It’s tough to overstate the significance of promoting to South Dakota.

At the confluence of Midwest and West, and bifurcated by the Missouri River, the state has relied on tourism for the reason that early a part of the 20th century, when one other bold governor, Peter Norbeck, relentlessly promoted the event of a granite monument within the Black Hills that might lure guests to the area.

Ms. Noem has proven a related ardour for making the state a vacation spot, most memorably mixing tourism with politics by making certain that fireworks could be displayed at Mount Rushmore to entice Mr. Trump there final yr. South Dakota equally trumpets its pheasant looking, walleye fishing, and much more flagrant vacationer pit stops, like Wall Drug and the Mitchell Corn Palace.

“We don’t have a lot of industry in South Dakota, and we don’t have a lot of natural resources pumped out of the ground or mined, so when you have a state that’s basically ag and ranching, you need those out-of-state dollars,” mentioned Ted Hustead, whose household owns Wall Drug, whose Western-themed assortment of shops and eating places is a main vacationer attraction.

That want is what put Ms. Noem in a vise over the transgender laws.

She initially mentioned she would assist the invoice. But she reversed course after going through a backlash from South Dakota’s influential enterprise neighborhood, which anxious that the National Collegiate Athletic Association would pull moneymaking basketball tournaments out of the state.

Ms. Noem was pressed about her change of thoughts by Tucker Carlson in a uncommon adversarial Fox News interview, and the flap fueled suspicions amongst social conservatives.

“She says whatever she thinks she needs to say,” mentioned Taffy Howard, a state lawmaker who has pressed Ms. Noem to reveal the main points of state cash she has been utilizing for safety on her frequent journeys. “This was all about keeping her donors happy.”

The House overrode Ms. Noem’s partial veto of the trans invoice, however the State Senate declined to take motion, dooming the laws.