Ben Krohmer

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Ben Krohmer
Image of Ben Krohmer

Republican Party

Prior offices
South Dakota House of Representatives District 20

Education

High school

Mitchell High School

Personal
Birthplace
Mitchell, S.D.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Ben Krohmer (Republican Party) was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing District 20. He assumed office on January 10, 2023. He left office on January 14, 2025.

Krohmer (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the South Dakota House of Representatives to represent District 20. He did not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 5, 2024.

Krohmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ben Krohmer was born in Mitchell, South Dakota.[1] He earned a high school diploma from Mitchell High School.[2] Krohmer's career experience includes owning a business and working as a plumbing and heating contractor.[1][3] He has been affiliated with Mitchell Friends of NRA and the South Dakota Shooting Sports Foundation.[2]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Krohmer was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2024

See also: South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 (2 seats)

Jeff Bathke and Kaley Nolz won election in the general election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jeff Bathke
Jeff Bathke (R) Candidate Connection
 
53.6
 
6,953
✔
Image of Kaley Nolz
Kaley Nolz (R)
 
46.4
 
6,013

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 12,966
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Don Schmidt and John Schmidt advanced from the Democratic primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ben Krohmer and Jeff Bathke advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20.

The South Dakota Republican Party's District 20 Central Committee chose Kaley Nolz as the party's nominee to replace Ben Krohmer in the general election. Krohmer withdrew from the general election due to family health issues.[4][5]

Endorsements

To view Krohmer's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Krohmer in this election.

2022

See also: South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 (2 seats)

Incumbent Lance Koth and Ben Krohmer won election in the general election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Lance Koth (R)
 
53.5
 
5,721
✔
Image of Ben Krohmer
Ben Krohmer (R) Candidate Connection
 
46.5
 
4,972

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 10,693
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 (2 seats)

Ben Krohmer and incumbent Lance Koth defeated Jeff Bathke in the Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ben Krohmer
Ben Krohmer Candidate Connection
 
