# John Carley

John Carley is a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate for district 29.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Dakota Senate, district 29
- Serving since: 2025-01-14
- Current term: SD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/2d13f154-7e05-462c-b8d9-da5c5556d8b9

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2d13f154-7e05-462c-b8d9-da5c5556d8b9 (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

Carley sits at −0.51 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 100% of State Senate Republicans.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.51 (standard error 0.03), from 20 donors and 330 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 0.2% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SD 2025–26 session)

656 roll calls. Attendance 95.1% (South Dakota Senate 96.6%). Party unity 90.9% (76%). 195 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-12 · voted nay · 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 nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/
- 2026-03-11 · voted nay · Do Pass Amended · SB 78 revise the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. · pass · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB78/
- 2026-03-11 · 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/
- 2026-03-11 · voted nay · 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/
- 2026-03-09 · voted nay · 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 yea · 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 nay · Do Pass · HB 1160 repeal the medical marijuana oversight committee. · fail · https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1160/

## Legislation (SD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 99 bills: 98 reached committee, 35 passed one chamber, 29 passed both, 24 became law. Cosponsored 0. 89.9% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota Senate 78.2%; rank 6 of 34).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1313: require education in prenatal human growth and development. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1313/
- SB 243: impose a transaction tax and dedicate revenues collected to supplant certain property taxes, and to provide a penalty therefor. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB243/
- HB 1287: require an alternate approval process for an operation that extracts materials by the use of explosives. (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1287/
- HB 1288: modify the authority of a political subdivision to adopt mining ordinances. (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1288/
- 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 levy of… (passed one chamber, 2026-03-09) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1241/
- HB 1243: require the display of the state motto in public schools and provide for associated legal representation. (in committee, 2026-02-10) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1243/
- HB 1182: establish a data collection system pertaining to assisted reproductive technology and to provide a penalty therefor. (in committee, 2026-02-18) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1182/
- SB 190: codify the rights of a parent. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB190/
- SB 155: increase legislative oversight procedures and protections against conflicts of interest, and to provide a penalty therefor. (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB155/
- SB 181: cause the repeal of the medical cannabis chapter upon the federal re-scheduling of cannabis. (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB181/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $36.3K (State Senate Republicans median $28.3K). 84% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4692/Detail
- Campaign site: https://www.carleyforfreedom.com/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2d13f154-7e05-462c-b8d9-da5c5556d8b9