The latest episode of Dakota Town Hall featured Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Julian Boudouan, who used the appearance to draw contrasts with incumbent Sen. Mike Rounds while discussing voter engagement, education policy and Social Security. The episode also included a conversation with Sioux Falls election reform advocate Joe Kirby about ranked-choice voting and open primaries.

Boudouan, a former South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper and Sioux Falls business owner, said his campaign has focused heavily on meeting voters face-to-face across the state. He told hosts Murdoc and Jake Schoenbeck that his campaign has held 28 town halls, visited 35 counties and traveled to four tribal reservations since launching.

A central theme of Boudouan’s remarks was his criticism of South Dakota’s congressional delegation, particularly Rounds, whom he accused of not doing enough to engage directly with constituents.

“Folks consistently write our leadership over in D.C., consistently make phone calls, and they consistently don’t hear back from people,” Boudouan said. “There were no town halls that were done by either John Thune or Mike Rounds.”

Boudouan argued that many South Dakotans feel overlooked by elected officials and said listening sessions have become a cornerstone of his campaign.

“One of the top things that I hear … is that they’ve been forgotten,” he said.

The Democratic candidate also criticized efforts to dismantle the federal Department of Education, pointing to potential impacts on special education, after-school programs and civil rights protections. He later advocated eliminating the current income cap on Social Security payroll contributions as a way to strengthen the program’s long-term finances.

In a separate segment, Kirby renewed his push for election reform, arguing that ranked-choice voting could help avoid costly runoff elections and better reflect voter preferences in nonpartisan races. He also discussed his long-standing support for open primaries and joked about his controversial proposal to eventually relocate South Dakota’s state capital from Pierre.

The discussion comes as South Dakota voters continue to navigate a summer of runoff elections, including the closely watched Sioux Falls mayoral race.