Micheal Rundham

Early Life
Michael Rundham was born in Dayton, Ohio, on June 4th, 1952, as the youngest of 8 siblings. He was born to a middle-class family who, in 1956, moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Rundham attended a private school for most of his life and attended Augustana University in 1970 and graduated in 1974.

Early Career
In 1975 Rundham moved back to South Dakota and began volunteering for the local Republican party, where he was encouraged to run for office. In 1980 Rundham ran for the State House in District 3, defeating the incumbent in the primary. He would go on to hold the seat for ten years. In 1990 he ran for Secretary of State and won the position, and in 1994 after being encouraged by local GOP figures, he ran for Governor of South Dakota winning the position with 55.4% of the vote and securely was reelected in 1998.

Governor of South Dakota
As Governor Micheal Rundham signed the Treatment Center Accountability Act which strengthen regulations against State ran drug treatment centers requiring them to submit accurate annual reports to continue receiving funding. Rundham took a strong stance against abortion, he signed the "Abortion Parental Notification Act of 2000", which required that a minors parents or guardian be notified before an abortion can be carried out. A previous version of the bill would've required consent from the parents or guardian before an abortion could be carried out but it was later amended out by the State legislature. Rundham signed a bill which reduced the pay of the Governor of South Dakota from $116,400.03 to $100,000.00. Rundham made Indian relations a vocal point of his governorship. He would frequently meet with Native American tribes and meet with their chiefs and took special interest in hearing their voices. in 2000 Governor Rundham would create a new department called, "The Department of Tribal Relations." He subsequently nominated Ella Robertson as the first Secretary of Tribal Relations. By the 90's Meth was starting to become a serious health crisis in the State of South Dakota. Rundham frequently held town halls on the issue and made it a main priority by mid 2000 to address the issue. He would later sign the "No Tolerance for Meth Act of 2000". The bill strengthen the penalties for distributing and manufacturing methamphetamine.