Julian Beaudion, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in South Dakota, announced Tuesday that he is ending his campaign, clearing the way for independent Brian Bengs to take on GOP Sen. Mike Rounds this fall.
Beaudion is the latest Democrat in a solidly Republican state to drop out of a race that also featured an independent contender.
Democrat Cindy Burbank recently did so in Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn is running against GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts. Democrat David Roth also ended his Senate bid in Idaho, allowing independent Todd Achilles to face GOP Sen. Jim Risch. Independent Seth Bodnar is also running for the Senate in Montana, but Democrat Alani Bankhead has said she plans to remain in the race.
Beaudion, a nonprofit organization leader and former state highway patrol officer, suggested he was not exiting the race to help give the independent candidate a better chance at victory in November. He said in a lengthy statement on X that he would not be endorsing Bengs or Rounds.
Beaudion said he was ending his campaign after he and his family faced “intimidating threats to drop out of the race.”
Beaudion did not elaborate on the threats, saying the “time will come” for him to reveal more details. But he criticized Bengs in an interview with The Washington Post, saying Bengs has “proven to stoop to whatever level he has to to make sure he gains power.”
Rounds recently told NBC News that his campaign strategy would not change if the Democratic contender dropped out, suggesting Bengs is actually a Democrat. Bengs, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, ran for the Senate as a Democrat in 2022 and lost to John Thune, now the Senate majority leader, by 44 percentage points.
Rounds, who won his last race in 2020 by more than 30 points, also has a financial edge. His campaign had $2.7 million left to spend as of June 30, according to recent campaign finance reports, while Bengs had $51,000.
