STURGIS, S.D. – Local business owner and longtime resident Tammy Bohn has officially announced her candidacy for Mayor of Sturgis, bringing a campaign focused on government transparency and responsible leadership to the community near Rapid City.

Bohn, who owns the local firearm retailer Sturgis Guns, has been a central figure in several high-profile legal challenges against the city’s current administration. Her platform emphasizes the need for a responsive government that prioritizes taxpayer dollars and essential services, including police, fire, and the local animal shelter.

This campaign follows Bohn’s previous bid for the mayor’s office in 2022, when she unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Mark Carstensen. Since then, she has continued to challenge the city’s structure through the court system. In early 2024, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bohn and her fellow petitioners in the case of Bohn v. Bueno, determining that city officials had a duty to certify a petition seeking to remove the city manager position from the local government.

Bohn was also involved in a 2022 lawsuit that questioned the legality of the 2007 election that established the city manager form of government. That suit sought to determine the legality of the position and included a count attempting to force the current city manager to repay salary earnings dating back to 2011, though the city moved to have those claims dismissed. More recently, Bohn’s advocacy led to a formal reprimand of the Sturgis City Council by the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission for violations related to executive session procedures in 2023.