# Stephanie Sauder Stephanie Sauder is a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate for district 4. - Party: Republican - Seat: South Dakota Senate, district 4 - Serving since: 2023-01-10 - Current term: SD 2025–26 session - Open States ID: ocd-person/229f3180-5808-47f9-b473-3da3c9585bc5 Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/229f3180-5808-47f9-b473-3da3c9585bc5 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set]. ## Headline Sauder voted against the majority of South Dakota Senate Republicans 87 times; party unity 52%, in the bottom tenth of the South Dakota Senate (average 76%). ## Ideology (CSIP) CSIP score +0.32 (standard error 0.02), from 45 donors and 596 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 43% of State Senate Republicans score lower. ## Votes (SD 2025–26 session) 567 roll calls. Attendance 100% (South Dakota Senate 96.6%). Party unity 52% (76%). 87 votes against the party majority. Key votes: - 2026-03-12 · voted yea · Do Pass · HB 1326 appropriate money for the ordinary expenses of the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the state, the current expenses of state… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1326/ - 2026-03-12 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1051 revise property tax levies for school districts and to revise the state aid to general and special education formulas. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1051/ - 2026-03-12 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/ - 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1006 create a taskforce to study the creation of Indian medicaid managed care entities in the state. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1006/ - 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · HB 1241 modify the requirements for public notice of a hearing prior to a vote to impose an excess tax levy, and to modify requirements to refer an excess tax… · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1241/ - 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass · HB 1140 permit a court to impose as a condition of probation, or parole in certain circumstances, treatment at a nonprofit entity awarded an alternative care… · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1140/ - 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass · HB 1160 repeal the medical marijuana oversight committee. · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1160/ - 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1184 define man and woman throughout the state. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1184/ - 2026-03-09 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · HB 1241 modify the requirements for public notice of a hearing prior to a vote to impose an excess tax levy, and to modify requirements to refer an excess tax… · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1241/ - 2026-03-09 · voted yea · Do Pass Amended · HB 1082 establish parameters for the reimbursement of school districts that provide free or reduced-price meals to students. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1082/ ## Legislation (SD 2025–26 session) Sponsored 36 bills: 26 reached committee, 20 passed one chamber, 17 passed both, 15 became law. Cosponsored 0. 63.9% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota Senate 78.2%; rank 29 of 34). Recent sponsored bills: - SC 822: honoring TKO’s Custom Catering and Capitol Cafe for outstanding service. (introduced, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SC822/ - SC 830: honoring Dave Bonde for exemplary service to South Dakota. (introduced, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SC830/ - HB 1298: prohibit the electronic publication of certain information about a judicial officer or law enforcement officer and provide a penalty therefor. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1298/ - HB 1138: require the licensure of non-medical home care agencies, and to provide a penalty therefor. (passed both chambers, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1138/ - HB 1250: revise the types of community-based providers for purposes of state funded services. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1250/ - HB 1262: make an appropriation for a non-residential, school-based, therapeutic services facility in Brown County and to declare an emergency. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1262/ - HC 8006: recognizing February as National Career and Technical Education and National Career and Technical Student Organizations Month. (introduced, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HC8006/ - SC 806: commending and honoring the 2025-2026 Outstanding School Administrators of South Dakota: David Olson, Meade, Middle School Principal; Kendra Becker, Redfield,… (introduced, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SC806/ - HC 8005: honoring the Yankton School District on its 150th anniversary. (introduced, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HC8005/ - SC 804: recognizing February as National Career and Technical Education and National Career and Technical Student Organizations Month. (introduced, 2026-02-02) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SC804/ ## Campaign money (2024 cycle) Itemized receipts $127.8K (State Senate Republicans median $28.3K). 91% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors. ## Links - Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4555/Detail - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.sauder.6 - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sauderforsenate - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-sauder-05512b8b/ Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/229f3180-5808-47f9-b473-3da3c9585bc5