a staunch conservative who is pro-life and supports the Second Amendment. He said he has represented South Dakota Right to Life, the Alpha Pregnancy Center and the Black Hills Pregnancy Center without charge. He also said he received an A-plus rating from the National Right to Arms.

“I’ve run on being a trusted conservative, a proven conservative that people know, and I don’t plan on changing that at all when I go from being an attorney general to a congressman,” he said.

President Donald Trump endorsed Jackley the day before the June 2 primary, calling him a “true friend of MAGA” in a post on X.

“As your next Congressman, Marty will work tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Support our Amazing Farmers and Ranchers, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Military/Veterans, Advance Election Integrity, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote.

Jackley won 81% of the vote in the Republican primary and will face Democrat Nikki Gronli, former South Dakota state director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Republican Lance Russell, who won the Republican nomination for attorney general without opposition, is expected to succeed Jackley when the new term begins in 2027. Jackley said the two have known each other for decades and that he has already involved Russell in some attorney general’s office work.

“I do support him. Our families go so far back as his grandfather was my grandfather’s boss. His grandfather was chairman of the school board, and my grandfather was a superintendent,” Jackley said. “Lance has endorsed me in every attorney general race I’ve ever been in.”