Skip to main content

Politicians make promises on their stump — we watch and hold them accountable.

Help keep the record honest →Create an account
Mike Rounds

RepublicanMike Rounds

U.S. Senator · South Dakota

RepublicanFederal

U.S. Senator from South Dakota

10 tracked promises, 3 rated

South Dakota

South Dakota

Represents South Dakota statewide

88/100
Trust rating
Strongly keeps promises
88
0 · Broken50 · Mixed100 · Kept
A transparent rescale of the Integrity Score (+75) to 0–100, aggregated from 3 rated promises. Never an opaque single score. Provisional — based on 3 rated promises they could act on; a settled rating needs at least 5.
How this is calculated →

How they won their seat

Mike Rounds won the 2020 U.S. Senate election in South Dakota with 65.7% of the vote (276,232 votes).

65.7%
Win share
276,232
Votes for winner
420,219
Total cast
  • Mike Rounds · Republican65.7%
  • Dan Ahlers · Democrat34.3%

Certified results. Source: MIT Election Data + Science Lab (MEDSL) ↗. A plurality winner can hold under 50% when more than two candidates run.

Inferred legislative agendas

Mike Rounds has sponsored legislation related to national defense, artificial intelligence, and small business access to capital. The inclusion of the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act does not necessarily indicate a pattern without further context on the number and nature of bills related to abortion. His committee memberships further emphasize his involvement in banking, housing, and military affairs. Focus areas (from the record): National Defense · Artificial Intelligence · Small Business · Housing · Abortion Alignment with declared positions: Mixed. While there are bills related to national defense and artificial intelligence, the alignment with declared positions should be supported by a more comprehensive review of all relevant legislation. The evidence does not provide a complete picture of his legislative activity in relation to housing and small business. What this can't tell you: The record does not reveal the effectiveness of the sponsored bills; There is no information on the outcomes of the declared positions or promises; The record does not provide insight into Rounds' unlogged work or informal activities. Confidence: moderate (based on the volume of verified record on file).

Inferred, not stated. Mike Rounds has not necessarily stated these as goals. This is an AI-generated, nonpartisan reading of the patterns in their verified record — sponsored legislation, committee work, roll-call votes, and campaign-finance composition — and how those patterns compare to any declared positions and tracked promises. It describes what the record emphasizes, never imputes motive, and is run through an adversarial review pass that scrubs bias, loaded language, and any claim the evidence doesn’t support. It is not a quote, a claim they made, or a rating; every underlying item is sourced in the verified record below; and it never affects the Integrity Score.

Activity in office

What Mike Rounds has actually done in office — sourced from official roll-call and government records, shown in full below. These are facts, separate from tracked promises and never folded into any score. The tracked-positions tile counts sourced stated positions — claims about what they believe, not conduct — and is likewise never scored.

Roll-call data last updated September 7, 2026 · source: Voteview.

Monthly voting activity

  • Yea
  • Nay
  • Total
017345168VotesSep '25: 29 YeaSep '25: 7 NaySep '25Oct '25: 46 YeaOct '25: 19 NayOct '25Nov '25: 18 YeaNov '25: 4 NayNov '25Dec '25: 33 YeaDec '25: 3 NayDec '25Jan '26: 13 YeaJan '26: 7 NayJan '26Feb '26: 22 YeaFeb '26: 1 NayFeb '26Mar '26: 25 YeaMar '26: 6 NayMar '26Apr '26: 19 YeaApr '26: 20 NayApr '26May '26: 12 YeaMay '26: 5 NayMay '26Jun '26: 28 YeaJun '26: 30 NayJun '26Jul '26: 21 YeaJul '26: 4 NayJul '26Aug '26: 11 YeaAug '26: 3 NayAug '26Sep '25: 36 totalOct '25: 66 totalNov '25: 22 totalDec '25: 36 totalJan '26: 20 totalFeb '26: 23 totalMar '26: 31 totalApr '26: 39 totalMay '26: 17 totalJun '26: 62 totalJul '26: 25 totalAug '26: 14 total
Measures voted on:615 passed259 failed16 procedural/other

Roll-call votes per month — most recent on file. Source: Voteview.

