Our endorsement of independent candidate Brian Bengs for the United States Senate from South Dakota was not an easy one.

Republican Senator Mike Rounds has done some things we respect. He has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, and after the 2020 election he rejected Donald Trump’s unsupported claims of widespread fraud and said plainly that Trump had lost a fair election.

But more recently, Rounds has too often gone along with an increasingly powerful presidency rather than insisting that Congress exercise its own constitutional responsibilities.

Bengs offers something different. He is running as a genuine independent and says he would caucus with neither major party. Along with several other independent Senate candidates, he has discussed creating an independent caucus that could serve as a fulcrum between Republicans and Democrats.

We find that possibility enormously attractive.

Congress has surrendered too much authority to presidents of both parties, while party leadership increasingly determines what individual members are expected to support. Even a small group of independent senators could make bipartisan coalitions easier and force Congress to behave more like an independent branch of government.

We have substantial disagreements with Bengs. We oppose his proposed wealth tax and have serious reservations about parts of his health-care and economic agenda. An endorsement does not require agreement on every issue.

It does require a judgment about which candidate would make the Senate—and the country—better.

In South Dakota, we believe that candidate is Brian Bengs.

Read our full endorsement of Brian Bengs for U.S. Senate.

See also Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 candidate endorsements.