Kristi Noem | Biography, Books, & Facts (2024)

Kristi Noem (born November 30, 1971, Watertown, South Dakota, U.S.) is a Republican politician who was the first woman to serve as governor of South Dakota (2019– ). She was previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2011–19). A prominent figure in conservative politics, Noem has associated herself closely with former president Donald Trump and is considered a potential running mate in his 2024 presidential campaign.

Early life

Kristi Arnold, one of four children born to Corinne and Ron Arnold, grew up on a farm in Hamlin county, east-central South Dakota. In 1990, when she was a senior in high school, Arnold was crowned Snow Queen at the South Dakota Snow Queen Festival. She made appearances across the state, and in a 2011 interview with the Aberdeen News, she said that the experience provided her with the “first opportunity to sit in an interview, to speak in public.” She also competed in rodeo queen contests as a teenager.

Arnold initially attended Northern State University (NSU) but later transferred to South Dakota State University. In 1992 she married Bryon Noem, a high-school classmate who had earned a finance degree at NSU. Two years later her father was killed in a farming accident, and she dropped out of college so that she and her husband could take over the family farm; her elder siblings had left the state, and her younger brother was still in high school. Kristi Noem is an avid hunter, and she built a hunting lodge on the premises.

Political career

After her siblings moved back home and took over much of the farm management, Noem went into politics. She was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006 and took office the following year. In her second term she became assistant majority leader. In 2010 she ran for South Dakota’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. On the campaign trail Noem stressed a balanced budget, derided federal regulations, and promised to support the interests of ordinary South Dakotans. She unexpectedly won the Republican primary, and the influential conservative website the Drudge Report later proclaimed of her victory that “another Republican star is born.” In the hotly contested general election, she defeated the three-term Democratic incumbent, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. By this time she and her husband had three children, and he was running an insurance agency.

Noem took office in 2011, and she quickly established herself as a major figure in the party. In recognition of her growing influence, she was selected to serve as a coliaison between freshman Republican members and the House leadership. Noem continued to pursue traditional conservative policies, and she notably backed spending cuts and sought to limit the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She was reelected three times to the House, and while in Congress she finished her college degree, earning a B.A. in political science in 2011.

In 2016 Noem announced that she would run for governor of South Dakota. Although seeking to become the first woman to hold the post, she did not emphasize her gender during the campaign. The Republican primary was particularly contentious and costly. Although Noem won, her use of negative ads alienated some members of her party, and the Democratic candidate, state Sen. Billie Sutton, led in the polls at one point. In the 2018 general election, however, Noem ultimately prevailed, capturing 51 percent of the vote to Sutton’s 47.6 percent. She was sworn into office the following year.

Governor of South Dakota