Vote attendance

99.1%
attendance
882 of 890 roll calls8 missed
Monthly participation rate
0255075100100%Sep 25Nov 25Jan 26Mar 26May 26Jul 26Aug 26

Share of roll calls participated in — most recent votes on file. Source: Voteview.

Bills sponsored over time

255bills sponsored
2 became law2 passed a chamber106 pending145 awaiting status
0255075100Bills2015: 10 awaiting status1020152016: 16 awaiting status1620162017: 28 awaiting status2820172018: 20 awaiting status2020182019: 21 awaiting status2120192020: 19 awaiting status1920202021: 16 awaiting status1620212022: 15 awaiting status1520222023: 2 became law, 1 passed a chamber, 28 pending2023: 2 became law, 1 passed a chamber, 28 pending2023: 2 became law, 1 passed a chamber, 28 pending3120232024: 23 pending2320242025: 1 passed a chamber, 50 pending2025: 1 passed a chamber, 50 pending5120252026: 5 pending52026

Bills sponsored per year, stacked by outcome (latest action). Outcome data covers the 118th–119th Congresses; earlier years show as “awaiting status” until enriched. Source: Congress.gov.

Independence

1%
Votes against own party
10 of 882 recent votes

How often they break with their party’s majority — neither good nor bad, just the record.

Most recent roll-call votes on file. Source: Voteview.

Bill success rate

2%
2 of 110 sponsored bills became law
2 became law2 passed a chamber106 pending

Bills SPONSORED in the 118th–119th Congresses, by their latest action. Source: Congress.gov.

Campaign finance over time

$0
Cash on hand · 2026
$4.5M
Raised, 20222026
RaisedSpentCash on hand
$0$1.3M$2.5M$3.8M$5M2022: raised $253K2022: spent $538K20222024: raised $1.1M2024: spent $612K20242026: raised $3.2M2026: spent $2.3M20262022: cash on hand $02024: cash on hand $02026: cash on hand $0
Where the money came from · 2026
Small-dollar (unitemized): $37K (1%)Large individual (itemized): $1.3M (48%)48%PAC / committee: $1.4M (51%)51%
  • Small-dollar (unitemized)$37K1%
  • Large individual (itemized)$1.3M48%
  • PAC / committee$1.4M51%

By election cycle. Source: FEC.

Committee memberships

Source: Congress.gov.

Integrity

Promises kept vs. worked against — weighted breakdown

+75 · based on 3 rated promises

  • Championed 3

Teal segments are promises kept; amber and stone segments are promises worked against. The signed score weights each rated promise by significance and evidence confidence. Promise-keeping is shown separately from popularity, finance, disclosure, and stated positions. Methodology is open.

Integrity over time

In office since Jan 2015 · 3 rated promises

The line steps at each recorded assessment and holds between them; it ends on the current published score.

−100 worked against0+100 kept
Integrity Score by assessment date. Score ranges from −100 (worked against) to +100 (kept).
DateIntegrity Score
Jul 202675
Jul 202675
Jul 202675
Jan 202775 (current, held from last rating)

Promise status over time

How the tracked promise record has evolved.

3 tracked
  • Kept3
  • Against0
  • No opportunity0
  • In progress0
0123Jul 2026Jul 2026

Replayed from this official’s sourced assessment history — the bands step only when an assessment is recorded or changed. Based on the most recent roll-call votes on file and the tracked promise assessments; never interpolated.

Not yet scoredNot yet rated 7— tracked, but not counted toward Integrity

Topic coverage

10 promises across 9 topics

What this record covers — the number of tracked promises per topic. This is coverage, not a verdict; the kept/against shading within each bar mirrors the Integrity breakdown above.

