Neal Tapio

On January 28, 2018, Tapio announced his bid to become the Republican nominee for U.S. Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district . He faced former PUC commissioner Dusty Johnson and secretary of state Shantel Krebs in the June 5, 2018 GOP primary. Following the election, Tapio returned to the oil fields of the Bakken formation.

In 2016, Tapio upset state representative Roger Solum in the South Dakota State Senate District 5 Republican primary. Tapio ran unopposed in the November 2016 general election. Tapio was sworn into the South Dakota Senate on January 10, 2017.

In 2002, Tapio was the campaign director for Larry Diedrich's congressional bid in the 2002 U.S. House of Representatives election. Tapio was an early supporter of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2015. He served as the Donald Trump's South Dakota campaign director for the 2016 U.S. presidential race.

Neal Tapio was born in Watertown, South Dakota. Tapio graduated from Watertown High School in Watertown, South Dakota in 1988. Tapio attended Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota where he graduated in 1992 with a Bachelors in Business Administration. Tapio, directly out of college, worked as a staff assistant to then-U.S. Senator Larry Pressler in Washington, D.C. for two years.

Neal Tapio (born September 19, 1970) is an American businessman, South Dakota state senator, and a former candidate for U.S. Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district . Tapio gained attention as an early supporter of Donald Trump and served as the Trump presidential campaign director for South Dakota.