# Jim Mehlhaff

Jim Mehlhaff is a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate for district 24.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Dakota Senate, district 24
- Serving since: 2023-01-10
- Current term: SD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/c8ca77f5-97e7-4604-aec3-fe4ee5e7dc31

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/c8ca77f5-97e7-4604-aec3-fe4ee5e7dc31 (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

Mehlhaff sits at +0.14 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 81% of State Senate Republicans.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.14 (standard error 0.01), from 43 donors and 602 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 19% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SD 2025–26 session)

569 roll calls. Attendance 100% (South Dakota Senate 96.6%). Party unity 80% (76%). 51 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 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/
- 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 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 nay · 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 68 bills: 64 reached committee, 37 passed one chamber, 30 passed both, 25 became law. Cosponsored 0. 85.3% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Dakota Senate 78.2%; rank 13 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/
- HC 8019: honoring Dr. Kelly Glodt upon his retirement as superintendent of the Pierre School District. (introduced, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HC8019/
- SC 818: commending Grey Zabel for his achievements as a member of the 2026 Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks. (introduced, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SC818/
- SJR 508: proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election, amendments to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, removing the lieutenant… (passed one chamber, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SJR508/
- SB 218: provide for the establishment of charter schools. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB218/
- HB 1268: repeal capital punishment. (in committee, 2026-02-18) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1268/
- SB 202: require that the owner of a motor vehicle removed from a body of water pay the removal costs. (in committee, 2026-02-06) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB202/
- SB 201: authorize the use of a drone for the location and recovery of mortally wounded deer and elk and to provide a penalty therefor. (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB201/
- SB 200: amend the state aid formula for general education and for special education. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/SB200/
- HB 1215: authorize counties and municipalities to issue a license for a cigar bar. (became law, 2026-03-30) https://openstates.org/sd/bills/2026/HB1215/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $12.7K (State Senate Republicans median $28.3K). 96% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/4529/Detail
- Campaign site: https://jimmehlhaff.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077183765346
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-mehlhaff-b47582265/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/c8ca77f5-97e7-4604-aec3-fe4ee5e7dc31