Joyce Hazeltine

Hazeltine first ran for elected office as the Republican candidate for Secretary of State of South Dakota in 1974, losing to the Democratic Party's Lorna Herseth.^[4] She then later worked as an official in the South Dakota Legislature, including as secretary of the Senate.^[3]

In 1986, Hazeltine ran again as the Republican candidate for Secretary of State of South Dakota and won, taking office in 1987. She was re-elected for three more terms, serving in the role until 2003, making her the longest serving South Dakota Secretary of State at four terms and 16 years served total.^[5]

In 2002, she was term-limited and announced she would not be seeking re-election as Secretary of State and would instead seek to be the Republican candidate in the election for the Commissioner of School and Public Lands.^[6] However, she lost her bid for the Republican nomination to Alan Aker at the June Republican Party convention.^[7][8]

Hazeltine was married to her husband for 60 years and had three children.^[1] She was a supporter of the Black Hills Playhouse, becoming its board president in 2007.^[9]

She died of cancer on 30 September 2016, aged 81. Following her death, Governor Dennis Daugaard ordered all flags at the state capitol to be flown at half-mast in her honor.^[10]