34.9
 
1,882
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Lance Koth
 
33.7
 
1,819
Image of Jeff Bathke
Jeff Bathke
 
31.5
 
1,699

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,400
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Ben Krohmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Krohmer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I grew up working in my family’s small plumbing & heating business, so as a small, family business owner myself I understand the hardship resulting from back-breaking taxes and job-strangling regulations that are harming our farmers, ranchers, and small businesses. As a Christian and lifelong resident of Mitchell, I feel it is important to volunteer and give back to the community. That is why I ran to serve in the Legislature, and am the current Representative for our district. I have been actively involved in the Davison County Republican Party for over ten years, and attended four state conventions – this year will be my fifth. Three years ago our county party selected me to be our Committeeman to represent Davison County at statewide meetings. I'm an avid hunter a board member of the Mitchell Friends of NRA and have helped organize banquets, do charitable fundraising, and helped decide how the proceeds are spent to help support gun safety classes, hunter education courses, and youth shooting sports. When Mitchell flooded in 2019, I helped my neighbors and countless others with flooded basements clean up the messes they had in their basements. A few years ago I also volunteered to help the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo setup and fix froze & broke water lines.
  • I believe that agriculture and small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. With our family business being a member of the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce, and my own mother a past president and board member of the Mitchell Area Development Corporation, I have a good understanding of the issues facing our community. I'm a conservative, which is why I favor lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. I also believe there needs to be a common sense approach to spending – if you don’t have it, you can’t spend it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to save some for a rainy day either. We can’t spend wastefully with our own budget, so we shouldn’t do it with the state budget either; that’s why I like to say, “Let’s flush the waste out of Pierre.”
  • As an avid hunter and a board member of the Mitchell Friends of NRA, I strongly support the Second Amendment. Hunting is a great tradition in South Dakota, and it needs to be protected and preserved. Your family also needs to be protected, which is why I also believe the Second Amendment, without a doubt, provides for the defense of life and liberty. I am staunchly pro-life, defend landowner rights, and I strongly support good funding for quality childhood education, good pay for our teachers and educators, along with local and parental control.
  • During these unprecedented times we’re living in, now more than ever, we must stick together as a community to overcome the challenges we face today – from the work force shortage, taxes, spending, and big government overreach. I also have a voting record to back up all of it.
That’s why I’m running for re-election as our State Representative in District 20, to support agriculture and small businesses; grow jobs; cut taxes and government red tape; protect our rights; defend life; and support our community.
My parents are still to this day two people that I look up to the most. I'm so thankful that they instilled a hard work ethic in us kids from a young age. When something comes up and I'm not sure what to do I try and think what my parents would do in that situation.
None that I can think of.
I believe you need to be a strong voice that wont give in to pressure. I can tell you from personal experience, there is a lot of pressure put on legislators in Pierre; and I have never caved to it, not once. You have to be firm and steadfast in your principles. Even if you disagree with people, you still need to treat them with respect. Since I am a conservative I think that conservative beliefs are important: pro-life; the 2nd Amendment; low taxes; less spending; defend our rights; support small agriculture, businesses, and our community.
Business owner. Problem solving. Ability to work well with others. I work with different people every day, from the homeowner on a bathroom remodel project, all the way up to working with Amazon on building the biggest building ever built in the state and the thousands of contractors you have to work along side with every day.
Uphold the public trust since a legislator is a representing the public on their behalf. Make decisions for constituents that aren't wasteful, protects their rights, create and pass laws, and does the necessary roles of the legislative branch of government.
I don't want to leave a legacy of legislative or government service. As a Christian, I feel it is important to volunteer and give back to the community. I would like to do my part in making things better. I would prefer my legacy to be in my private life rather than my public service.
As far as national historic events, I would probably have to say it was 9/11. I was 16 when it happened, and it happened while I was at school during our first class. We had Channel 1 TV's in our classrooms back then, and for the remainder of the day we just watched live news coverage as the events unfolded. The bell still rang and we still went from classroom to classroom, but every class we sat and watched the horror unfold. Some years later in my 20's my family and I went on vacation to New York City, and the 9/11 memorial was one place that was a must stop on our list.
After a couple years of mowing yards and shoveling driveways, I started working for our family business when I was a 16 year old in high school. During the school year I would work after school on jobsites and full time during the summers. I attended two years of college at USD, but ultimately decided that college wasn't for me and that I'd rather be working in our family business. I traveled on the road and have been blessed to work all over our beautiful state, and almost all of the surrounding states, as well. Over the years I have earned a Plumbing Contractor's license for South Dakota and also earned Master Plumber licenses in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa; along with a Master Hydronic heating license in Iowa. I've learned a lot working construction in our family business for the last 20+ years. Currently I work on 3D design and coordination drawings for large scale projects we take on.
There are three separate branches of government to provide checks and balances, but we also have to remember that at the end of the day we are all going to Pierre to do a job and work for the people, so we have to work together and get along.
Work force shortage, taxes, spending, and big government overreach, eminent domain abuse.
No, they should, for obvious reasons, have an interest in government and politics, but prior experience in government or politics is not required. We are a part-time citizen legislature. Every legislator comes from different walks of life, and those different walks of life help guide him or her in making their decisions while serving. It's intended that way so that legislators have to live with the decisions they make in office. Being a legislator is a public service, not a stepping stone for career politicians or government employees.
Yes, as I mentioned before, we all have to work get along and work together. During my first term I developed a good working relationship with all of my fellow legislators, even those who typically vote the opposite of how I vote.
I don't aspire to model myself after any one legislator in particular, however, I learn from all of the legislators that I serve alongside. I observe and learn from each one of them, utilize bits and pieces I prefer from everyone, and use that to formulate my own methodology that I believe works the best - just like how everyone learns everything in life.
No.
I have heard several so far, some of them too personal to share, but all of the personal stories do factor into my decision making in Pierre.
Emergency powers shouldn't be granted, because once they are then everything becomes an emergency.
The first bill I introduced was a bill to prohibit a ban on natural gas utilities and appliances.

