Tim Reed
Tim Reed is a lifelong Brookings native and Republican legislator who earned his BS in Commercial Economics from South Dakota State University in 1988. He served 13 years in Brookings city government, including eight years as mayor, before winning election to the SD House in 2017 and moving to the Senate in 2023. Off the floor he runs the Brookings Economic Development Corporation and chairs the USD Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment advisory board.
Why they’re
Sensible
Tim Reed is a results-driven incumbent whose decade-plus in Pierre is built on legislation that protects vulnerable South Dakotans: he authored the suite of bills expanding victim-testimony rules in sexual-assault cases, sponsored SB 154 which reined in pharmaceutical price manipulation at community hospitals (signed 30–3 in the Senate), and launched the 2026 EMS Funding Task Force to keep rural ambulance services alive. His eight years as Brookings mayor give him the kind of hands-on municipal credibility that translates directly into smart state policy, and he has repeatedly drawn the ire of out-of-state dark-money groups precisely because he refuses to trade constituent results for ideological performance.
Key positions
“It has to do with their profits. They're trying to limit the 340B program as much as possible, so they don't have to sell these discounted drugs to these critical access hospitals.”
“We're not ready to designate emergency medical services as essential — yet.”
“Now that a state can require out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales taxes, it is critical the business community is given the clarity and certainty they need.”