05/08/2026
Dusty Johnson and Larry Rhoden are inviting billionaires to buy South Dakota's elections. Here's what you need to know:
Larry Rhoden and Dusty Johnson are using a loophole to break state law and take tens of thousands of dollars from the ultra-rich. That includes people like T. Denny Sanford, who gave at least $50,000 to Larry Rhoden’s campaign, and the Winklevoss Twins, two Manhattan Crypto billionaires, who gave $17,000 each to Dusty Johnson.
Dusty Johnson's ultra-rich donors include contributions from:
- $17,000 x2 - The Winklevoss Twins – two Manhattan-based Crypto billionaires
- $40,000 - Fmr. Lt. Gov. Steve Kirby & his wife, Suzette Kirby
- $20,000 - First Premier Bank CEO Dana Dykhouse & his wife, LaDawn
- $800,000 - “Friends of Dusty Johnson”, a federal PAC.
Larry Rhoden's ultra-rich donors include contributions from:
- $50,000 - T. Denny Sanford, South Dakota’s Richest Man
- $30,000 - James Brown of Colorado
As a reminder, South Dakota's individual contribution limit is $4,000.
Dusty Johnson's ties to Silicon Valley raise important questions. Dusty sits on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees crypto regulation, and is being backed by a coordinated wave of crypto-industry money. Do South Dakotans really think that Dusty Johnson will fight for the working class when he's being funded by out-of-state ultra-rich crypto donors?
Dusty Johnson took several high-dollar donations from the Crypto industry’s richest. That includes:
- Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss ($17,000 each), billionaires with enormous crypto ties;
- Kyle Samani ($7,000) and Tushar Jain ($3,500), managing partners and co-founders of Multicoin Capital, one of the largest crypto-focused hedge funds in the world.
- Marc Andreessen ($1,666), Ben Horowitz ($1,667), and Christopher Dixon ($1,667) - all with ties to Andreessen Horowitz, the largest Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Andreessen is a billionaire and one of the most prominent tech investors alive; Horowitz is his co-founder. Dixon leads their crypto fund.
- Blockchain Association PAC ($1,000) – The crypto industry’s main lobbying arm in Washington also shows up in Dusty’s donor list.
The fact of the matter is: Dusty Johnson and Larry Rhoden have taken thousands of dollars from billionaire elites. Dan Ahlers has taken $0.
The choice is clear.