  • Abortion2
  • Artificial Intelligence1
  • Election Integrity1
  • Housing1
  • National Defense1
  • National Security / Trade1
  • Science / Research1
  • Small Business / Finance1
  • Transportation / Rural1
Kept Worked against No opportunity / not yet scored

Evidence & significance

Evidence quality

Strongest source cited per promise.

  • Primary (official record)10100%

Significance mix

How weighty the tracked promises are (1 = minor, 5 = defining).

10
21
33
46
50

Significance weights each promise in the Integrity Score.

Tracked promises

10 tracked promises

Championedhigh confidence

Rounds committed to continue working with colleagues to study artificial intelligence and enact policies to support its growth and mitigate its risks, introducing a package of five AI bills toward that end.

Artificial IntelligenceSpecific · measurablePromised Aug 2024
SourcesFedScoopOffice of U.S. Senator Cory Booker· archivedOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archivedOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Championedhigh confidence

Rounds committed to work to pass the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act through the Senate and House and get it signed into law, keeping the U.S. military ahead of near-peer adversaries such as China and Russia.

National DefenseSpecific · measurablePromised Jun 2024
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archivedCongressional Research Service (via EveryCRSReport)Office of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Championedhigh confidence

As co-founder of the American Science Acceleration Project (ASAP), Rounds committed to a national initiative to make American science ten times faster by 2030 by building a 'superhighway for science.'

Science / Research
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (heinrich.senate.gov, joint release with Rounds)· archivedOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to enact the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act, which would make performing a dilation-and-evacuation abortion a federal crime punishable by fines and up to two years in prison.

AbortionSpecific · measurablePromised Jun 2026
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to lead the Life at Conception Act in the Senate, legislation to legally recognize a constitutional right to life for unborn human beings from the moment of conception by extending 14th Amendment protections.

AbortionSpecific · measurablePromised Jan 2026
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds pledged to support the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.

Election IntegritySpecific · measurablePromised Jan 2026
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to pass the Stop Stealing our Chips Act, creating a whistleblower incentive program at the Bureau of Industry and Security to strengthen export-control enforcement and prevent the smuggling of American semiconductors into China.

National Security / TradeSpecific · measurablePromised Apr 2025
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to advance legislation modernizing federal securities law (raising the SEC private-fund-adviser registration threshold) to expand small businesses' and entrepreneurs' access to capital.

Small Business / FinancePromised Mar 2026
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to advance the Whole-Home Repairs Act to provide home-repair assistance to low- and moderate-income homeowners and local landlords.

HousingPromised Jan 2025
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
Not yet rated

Rounds committed to advance the Investments in Rural Transit Act to support rural transit operators facing rising operating costs, regulatory burdens, and difficulty procuring new vehicles.

Transportation / RuralPromised Mar 2026
SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived

Verified record

255 sponsored bills · finance on file

Facts imported directly from official government sources — shown separately from tracked promises and never folded into the Integrity Score. Each entry links to its primary source.

Campaign financeas of May 13, 2026

FEC 2026 cycle — raised $3,983,663, spent $3,008,909, cash on hand $0.

View the FEC filing ↗

Voting record

Total votes
890
Yea
650
Nay
232
Present
0
Not voting
8

Full voting record

890 votes
  • PN1078Yea
  • PN1078Yea
  • PN73011Yea
  • PN73011Yea
  • PN932Yea
  • PN932Yea
120 of 890
Page 1 / 45

Roll-call votes, 119th Congress. Source: Voteview (voteview.com). Click any vote to verify it independently.

Positions on record

12 positions on record

The record on this issue — recorded votes this official cast, and sourced claims about what they believe. Each is labelled with which it is, because a vote is what someone did and a statement is what they said. Neither is scored, and neither affects the Integrity Score.

  • Science / ResearchStated position

    As co-founder of the American Science Acceleration Project (ASAP), Rounds committed to a national initiative to make American science ten times faster by 2030 by building a 'superhighway for science.'

