South Dakota State Senate elections, 2018

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2018 South Dakota
Senate elections
Flag of South Dakota.png
GeneralNovember 6, 2018
PrimaryJune 5, 2018
Past election results
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Republicans maintained their supermajority in the 2018 elections for South Dakota State Senate, winning 30 seats to Democrats' five. All 35 Senate seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans held 29 seats to Democrats' six.

The Republican Party maintained its trifecta in South Dakota in 2018 by holding majorities in the state Senate and House and by retaining the governorship.

The South Dakota State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

South Dakota state senators serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years.

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.


Post-election analysis

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

The Republican Party maintained supermajority status in both chambers of the South Dakota State Legislature in the 2018 election. In the state Senate, all 35 seats were up for election. Republicans increased their supermajority in the South Dakota State Senate from 29-6 to 30-5. No incumbents were defeated in the general election.

The South Dakota House of Representatives held elections for all 70 seats. The Republican supermajority in the House of Representatives saw no change from 59-10 to 59-11. One seat was vacant before the election. One Democratic incumbent and three Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.

National background

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

  • Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
  • Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
  • A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

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Candidates

See also: Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

General election candidates

South Dakota State Senate elections, 2018

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Green check mark transparent.pngSusan Wismer

District 2

Paul Register

Green check mark transparent.pngBrock Greenfield (i)

District 3

Cory Heidelberger

Green check mark transparent.pngAl Novstrup (i)

District 4

Dennis Evenson

Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Wiik (i)

District 5

Did not make the ballot:
Alanna Silvis 

Green check mark transparent.pngLee Schoenbeck

District 6

Teresa Ann Robbins

Green check mark transparent.pngErnie Otten Jr. (i)

District 7

Green check mark transparent.pngV.J. Smith

Mary Perpich (Independent)

District 8

Scott Parsley

Green check mark transparent.pngJordan Youngberg (i)  Candidate Connection

District 9

Laura Swier Kotelman

Did not make the ballot:
Mark Guthmiller 

Green check mark transparent.pngWayne Steinhauer

District 10

Rachel Willson

Green check mark transparent.pngMargaret Sutton (i)

District 11

Kevin Elsing

Green check mark transparent.pngJim Stalzer (i)

District 12

Kasey Olivier

Green check mark transparent.pngR. Blake Curd (i)

District 13

Melissa Hiatt

Did not make the ballot:
Hubert Grogan 

Green check mark transparent.pngJack Kolbeck (i)

District 14

Justyn Hauck

Green check mark transparent.pngDeb Soholt (i)

District 15

Green check mark transparent.pngReynold Nesiba (i)  Candidate Connection

District 16

Elizabeth Merrigan

Did not make the ballot:
Ted Curry 

Green check mark transparent.pngJames Bolin (i)

District 17

Howard Grinager

Green check mark transparent.pngArthur Rusch (i)

District 18

Green check mark transparent.pngCraig Kennedy (i)

Roger Meyer

District 19

Ardon Wek

Green check mark transparent.pngStace Nelson (i)

District 20

Dan Miller

Green check mark transparent.pngJoshua Klumb (i)

District 21

Julie Bartling

Green check mark transparent.pngRocky Blare

District 22

Eric Bliss

Green check mark transparent.pngJim White (i)

District 23

Joe Yracheta

Green check mark transparent.pngJustin Cronin (i)

District 24

Amanda Bachmann

Green check mark transparent.pngJeff Monroe (i)

District 25

Green check mark transparent.pngKris Langer (i)

Peter Klebanoff (Independent)  Candidate Connection
Brian Wirth (Independent)

District 26

Green check mark transparent.pngTroy Heinert (i)

Joel Koskan

District 27

Green check mark transparent.pngRed Dawn Foster

Bill Hines

District 28

Alli Moran

Green check mark transparent.pngRyan Maher (i)

District 29

Matt Kammerer

Green check mark transparent.pngGary L. Cammack (i)

District 30

Kristine Winter

Green check mark transparent.pngLance Russell (i)

Gideon Oakes (Libertarian Party)

District 31

Sherry Bea Smith

Green check mark transparent.pngBob Ewing (i)

District 32

Ayla Rodriguez

Green check mark transparent.pngAlan Solano (i)

District 33

Ryan Ryder

Green check mark transparent.pngPhil Jensen (i)

District 34

Zach VanWyk

Green check mark transparent.pngJeff Partridge (i)

District 35

Pat Cromwell

Did not make the ballot:
Barry Muxen 

Green check mark transparent.pngLynne DiSanto


Primary election candidates

The candidate list below is based on the list provided by the South Dakota Secretary of State on April 2, 2018. This list is unofficial and some candidates may be added or removed from the list before it becomes certified.[1]

