After a bruising South Dakota primary season in which 16 incumbent Republican legislators lost and four Republicans battled for the governor nomination, the party is at a crossroads. South Dakota’s House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, was voted by his peers into his leadership position in 2024, after major turnover in the lawmaking body that year. Odenbach spoke with Searchlight Reporter Joshua Haiar about what this year’s primary results mean for the party and the state.

Odenbach also responded to a recent Searchlight Report episode featuring Republican political commentator Pat Powers of the South Dakota War College blog, in which Powers said the populist movement in the Republican Party is in decline.

Click here to access a transcript to this episode.