Shantel Krebs

Shantel Krebs was born in South Dakota and graduated from Arlington High School in Arlington, South Dakota, in 1991.^[2][1]

Krebs attended Dakota State University (DSU) in Madison, South Dakota, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration.^[1] Krebs was honored as a DSU distinguished alumnus and was the commencement speaker for DSU in December 2022.^[5]

Krebs represented the 10th district of the South Dakota Legislature from 2005 to 2015, serving in the House of Representatives from 2005-2011 and in the Senate from 2011-2015.^[6] Krebs was elected to majority whip posts in both chambers and was chairwoman of the Transportation committee in the House and the Agriculture & Natural Resources committee in the Senate. She also served on the Senate Health and Human services committee. Her district included Lincoln County and Minnehaha County.^[6]

Secretary of state

Shantel was elected to the office of South Dakota Secretary of State in 2014, and sworn in on January 2, 2015.^[2]

Krebs ran unsuccessfully in the 2018 election for South Dakota's at-large congressional seat in the Republican primary.

Shantel Krebs, then known as Shantel Swedlund, won Miss South Dakota 1997^[1][7] and competed in the Miss America 1998 competition.^[8] She resides in Canton, SD with her husband, former TV news anchor Mitch Krebs. In 2016, Krebs gained media attention when she shot a rattlesnake on her back patio of her home outside Fort Pierre.^[9]

On June 5, 2019, Krebs, a board member of the Miss America Organization, replaced former Miss America 1989 and former Fox News personality Gretchen Carlson as Chairperson of the Miss America Organization.^[8] Krebs was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame on September 10, 2022.^[10]