I'm independent Brian Bengs. This is why I want South Dakota's vote for Senate

I’m running to put South Dakota first, and to work with anyone, whatever their politics, when it’s in the interest of our state.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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I’m a retired military prosecutor, U.S. Air Force Academy instructor, and former Wind Cave National Park Ranger. I love the life that my wife and I have built in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I’m running for Senate as an independent because I’m tired of seeing Big Money overpower common sense. The values I learned growing up in a small rural town from my machinist father—the same values that built this great country—are being treated as though they matter less than a politician’s personal ambition or a billionaire’s appetite.

More than at any time in my life, I believe our political system needs to be shaken up and that We the People need to overcome the corrupting influence of Big Money. Self-dealing is screwing hard-working, honorable South Dakotans out of their chance to live the American Dream.

When I’m elected, the first bill I’ll introduce is to make ALL lobbying by congressional staff illegal. I’ve had enough. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

I’m convinced that term limits are the best way to do it. Here’s a good example of why I believe that. Last month it was reported that my opponent, Sen. Mike Rounds, allowed one of his top advisers — who’s drawing a 6-figure taxpayer-funded salary — to simultaneously work as a lobbyist for Meta. This adviser, also a former Rounds campaign manager, has been pushing Big Money interests in the halls of the South Dakota state capitol, then advising our U.S. Senator on the very same issues, on the very same day.

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There ought to be a law prohibiting that sort of thing. That is why, when I’m elected, the first bill I’ll introduce is to make ALL lobbying by congressional staff illegal. I’ve had enough. My second bill would be term limits. Washington’s culture is so corrupt and out of touch that the people who live there too long don’t even realize it anymore.

I believe Mike Rounds is a good man. I’m not here to add to the name-calling and personal meanness that does nothing to solve the very serious problems our state and nation face.

It was also recently reported that Mike Rounds spends more taxpayer money on private jets than any other member of the Senate.

I’m not trying to dump on Mike.

I believe Mike Rounds is a good man. I’m not here to add to the name-calling and personal meanness that does nothing to solve the very serious problems our state and nation face. I’m here to say that Washington, D.C. needs to change. Most of us can agree our local communities are the ones who pay the price when an elected official stays in Washington too long. We're paying a huge price now.

I agreed with President Donald Trump when he ran on "no new wars." As a patriot who’s proud to have served in both the Navy and the Air Force, I believe commanders-in-chief have a duty to only send our fighting men and women into harm’s way when it’s absolutely necessary. I agreed with him when he said that we needed to fight to make life less expensive. Where I come from, a promise is a promise.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., is seen during votes in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But now, every time I fill up my Ram 1500 at the Corner Pantry, I’m paying over $4.00 a gallon. When I buy groceries for my family at Sonny’s Super Foods, I’m paying more all the time—especially when I buy beef grown by the best ranchers in the world, right here in South Dakota. They are now having to compete with imports from South America that aren’t fairly labeled so that American consumers can know the difference.

The Indian motorcycles that my brother works to assemble are getting harder for Americans to buy because of tariffs that we were told would make American manufacturing stronger.

I’m not running to be an anti-Trump Senator or a pro-Trump Senator. I have plenty of disagreements with the left. It scares the hell out of me that young people are feeling a pull towards Socialism. 

Sen. Rounds has voted in favor of the Iran war every time he’s had the opportunity. He voted for the tariffs that are hurting South Dakota’s economy. He voted to make the biggest healthcare cuts we’ve ever felt, just so that companies could get tax breaks to build data centers. Wired reports that Mike has now taken more campaign contributions from data center-tied interests than from all of South Dakota itself. Those corporate donors are literally getting our money’s worth.

Sen. Rounds has been in office so long that he voted for the law that made it so that grocery stores don’t have to tell us which country their meat came from. Now he says he wants to bring those rules back. We’ve reached the point where career politicians have been in office so long they’re running against the exact things they did.

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I’m not running to be an anti-Trump Senator or a pro-Trump Senator. I have plenty of disagreements with the left. It scares the hell out of me that young people are feeling a pull towards socialism. As a former Air Force prosecutor, I think proposals to "defund the police" and "abolish prisons" are insane. As someone who spent decades working to make America more secure, I thought President Joe Biden’s failure to keep our border secure was unacceptable and offensive.

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I’m running to put South Dakota first, and to work with anyone, whatever their politics, when it’s in the interest of our state. 

I was an ethics advisor in the Air Force. I know it’s not my job to judge people by their politics, but I do believe it’s my job to stand up against a system that isn’t going to fix itself.

Brian Bengs has spent his life serving his country as a Navy enlistee, Air Force attorney, educator, and national park ranger. He is running as an independent to represent South Dakota in the United States Senate.