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • Small Business / FinanceStated position

    Rounds committed to advance legislation modernizing federal securities law (raising the SEC private-fund-adviser registration threshold) to expand small businesses' and entrepreneurs' access to capital.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • Transportation / RuralStated position

    Rounds committed to advance the Investments in Rural Transit Act to support rural transit operators facing rising operating costs, regulatory burdens, and difficulty procuring new vehicles.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • AbortionStated position

    Rounds committed to enact the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act, which would make performing a dilation-and-evacuation abortion a federal crime punishable by fines and up to two years in prison.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • Election IntegrityStated position

    Rounds pledged to support the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • National Security / TradeStated position

    Rounds committed to pass the Stop Stealing our Chips Act, creating a whistleblower incentive program at the Bureau of Industry and Security to strengthen export-control enforcement and prevent the smuggling of American semiconductors into China.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • HousingStated position

    Rounds committed to advance the Whole-Home Repairs Act to provide home-repair assistance to low- and moderate-income homeowners and local landlords.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • Artificial IntelligenceStated position

    Rounds committed to continue working with colleagues to study artificial intelligence and enact policies to support its growth and mitigate its risks, introducing a package of five AI bills toward that end.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • National DefenseStated position

    Rounds committed to work to pass the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act through the Senate and House and get it signed into law, keeping the U.S. military ahead of near-peer adversaries such as China and Russia.

    SourcesOffice of U.S. Senator Mike Rounds· archived
    View position & sources
  • Mass Surveillance, Tracking, and Flock SafetyRecorded vote

    On record voting NAY on Paul Amendment No. 1829 to H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, an amendment whose stated purpose was to append the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act to the bill. The amendment was rejected 31 to 61, a three-fifths majority being required.

    SourcesSenate Roll Call Vote 144, 118th Congress, 2nd Session: On the Amendment, Paul Amdt. No. 1829 to H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. Amendment Rejected, 31 yeas to 61 nays with a three-fifths majority required, April 19, 2024.
    View position & sources
  • Mass Surveillance, Tracking, and Flock SafetyRecorded vote

    On record voting NAY on Durbin Amendment No. 1841, as modified, to H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, an amendment whose stated purpose was to prohibit warrantless access to the communications and other information of United States persons. The amendment was rejected 42 to 50.

    SourcesSenate Roll Call Vote 148, 118th Congress, 2nd Session: On the Amendment, Durbin Amdt. No. 1841 as Modified to H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. Amendment Rejected, 42 yeas to 50 nays, April 19, 2024.
    View position & sources
  • Mass Surveillance, Tracking, and Flock SafetyStated position

    Cosponsored S. 3351 (118th Congress), FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023, joining as a cosponsor of record on 2023-11-28. Recorded in the Congress.gov bill status record published by GovInfo.

    SourcesGovInfo BILLSTATUS record for S. 3351, 118th Congress — FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023
    View position & sources
Disclosure
No undisclosed priorities on record

Disclosure

A separate measure from the promise scorecard above. It tracks confirmed cases where this official has acted on or championed an issue that already existed when they ran, but which they did not disclose as a priority in their campaign. Each case meets a high evidence bar — three independent sources — and the score is shown alongside the Integrity Score, never merged into it. How this is measured.

No undisclosed priorities on record. This is not a clean-audit claim — it means none have been confirmed for this official.

Suggest a correction to this official's info

See something wrong or out of date — the biography, party, jurisdiction, common name, or photo? Suggest a sourced correction. Every suggestion is reviewed before it changes the record.

Sign in to suggest a correction

Free — it takes a minute. New here? Create an account and complete the Contributor Agreement once.

Office context & community edit history

Help complete the record on this official

What you see above is only what volunteers have catalogued so far — never the whole picture. Know a campaign promise that's missing, or have a source showing one was kept or broken? Add it, and StumpWatch tracks Mike Rounds more completely. Every submission must cite where it came from, stays neutral, and is open to correction.

StumpWatch is live, and the record is still growing. Many promises and positions aren’t tracked yet, and some features are still in beta. Add a sourced promise and help keep the record honest.

Help keep the record honest →