Sigurd Anderson

Sigurd Anderson (January 22, 1904 – December 21, 1990) was the 19th governor of South Dakota. Anderson, a Republican from Webster, South Dakota, served in that office from 1951 to 1955.

Early life and education Anderson was born at Frolands Verk, a rural community near Arendal, in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway and came to the United States at age three with his family to settle in Lincoln County, South Dakota. Sigurd became a United States citizen at age eight, when his father became a naturalized citizen. Anderson graduated from the Canton Lutheran Normal, in Canton, South Dakota, and enrolled at South Dakota State College. During his first school year, Anderson suffered from scarlet fever, which prevented his return to college the following fall. In order to secure funds to continue his education, Anderson worked as a farm hand and taught rural school at Kruger #1 school house in Kingsbury County. In 1928, Anderson enrolled at the University of South Dakota, and graduated in 1931 with cum laude honors and a B.A. degree and went on to earn his LL.B degree from University of South Dakota School of Law. In 1937, he married Vivian Walz of Vermillion and began practicing law in Webster. Their daughter, Kristin Karen, was born during Anderson's administration.

Career Anderson twice served as Day County state's attorney and as an assistant attorney general in the state capital, Pierre. Before he was elected governor he served two terms as South Dakota Attorney General, 1947–1951.

In the general election, Anderson defeated Democrat Albert F. Ulmer by a count of 106,502 votes to 50,480 votes.

1948 Attorney General election

In 1948, Anderson was re-nominated without opposition at the Republican convention in Pierre.

In the general election, Anderson was re-elected as Attorney General by defeating D.C. Walsh by a 137,370 to 99,724 vote margin.

Gubernatorial administration

Anderson's re-election in 1952 marked the first time a candidate for South Dakota governor received more than 200,000 votes in a general election. This was not accomplished again until Mike Rounds' reelection in 2006, over fifty years later. It was during Anderson's administration that the Legislative Research Council was established. It was also during this time that the state had a debt-free status—the first time in 40 years.

In 1964, Anderson once again announced his candidacy for governor, but lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Nils Boe, who won the general election. Boe appointed Anderson to fill a vacancy as a circuit judge, from which position Anderson retired in 1975.