2018 South Dakota State Senate primary candidates
District Democratic Party

Democrat

Republican Party

Republican

Other
1 Thomas Bisek
Allison Renville
Susan Wismer Approveda
No candidate
2 Paul Register Approveda Brock Greenfield (I) Approveda
3 Cory Heidelberger Approveda Al Novstrup (I) Approveda
4 Dennis Evenson Approveda John Wiik (I) Approveda
5 Alanna Silvis Approveda Byron Callies
Lee Schoenbeck Approveda
6 Teresa Ann Robbins Approveda Ernie Otten Jr. (I) Approveda
7 No candidate V.J. Smith Approveda Mary Perpich (ind.)
8 Scott Parsley Approveda Jordan Youngberg (I) Approveda
9 Mark GuthmillerApproveda Lora Hubbel
Wayne Steinhauer Approveda
10 Rachel Willson Approveda Margaret Sutton Approveda
Spencer Wrightsman
11 Kevin Elsing Approveda Jim Stalzer (I) Approveda
12 Kasey Olivier Approveda R. Blake Curd (I) Approveda
13 Hubert GroganApproveda Jack Kolbeck (I) Approveda
14 Justyn Hauck Approveda Deb Soholt (I) Approveda
Tyler Swanger
15 Reynold Nesiba (I) Approveda No candidate
16 Ted Curry Approveda James Bolin (I) Approveda
17 Howard Grinager Approveda Arthur Rusch (I) Approveda
18 Craig Kennedy (I) Approveda Roger Meyer Approveda
19 Ardon Wek Approveda Stace Nelson (I) Approveda
20 Dan Miller Approveda Joshua Klumb (I) Approveda
21 Julie Bartling Approveda Rocky BlareApproveda
22 Eric Bliss Approveda Jim White (I) Approveda
23 Joe Yracheta Approveda Justin Cronin (I) Approveda
24 Amanda Bachmann Approveda Jeff Monroe (I) Approveda
25 No candidate Kris Langer (I) Approveda
Dale Barnhart
Peter Klebanoff (ind.)
Brian Wirth (ind.)
26 Troy Heinert (I)Approveda Joel Koskan Approveda
27 James Bradford
Red Dawn Foster Approveda
Bill Hines Approveda
28 Alli Moran Approveda Ryan Maher (I) Approveda
29 Matt KammererApproveda Gary Cammack (I) Approveda
Billy Kluck
30 Kristine Winter Approveda
Lance Russell (I) Approveda
Bruce Rampelberg
Patricia Shiery
Gideon Oakes (Lib.)
31 Sherry Bea Smith Approveda Bob Ewing (I) Approveda
32 Ayla Rodriguez Approveda Alan Solano (I) Approveda
33 Ryan Ryder Approveda Phil Jensen (I) Approveda
Amanda Scott
34 Zach VanWyk Approveda Jeff Partridge (I) Approveda
35 Barry Muxen Approveda Lynne Disanto Approveda
Ryan Smith
Notes • An (I) denotes an incumbent.
• Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our Elections Project.

Margins of victory

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 South Dakota State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

  • Elections won
  • Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
  • Elections won without opposition
  • Average margin of victory[2]
South Dakota State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis
Party Elections won Elections won by less than 10% Unopposed elections Average margin of victory[2]
Democratic Party Democratic
5
2
2
9.5%
Republican Party Republican
30
3
1
28.3%
Grey.png Other
0
0
0
N/A
Total
35
5
3
18.9%



The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).

South Dakota State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory by District
District Winning Party Losing Party Margin of Victory
South Dakota State Senate District 12
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
0.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 18
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
5.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 26
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
6.1%
South Dakota State Senate District 13
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
8.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 21
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
9.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 8
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
10.4%
South Dakota State Senate District 9
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
13.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 3
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
17.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 27
Electiondot.png Democratic
Ends.png Republican
17.1%
South Dakota State Senate District 10
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
19.1%
South Dakota State Senate District 11
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
20.8%
South Dakota State Senate District 14
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
21.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 7
Ends.png Republican
Grey.png Independent
22.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 17
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
22.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 35
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
24.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 32
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
24.4%
South Dakota State Senate District 33
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
24.7%
South Dakota State Senate District 34
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
25.4%
South Dakota State Senate District 4
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
29.7%
South Dakota State Senate District 6
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
30.2%
South Dakota State Senate District 31
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
30.5%
South Dakota State Senate District 30
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
31.6%
South Dakota State Senate District 24
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
33.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 2
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
34.4%
South Dakota State Senate District 28
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
35.6%
South Dakota State Senate District 16
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
37.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 29
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
43.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 20
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
45.0%
South Dakota State Senate District 22
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
45.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 19
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
48.1%
South Dakota State Senate District 25
Ends.png Republican
Grey.png Independent
48.3%
South Dakota State Senate District 23
Ends.png Republican
Electiondot.png Democratic
65.1%
South Dakota State Senate District 15
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
South Dakota State Senate District 1
Electiondot.png Democratic
None
Unopposed
South Dakota State Senate District 5
Ends.png Republican
None
Unopposed


