Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says she has no plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2028 but refuses to rule out a return to the ballot, comments she made after a $150,000 bronze statue in her likeness was unveiled in Pierre.
About 100 people gathered at the entrance to the Hilger's Gulch nature area near the state Capitol complex on August 7, 2026, to watch Noem and sculptor John Lopez pull the cover off the statue. The ceremony also included the unveiling of Noem's official portrait inside the Capitol building, where it will hang alongside those of every other former governor. South Dakota Searchlight reported that Noem's daughters, sons-in-law, four grandchildren, and her mother attended. Her husband, Bryon Noem, could not make it, and one of her sons is currently serving as a missionary in the Middle East.
Noem used the occasion to praise her successor, Gov. Larry Rhoden, and First Lady Sandy Rhoden, both of whom were present. But the real interest came afterward, when reporters asked whether she planned to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Rounds in 2028.
Noem told reporters she is focused on her current job as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a position President Trump created earlier in 2026. Trump reassigned Noem to the role in March after she resigned as Secretary of Homeland Security.
"I'm not planning to run for Senate in 2028. So, I'm planning to build a lot of fence, continue to help other countries build departments of homeland security and work with the State Department to help President Trump continue to be successful."
Pressed on whether she would ever run for office again, Noem did not shut the door.
"Oh, I wouldn't take it off the table. I may someday, but you know, we ran 13 races and won them all, so campaigns don't scare me, but I've got a lot of other things to do, too."
That track record stretches back two decades. Noem won a seat in the South Dakota state House in 2006 and served until 2010, when she entered a competitive Republican primary for the state's lone U.S. House seat. She won the primary and then ousted incumbent Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in the general election. In 2018, with an endorsement from Trump, she defeated the state's attorney general in a Republican gubernatorial primary and went on to become South Dakota's first female governor. She won a second term in 2022.
The 2028 Senate landscape in South Dakota remains unsettled. Rounds holds one seat. Senate Majority Leader John Thune holds the other, and Politico reported earlier in the week that Thune anticipates running for reelection, though anonymously quoted senators suggested he might retire. Noem's refusal to close the door keeps her name in the conversation, even if she insists her focus is elsewhere.
Noem's time as DHS Secretary was brief and contentious. Confirmed in 2025, she oversaw a period of aggressive immigration enforcement that drew both praise from border hawks and fierce opposition from the left. ICE enforcement actions spread protests across the country. In January, ICE agents shot and killed two American citizens during enforcement operations in Minneapolis, an episode that intensified scrutiny of the agency's tactics.
Noem faced congressional hearings where lawmakers criticized her handling of ICE. During one hearing, a Democratic lawmaker raised allegations of a romantic relationship between Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski, allegations that had been the subject of multiple media reports. Lewandowski was notably absent from the statue unveiling in Pierre. Her successor at DHS, Secretary Mullin, has since announced that the Trump administration has removed more than three million illegal immigrants.
Noem resigned from DHS in 2025, and Trump moved her into the Shield of the Americas envoy position the following March. The exact scope of that role remains unclear. Noem described it as working with other countries to secure their borders and building departments of homeland security abroad, a diplomatic portfolio rather than a domestic enforcement one.
The transition came after Noem had already weathered controversy on the national stage. Her hands-off approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic during her first term as governor drew sharp criticism from public health officials but earned her a following among conservatives who opposed lockdowns. Then came her 2024 book, "No Going Back," published by Hachette Book Group. The memoir generated negative headlines nationwide after Noem recounted fatally shooting a misbehaving hunting dog and an unruly goat, stories that struck many readers as gratuitously harsh and overshadowed whatever political message the book intended to deliver.
The statue itself carried a price tag well above the norm. Leroy Foster, a representative of the Trail of Governors foundation, said Noem's bronze cost $150,000, compared to $78,000 for past statues in the collection. The late Wyoming investment manager Foster Friess made the largest single donation, at least $68,000. Friess, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Wyoming in 2018, died before the statue was completed.
Lopez, the sculptor, hails from Lemmon, South Dakota. With Noem's addition, every former South Dakota governor is now represented on the Trail of Governors, a walkable outdoor collection in Pierre that uses private donations to commission, build, and maintain the statues. The project sits near the Capitol complex, placing Noem's likeness within sight of the building where she governed for four years.
The broader Republican landscape is shifting as 2028 approaches. Noem's comments about her political future land amid ongoing jockeying within the party. Vice President JD Vance is already positioning for the next presidential cycle, and prominent Republican women continue to make moves of their own, Sen. Marsha Blackburn recently captured the Tennessee GOP gubernatorial nomination in a commanding primary win.
Meanwhile, the immigration enforcement framework Noem helped build at DHS continues to face legal resistance. A Biden-appointed judge in Massachusetts recently blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Ethiopian nationals, defying the Supreme Court in the process, a reminder that the policy fights Noem oversaw are far from settled.
Noem praised the Rhodens during her speech at the unveiling.
"They have been incredible people of integrity to lead South Dakota. I've been grateful for them and all that they have done."
At 54, Noem has held state legislative office, a U.S. House seat, the governor's mansion, and a Cabinet post. She has weathered a pandemic, a book controversy, congressional grillings, and a forced reassignment, and she still claims a perfect record at the ballot box. Whether that record matters depends on whether she decides to add a fourteenth race.
For now, she says the answer is no. But "no" and "never" are different words, and Noem made sure everyone heard the distinction.
