CHAMBERLAIN, S.D. (KELO) — 44-year-old Terry Gleason of Chamberlain acknowledges the uphill battle he faces.
“I am an unknown,” Gleason said Saturday. “Not very many people know me, and so it is a long shot, but I feel at the same time, some of the other candidates are also long shots. I think I have just as much to give to South Dakota as any other candidate.”
Gleason is a registered Republican running as an independent for governor of South Dakota in 2026. KELOLAND News interviewed him in person on Saturday in Chamberlain and discovered while preparing this report on Monday that Gleason is on the state’s sex offender registry; he was convicted in 2000 of raping a 15-year-old girl. In a phone conversation Monday with KELOLAND News, Gleason denied raping the girl and says his status as a sex offender should not prevent someone from voting for him.
Part of his motivation to run for governor, Gleason says, is to provide an example.
“To show my kids that even though an independent has little chance to actually win in the state, go for it,” Gleason said. “If you have a dream, go for it.”
A hope for an “inclusive” South Dakota is among the biggest issues for him.
“We should all have the same rights,” Gleason said. “We’re all human. We’re all South Dakotans and just wanting to live our life happy. That’s one of my biggest deals.”
Drug trafficking has also caught his attention.
“Cutting off the head of the snake instead of going after the little tail of the snake of the little dealers and the little buyers,” Gleason said. “Go after the trafficking.”
Republicans Toby Doeden, Jon Hansen and Dusty Johnson are also in South Dakota’s 2026 gubernatorial race along with Democrat Robert Arnold. Current Gov. Larry Rhoden has yet to announce if he will run to stay in office.