The last bill I introduced was to allow for the death penalty for child rapists.
Rep. Spencer Gosch - Spkr of the House

Rep. Jon Hansen - Spkr Pro Temp
Rep. Drew Dennert
Sen. Tom Pischke
Rep. Kevin Jensen
Rep. Tony Randolph
Rep. Lana Greenfield
Rep. Marty Overweg
Sen. Brock Greenfield
Rep. Aaron Aylward
Rep. Bethany Soye
Rep. Scott Odenbach
Rep. Kaleb Weis
Rep. Phil Jensen
Sen. Lance Russell
Sen. Stace Nelson
Rep. Dan Kaiser
Rep. Blaine Campbell
Sen. Tim Begalka
Rep. Dan Matthews
Rep. Julie Auch
Rep. Jessica Bahmuller
Rep. Fred Deutsch
Rep. Joe Donnell
Rep. Randy Gross
Rep. Karla Lems
Rep. John Mills
Rep. Tina Mulally
Rep. Carl Perry
Rep. Sue Peterson
Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer
Rep. John Sjaarda
Sen. Brent Hoffman
Rep. Tom Brunner
Rep. Doug Post
Rep. Steve Livermont
Rep. Lee Qualm
Rep. Marli Wiese

Dr. Marty Christensen
Commerce and Energy since it involves a lot with occupations which is where a lot of bills from my profession originate.

Since I support law enforcement and believe we should be tough on crime, I brought several criminal justice bills last year. I would really enjoy serving on the Judiciary Committee.
I believe there needs to be a common sense approach to spending – if you don’t have it, you can’t spend it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to save some for a rainy day either. We can’t spend wastefully with our own budget, so we shouldn’t do it with the state budget either; that’s why I like to say, “Let’s flush the waste out of Pierre.”

Government should be accountable to the people it is supposed to serve, not the other way around.
Ballot initiative, no. However, before I was elected I did support increasing the threshold for passing Constitutional Amendments to 60% rather than just a simple majority.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Candidate Connection

