Toby Doeden

Toby Doeden is an Aberdeen businessman and first-time candidate who grew up in Groton and owns Aberdeen Chrysler Center, Harr's Redfield Ford, and the Doeden Investment Group's rental and retail holdings. He launched Dakota First Action PAC in 2024 and is running in the June 2, 2026 Republican primary for Governor on a platform of eliminating property taxes, auditing every state agency through a new "Department of Government Efficiency," and refusing the governor's salary.

Record flagged: Doeden's documented public conduct raises temperament and affordability concerns that voters should weigh directly. Deleted posts from his X account called for shooting gang members "between the eyes" and used a vulgar slur about the sitting U.S. President; when the posts surfaced he declined to apologize and accused a political rival of publicizing them (Dakota News Now, South Dakota News Watch). In 2022, after his Plaza Rentals company acquired a north Aberdeen rental house, he raised a single mother's rent 48% (from $775 to $1,150) and terminated her lease on 30 days' notice after she complained about damaged yard lights; other tenants subsequently reported similar mid-lease increases (Dakota News Now, Oct. 2022). His Dakota First Action PAC spent more than $77,000 in the 2024 primaries on mailers and texts that, per South Dakota News Watch, "mischaracterize[d] legislative votes or positions" of sitting Republican legislators, labeling incumbents "RINOs" and "compromised politicians" (South Dakota News Watch).