RAPID CITY, S.D. – Dan Ahlers, South Dakota’s Democratic candidate for governor, spoke at the Black Hills Forum & Press Club luncheon Friday in Rapid City.

Ahlers, a former member of the South Dakota House and Senate, has campaigned in nearly each of South Dakota’s 66 counties in the past five months hosting multiple events to meet the community with a clear message.

“First and foremost, I want people to believe in their government again, that they have someone who actually represents them and has their back,” he said. “We haven’t seen a lot of that in state government.”

Ahlers represented the Dell Rapids-Sioux Falls area while serving in the state legislature. He lives in Dell Rapids where he has operated small businesses and served on the Chamber of Commerce. He is currently the Executive Director of the South Dakota Democratic Party where he has been for three and a half years.

Ahlers points to ballot measures for minimum wage increases and Medicaid expansion that came under legislative scrutiny and the allocation of the half cent sales tax as issues where the government fell short.

“Those are broken promises,” he said. “I want people to feel like they can trust their government, like they have a government working for them.”

During his campaign in South Dakota, Ahlers said he has found people are concerned about the access and affordability of health care, opportunities for youth and affordability of education, conservation of the state’s land and water resources, and the general costs of living and affordable housing.

“They’re not partisan issues, they’re issues the people of South Dakota are concerned about,” he said. “Elected officials need to be working together crossing party lines and developing real solutions, we just haven’t seen that.”

While Ahlers said he’s a conservative Democrat, he acknowledges the challenges he faces in South Dakota but said 50 years of one-party government representing the state has led to entitlement and complacency.

“Putting a Democrat in the governor’s seat, we know we’re going to have a Republican Legislature, that brings the balance that is needed to help get you better government,” he said. “We want a lot of the same things, we have different ways of getting there, and the beauty of the process is when we come together and find a way we can all agree on that makes my community and your community a better place to live.”

Ahlers and his running mate Steven McCleerey, a former state lawmaker and farmer from Sisseton, will face Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen in November.

Ahlers and Rhoden will meet in two debates before the November general election. The first was held at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron in early September. The next gubernatorial debate will be held on Sept. 28 in Sioux Falls, hosted by South Dakota News Watch and South Dakota Public Broadcasting.