Ben Krohmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Krohmer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I grew up working in my family’s small plumbing & heating business, so as a small, family business owner myself I understand the hardship resulting from back-breaking taxes and job-strangling regulations that are harming our farmers, ranchers, and small businesses. As a Christian and lifelong resident of Mitchell, I feel it is important to volunteer and give back to the community. That is why I have been actively involved in the Davison County Republican Party for over eight years, and attended three state conventions – this year will be my fourth. Last year our county party selected me to be our Committeeman to represent Davison County at statewide meetings. I'm an avid hunter a board member of the Mitchell Friends of NRA and have helped organize banquets, do charitable fundraising, and helped decide how the proceeds are spent to help support gun safety classes, hunter education courses, and youth shooting sports. When Mitchell flooded in 2019, I helped my neighbors and countless others with flooded basements clean up the messes they had in their basements. Last year I also volunteered to help the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo setup and fix froze & broke water line
  • I believe that agriculture and small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. With our family business being a member of the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce, and my own mother a past president and board member of the Mitchell Area Development Corporation, I have a good understanding of the issues facing our community. I'm a conservative, which is why I favor lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. I also believe there needs to be a common sense approach to spending – if you don’t have it, you can’t spend it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to save some for a rainy day either. We can’t spend wastefully with our own budget, so we shouldn’t do it with the state budget either; that’s why I like to say, “Let’s flush the waste out of Pierre.”
  • As an avid hunter and a board member of the Mitchell Friends of NRA, I strongly support the Second Amendment. Hunting is a great tradition in South Dakota, and it needs to be protected and preserved. Your family also needs to be protected, which is why I also believe the Second Amendment, without a doubt, provides for the defense of life and liberty. I am staunchly pro-life, and I strongly support good funding for quality childhood education, good pay for our teachers and educators, along with local and parental control.
  • During these unprecedented times we’re living in, now more than ever, we must stick together as a community to overcome the challenges we face today – from the work force shortage, taxes, spending, and big government overreach.
That’s why I’m running to be our State Representative in District 20, to support agriculture and small businesses; grow jobs; cut taxes and government red tape; protect our rights; defend life; and support our community.
My parents are still to this day two people that I look up to the most. I'm so thankful that they instilled a hard work ethic in us kids from a young age. When something comes up and I'm not sure what to do I try and think what my parents would do in that situation.
None that I can think of.
I believe you need to be a strong voice that wont give in to pressure. Even if you disagree with people, you still need to treat them with respect. Since I am a conservative I think that conservative beliefs are important: pro-life; the 2nd Amendment; low taxes; less spending; defend our rights; support small agriculture, businesses, and our community.
Business owner. Problem solving. Ability to work well with others. I work with different people every day, from the homeowner on a bathroom remodel project, all the way up to working with Amazon on building the biggest building ever built in the state and the thousands of contractors you have to work along side with every day.
Uphold the public trust since a legislator is a representing the public on their behalf. Make decisions for constituents that aren't wasteful, protects their rights, create and pass laws, and does the necessary roles of the legislative branch of government.
I don't want to leave a legacy of legislative or government service. As a Christian, I feel it is important to volunteer and give back to the community. I would like to do my part in making things better.
As far as national historic events, I would probably have to say it was 9/11. I was 16 when it happened, and it happened while I was at school during our first class. We had Channel 1 TV's in our classrooms back then, and for the remainder of the day we just watched live news coverage as the events unfolded. The bell still rang and we still went from classroom to classroom, but every class we sat and watched the horror unfold. Some years later in my 20's my family and I went on vacation to New York City, and the 9/11 memorial was one place that was a must stop on our list.
After a couple years of mowing yards and shoveling driveways, I started working for our family business when I was a 16 year old in high school. During the school year I would work after school on jobsites and full time during the summers. I attended two years of college at USD, but ultimately decided that college wasn't for me and that I'd rather be working in our family business. I traveled on the road and have been blessed to work all over our beautiful state, and almost all of the surrounding states, as well. Over the years I have earned a Plumbing Contractor's license for South Dakota and also earned Master Plumber licenses in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa; along with a Master Hydronic heating license in Iowa. I've learned a lot working construction in our family business for the last 20 years. Currently I work on 3D design and coordination drawings for large scale projects we take on.
There are three separate branches of government to provide checks and balances, but we also have to remember that at the end of the day we are all going to Pierre to do a job and work for the people, so we have to work together and get along.
Work force shortage, taxes, spending, and big government overreach.
I don't see much for benefits. I think our Founders developed a great system for us, and since only Nebraska is the only state in the country that has shied away from having a bicameral legislature, I'd say bicameral seems to be the overwhelming favorite at both the national and state level.
No, they should, for obvious reasons, have an interest in government and politics, but prior experience in government or politics is not required. We are a part-time citizen legislature. Every legislator comes from different walks of life, and those different walks of life help guide him or her in making their decisions while serving. It's intended that way so that legislators have to live with the decisions they make in office. Being a legislator is a public service, not a stepping stone for career politicians.
Yes, as I mentioned before, we all have to work get along and work together.
The legislative process because legislators are elected and accountable to the people they represent, commissions and boards are not.
I have not thought that far ahead, but maybe commerce and energy since it involves a lot with occupations which is where a lot of bills from my profession originate.
n/a
Nobody in particular that comes to mind.
No.
I have heard several so far, some of them too personal to share, but all of the personal stories will factor into my decision making in Pierre.
Emergency powers shouldn't be granted, because once they are then everything becomes an emergency.
On some things I think there can be compromises, but on other things I don't believe there can be. It depends on the issue at hand. If there is a spending bill and two different people have two different spending amounts in mind, the two points of view should be discussed along with the reasons why, and there can probably be some compromise and meet in the middle. However, if it is on the issue of something like gun rights then I would be against any and all policies that would attempt to restrict the rights of lawful gun owners.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Ben Krohmer campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* South Dakota House of Representatives District 20Withdrew general$8,618 $0
2022South Dakota House of Representatives District 20Won general$17,590 $0
Grand total$26,208 $0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in South Dakota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Dakota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

In 2024, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 26.

Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community.
Legislators are scored on their votes related to business.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.


2023











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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 30, 2022
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 7, 2024
    3. ↑ South Dakota Legislature, "Representative Ben Krohmer - 2023 - Detail," accessed April 22, 2023
    4. ↑ The Dakota Scout, "Mitchell woman grabs spot in uncontested State House race," August 12, 2024
    5. ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Ben Krohmer," October 28, 2024


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