Seats flipped

See also: State legislative seats that changed party control, 2018

The below map displays each seat in the South Dakota State Senate which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2018, South Dakota State Senate
District Incumbent 2018 winner Direction of flip
South Dakota State Senate District 21 Democratic Party Billie Sutton Republican Party Rocky Blare D to R

Incumbents retiring

Eight incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018. Those incumbents were:

Name Party Office
Jason Frerichs Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 1
Neal Tapio Ends.png Republican Senate District 5
Larry Tidemann Ends.png Republican Senate District 7
Deb Peters Ends.png Republican Senate District 9
Jenna Netherton Ends.png Republican Senate District 10
Billie H. Sutton Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 21
Kevin Killer Electiondot.png Democratic Senate District 27
Terri Haverly Ends.png Republican Senate District 35

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in South Dakota

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Title 19, Chapter 12-6, Title 19, Chapter 12-7 of South Dakota Codified Law

For primary candidates

A primary election candidate must file a petition no earlier than January 1 and no later than the last Tuesday of March at 5 p.m., prior to the primary election. The petition must contain the required signatures and a declaration of candidacy. The declaration of candidacy must be completed before the candidate collects signatures. The declaration must be completed in the presence of an authorized notary public. A petition for party office or partisan public office must be signed by no less than 1 percent of the party's total registered members in the applicable electoral district. For a state legislative candidate, the petition must be signed by the lesser of 50 voters or 1 percent of the party's total registered members in that district. Any state legislative candidate must be a resident of the district for which he or she is a candidate at the time he or she signs the declaration of candidacy.[3][4][5][6]

For independent candidates

Any candidate for nonjudicial public office who is not nominated by a primary election may be nominated as an independent candidate by filing with the South Dakota Secretary of State or county auditor. Filing must be completed no earlier than January 1 at 8:00 a.m. and no later than the last Tuesday of April at 5:00 p.m., prior to the election. An independent candidate's certificate of nomination must be signed by registered voters within the applicable district or political subdivision. The number of signatures required may not be less than 1 percent of the total combined vote cast for governor at the last certified gubernatorial election within the district or political subdivision. Registered party members cannot sign petitions for independent candidates. No petition or certificate of nomination may be circulated prior to January 1 of the year in which the election will be held. Primary election candidates are prohibited from filing as independent candidates for the same office in the same year. No candidate can file a certificate of nomination for an office for which he or she has been a candidate in the primary election of the same year. Any candidate for office in the state legislature must be a resident of the district for which he or she is a candidate.[6][7][8][9][10]

For write-in candidates

The relevant statutes do not stipulate that a candidate may run as a write-in candidate. Write-in candidates for president are expressly prohibited.[11]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the South Dakota Senate, a candidate must be:[12]

  • A U.S. citizen at the time of filing
  • 21 years old at the filing deadline time
  • A two-year resident of South Dakota at the filing deadline time
  • May not have been convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime; may not have illegally taken "public moneys"
  • A qualified voter. A qualified voter is someone who is:
* A U.S. citizen
* Reside in South Dakota
* At least 18 years old old on or before the next election
* Not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction which included imprisonment, served or suspended, in an adult penitentiary system
* Not be judged mentally incompetent by a court of law
* Not have served 4 consecutive terms

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[13]
SalaryPer diem
$13,436/year$166/day for legislators who reside more than 50 miles away from the capitol

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

South Dakota legislators assume office the second Tuesday in January after the general election.[14]

South Dakota political history

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party control

2018

In the 2018 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the South Dakota State Senate from 29-6 to 30-5.

South Dakota State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 6 5
     Republican Party 29 30
Total 35 35

2016

In the 2016 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the South Dakota State Senate from 27-8 to 29-6.

South Dakota State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 8 6
     Republican Party 27 29
Total 35 35

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in South Dakota gained a state government trifecta as a result of the 1994 elections by taking control of the state Senate.

