Ernie Otten Jr.
2025 - Present
2027
0
Ernie Otten Jr. (Republican Party) is a member of the South Dakota State Senate, representing District 6. He assumed office on January 14, 2025. His current term ends on January 12, 2027.
Otten (Republican Party) ran for election to the South Dakota State Senate to represent District 6. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Ernie Otten Jr.'s career experience includes working in the home building industry and owning a business.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: [email protected].
2023-2024
Otten was assigned to the following committees:
- House Appropriations Committee
- House Government Operations and Audit Committee, Chair
- House Government Operations and Audit Committee
- Appropriations Committee
2021-2022
Otten was assigned to the following committees:
- House Government Operations and Audit Committee, Vice chair
- House Taxation Committee
- House Transportation Committee
2019-2020
Otten was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
- Senate Taxation Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee, Chair
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| South Dakota committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Taxation |
| • Transportation, Chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Otten served on the following committees:
| South Dakota committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • State Affairs |
| • Transportation |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Otten served on the following committees:
| South Dakota committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Taxation |
| • Transportation |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for South Dakota State Senate District 6
Ernie Otten Jr. won election in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 6 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ernie Otten Jr. (R) | 100.0 | 8,961 |
| Total votes: 8,961 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Ernie Otten Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 6.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Otten in this election.
2022
See also: South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ernie Otten Jr. and incumbent Aaron Aylward won election in the general election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ernie Otten Jr. (R) | 59.9 | 5,559 |
| ✔ |  | Aaron Aylward (R) | 40.1 | 3,715 |
| Total votes: 9,274 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Aaron Aylward and incumbent Ernie Otten Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6.
2020
State House election
See also: South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 (2 seats)
Ernie Otten Jr. and Aaron Aylward defeated Cody Ingle in the general election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ernie Otten Jr. (R) | 45.1 | 9,504 |
| ✔ | | Aaron Aylward (R) | 30.8 | 6,504 |
| Cody Ingle (D) | 24.1 | 5,084 | ||
| Total votes: 21,092 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Cody Ingle advanced from the Democratic primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 (2 seats)
Ernie Otten Jr. and Aaron Aylward defeated Nathan Block and Thomas Werner in the Republican primary for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ernie Otten Jr. | 37.9 | 1,551 |
| ✔ | | Aaron Aylward | 26.8 | 1,098 |
| Nathan Block | 26.0 | 1,064 | ||
 | Thomas Werner | 9.4 | 384 | |
| Total votes: 4,097 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
State Senate election
Ernie Otten Jr. was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2018
General election
General election for South Dakota State Senate District 6
Incumbent Ernie Otten Jr. defeated Teresa Ann Robbins in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 6 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ernie Otten Jr. (R) | 65.1 | 6,945 |
| Teresa Ann Robbins (D) | 34.9 | 3,725 | ||
| Total votes: 10,670 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 6
Teresa Ann Robbins advanced from the Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 6 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Teresa Ann Robbins | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 6
Incumbent Ernie Otten Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 6 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Ernie Otten Jr. |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the South Dakota State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 29, 2016.
Incumbent Ernie Otten defeated Kyle Boese in the South Dakota State Senate District 6 general election.[2][3]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 6 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ernie Otten Incumbent |
68.85% | 7,697 | |
| Democratic | Kyle Boese | 31.15% | 3,482 | |
| Total Votes | 11,179 | |||
| Source: South Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Kyle Boese ran unopposed in the South Dakota State Senate District 6 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 6 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Kyle Boese (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Ernie Otten ran unopposed in the South Dakota State Senate District 6 Republican primary.[4][5]
| South Dakota State Senate, District 6 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Ernie Otten Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
The general elections for the office of South Dakota State Senate took place on November 4, 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 25, 2014. Mel Zelmer was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Ernie Otten was unopposed in the Republican primary. Otten defeated Zelmer in the general election.[6][7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ernie Otten Incumbent |
71.8% | 4,877 | |
| Democratic | Mel Zelmer | 28.2% | 1,915 | |
| Total Votes | 6,792 | |||
| Source: South Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
2012
Otten won election in the 2012 election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 6. Otten defeated District 10 Rep. Gene Abdallah in the Republican primary on June 5 and defeated Richard Schriever (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[9][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ernie Otten |
65.4% | 6,011 | |
| Democratic | Richard Schriever | 34.6% | 3,176 | |
| Total Votes | 9,187 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Ernie Otten |
58.9% | 772 |
| Gene Abdallah | 41.1% | 538 |
| Total Votes | 1,310 | |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ernie Otten Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Ernie Otten Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Ernie Otten Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Dakota scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2024
In 2024, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 26.
- Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes related to business.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 27.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 28.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 29.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 30.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 29.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 26.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 10 through March 27. The legislature held a special session on June 12.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 91st South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 12 through March 29.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 90th South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 13 to March 30.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 89th South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 31.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 88th South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 25.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ernie Otten for South Dakota, "About Ernie," accessed April 1, 2021
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 21, 2016
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Official Results State Canvas," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 South Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Candidate List," accessed December 18, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 South Dakota Secretary of State, "State primary results," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Primary Election - Official Results," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Official General Election Results - November 4, 2014," accessed November 12, 2014
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Current Candidates for Primary Election," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Primary Results," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Official election results for 2012," accessed March 11, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
South Dakota State Senate District 6 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 2021-2025 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Arthur Fryslie (R) |
South Dakota State Senate District 6 2013-2021 |
Succeeded by Herman Otten (R) |
