Julian Beaudion, the Democratic nominee for 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 face GOP Sen. Jim Risch. Independent Seth Bodnar is also running for Senate in Montana, but Democrat Alani Bankhead has said she plans to remain in the race.
Beaudoin, a nonprofit 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 noted in a lengthy statement posted on X that he would not be endorsing Beng or Rounds in the race.
Beaudoin said he was ending his campaign after he and his family faced “intimidating threats to drop out of the race.”
Beaudoin did not elaborate on those threats, saying that the “time will come” for him to reveal more details. But he criticized Bengs in an interview with The Washington Post, saying the independent candidate 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 Senate as a Democrat in 2022 and lost to now-Senate Majority Leader John Thune by 44 points.
Rounds, who won his last race in 2020 by more than 30 points, also has a financial edge in the contest. The senator’s campaign had $2.7 million left to spend on the race as of June 30, according to recent campaign finance reports, while Bengs had $51,000.