South Dakota Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas  •  Thirty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate R D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Impact of term limits

See also: Impact of term limits on state senate elections in 2018 and Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

The South Dakota State Senate has been a term-limited state Senate since South Dakota voters approved Ballot Issue A in 1992, an initiated constitutional amendment. This amendment became part of Section 6 of Article III of the South Dakota Constitution and limits the amount of time that a South Dakota State Senator can stay in office to no more than four consecutive two-year terms.

The South Dakota State Legislature has tried on more than one occasion, each time unsuccessfully, to persuade the state's voters to repeal term limits. The most recent such failed attempt was when Amendment J lost in 2008 by 75 percent of the vote.

All 35 seats in the South Dakota State Senate were up for election in 2018. In the 2018 elections, four senators were ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state senators were term-limited in 2018:

Democratic: (2)

Republicans (2):

Of the 87 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2018, 24 of them—12 senate chambers and 12 house chambers—included incumbents who were unable to run for re-election due to term limits.[15] In the 24 chambers affected by term limits in 2018, 1,463 seats were up for election.[16] The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

A total of 271 state legislators—96 state senators and 175 state representatives—were ineligible to run in the 2018 elections because of term limits. This represented 4 percent of the 6,066 total seats up for election in November 2018.[17][18] Republicans had twice as many state legislators term-limited in 2018 than Democrats. A total of 86 Democrats were term-limited, while 177 Republicans were term-limited.

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

State legislative wave elections
Year President Party Election type State legislative seats change Elections analyzed[19]
1932 Hoover R Presidential -1,022 7,365
1922 Harding R First midterm -907 6,907
1966 Johnson D First midterm[20] -782 7,561
1938 Roosevelt D Second midterm -769 7,179
1958 Eisenhower R Second midterm -702 7,627
2010 Obama D First midterm -702 7,306
1974 Ford R Second midterm[21] -695 7,481
1920 Wilson D Presidential -654 6,835
1930 Hoover R Presidential -640 7,361
1954 Eisenhower R First midterm -494 7,513

Competitiveness

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

Results from 2016

Click here to read the full study »


Historical context

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

F5 Pop. % with uncontested state legislative races.png

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 66 South Dakota counties—7.6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Corson County, South Dakota 4.51% 11.08% 21.48%
Day County, South Dakota 23.77% 6.16% 12.89%
Marshall County, South Dakota 15.51% 8.66% 16.48%
Roberts County, South Dakota 15.53% 9.84% 19.64%
Ziebach County, South Dakota 1.96% 16.43% 27.16%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won South Dakota with 61.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 31.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, South Dakota cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 63.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, South Dakota supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 86.7 to 10.0 percent. The state favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in South Dakota. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[22][23]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won five out of 35 state Senate districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 11.7 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won two out of 35 state Senate districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 8.9 points.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 30 out of 35 state Senate districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 33 out of 35 state Senate districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 30.9 points. Trump won four districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. South Dakota Secretary of State, "2018 Candidate List," accessed March 28, 2018
  2. 2.0 2.1 Excludes unopposed elections
  3. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-6-4," accessed January 31, 2014
  4. South Dakota Secretary of State, "Circulating a Nominating Petition," accessed October 29, 2013
  5. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-6-7," accessed January 31, 2014
  6. 6.0 6.1 South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-6," accessed February 4, 2014
  7. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1," accessed February 4, 2014
  8. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1," accessed February 4, 2014
  9. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1.1," accessed February 4, 2014
  10. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-5," accessed February 4, 2014
  11. South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-20-21.2," accessed February 17, 2014
  12. South Dakota Secretary of State, "Qualification to Hold Office & Term Limitations," accessed December 18, 2013
  13. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  14. South Dakota Constitution, "Article 3, Section 7," accessed November 20, 2012
  15. The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate were up for election in 2018 and have term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018.
  16. The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. In the three chambers, a total of 129 seats were up for election in 2018. No legislators were unable to run in 2018 in those three chamber because of term limits.
  17. Ballotpedia confirmed through phone calls that at least seven California legislators were term-limited in 2018. The number of California legislators term-limited and the overall number of term-limited state legislators had a chance to change if Ballotpedia could confirm that more members were term-limited in 2018.
  18. Some of the 271 term-limited state legislators in 2018 may resign before their term ends. These legislators were still counted in the total number of term-limited legislators in 2018.
  19. The number of state legislative seats available for analysis varied, with as many as 7,795 and as few as 6,835.
  20. Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
  21. Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
  22. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  23. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017


Current members of the South Dakota State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:Casey Crabtree
Minority Leader:Reynold Nesiba
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
John Wiik (R)
District 5
District 6
District 7
Tim Reed (R)
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Arch Beal (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
Dean Wink (R)
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
Republican Party (31)
Democratic Party (4)