SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota’s independent U.S. Senate candidate, Brian Bengs, said Sunday he “would probably not be here in a competitive position today” without the support he’s gotten from a new political party co-founded by a former Democrat and a former Republican.

Bengs appeared alongside the Forward Party’s CEO and one of those co-founders at a forum attended by around 60 people at Monick Yards, just east of downtown Sioux Falls. Bengs faces Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds in a race with no Democrat on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey and EPA administrator during the George W. Bush administration, told the crowd she helped launch the party in 2022 because she feels the current two-party system is broken.

Challenger takes aim at incumbent’s campaign finances in South Dakota US Senate race

After leaving the Bush administration, Whitman wrote the 2005 book “It’s My Party Too,” which criticized Republican moves toward social issues for boxing too many people out of the party. That “was dangerous for the country,” Whitman said on Sunday. She eventually became a registered independent. She came to believe, she said, that major parties have no incentive to turn their focus away from party loyalty and back toward working together to address the country’s problems. 

At this point, Whitman said, “I think our democracy is holding on by a thread, and I’m not about to see it go without putting up a fight.”

She co-founded the Forward Party with Andrew Yang, a former Democrat who ran to be that party’s presidential nominee in 2020 with a campaign that trumpeted his proposal for a “universal basic income” of $1,000 a month for every U.S. adult. The following year, he ran unsuccessfully to be mayor of New York City.

Yang was supposed to be at the forum, but his flight was delayed. Bengs and Whitman invited attendees to a social gathering with them and Yang at Monks Ale House, about a block from Monick Yards.

Bengs: Says Democratic run was about practicality

Bengs told the audience that the first time he ran for Senate in South Dakota, four years ago against Republican Sen. John Thune, Bengs switched his registration from independent to Democrat so he could get the party’s support. 

Parties have built-in communications networks, donor lists and a host of other advantages for candidates. Bengs said he switched so he could access those advantages, but never felt comfortable being on a party’s “team.”

“Once you’re an agent for the team, you’re called upon to answer for the team, even if you disagree with it,” Bengs said.

The Forward Party asks candidates to sign a pledge to support democracy, the constitution and the rule of law, and to support policies to “make elections secure and easy to vote in for all eligible voters, all while striving to represent all of my constituents.”

The pledge says candidates may demonstrate those values by supporting policies that lower barriers for new parties and independents, such as non-partisan primaries and ranked-choice voting, the latter of which allows voters to rank their preferred candidates in order. 

Bengs said he supports all of that and signed the pledge prior to earning the Forward Party’s endorsement. 

“In all seriousness, I would probably not be here in a competitive position today without the support of the Forward Party,” Bengs said. “It’s that type of movement that they’re trying to build, which I’m 100% behind.”

Bengs trailed Rounds by 8 points in an Emerson College/KELO-TV poll released last week. Another poll released last week, from Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and South Dakota News Watch, showed Rounds ahead 56% to 37%.

The Forward Party has endorsed four U.S. Senate candidates, according to its website: Forward Party candidate Bob Chew in Colorado, and independents Bengs, Seth Bodnar of Montana and Todd Achilles in Idaho, 

After the forum, Bengs told South Dakota Searchlight that he hopes the Forward Party will collect enough signatures to be recognized in South Dakota, which would make it easier for future candidates to run in the state. The party says it’s recognized in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, South Carolina and Connecticut.

Even without official party status and the resulting ability to nominate candidates, the party’s support meant access to a network of donors for fundraising, Bengs said.

Hopes for victory, Rounds’ response

If any of the Forward Party’s endorsed candidates win, Whitman said, they can have a big impact on the balance of power in a closely divided U.S. Senate by forcing both parties to work with them to earn passage of major legislation. She told the crowd that the Forward Party’s nominees have all pledged to caucus with one another, or to at least avoid caucusing with either major party.

After the forum, Whitman told Searchlight she was in Sioux Falls early and campaigned with Bengs, knocking on “about 100” doors.

A strong second-place finish in any of the states with a Forward Party-endorsed candidate would send a message to the major parties about the public’s desire for more options, Whitman said, but “I think Brian has a very good chance of winning.”

Bengs said he expects to win the Senate race. When asked what he might see as a positive sign if he doesn’t, though, he said winning 48% of the vote would send a strong message and support the mission of candidates who want to see the two-party system reformed.

“Obviously, I want to get to 51%,” Bengs said, but he added that Nebraska independent Dan Osborn’s 46% against Republican Deb Fischer in that state’s 2024 U.S. Senate race convinced Bengs that he could run as an independent in South Dakota and have a chance.

Osborn is running again in 2026, again as an independent, against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Rob Skjonsberg, a spokesman for Rounds, said in a text message to Searchlight that Bengs’ support from the Forward Party “makes sense.” Rounds’ campaign ads, as well as previous statements from Skjonsberg, have accused Bengs of being a Democrat at heart, not an independent.

“The Forward Party — which isn’t a party — is a well connected, liberal D.C. outfit that promotes fake independents in red states,” Skjonsberg said. “It’s founded by another fake independent and Democrat candidate that believes in universal income equality.”