The 1889 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on October 1, 1889, to elect the first Governor of South Dakota. Territorial Governor Arthur C. Mellette received the Republican nomination and faced former Territorial Commissioner of Immigration P. F. McClure, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Mellette defeated McClure in a landslide.
The 1894 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1894. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles H. Sheldon ran for re-election to a second term. Despite facing a thread of defeat at the Republican convention, Sheldon was renominated unanimously. In the general election, he faced Populist nominee Isaac Howe, a Spink County Judge; James A. Ward, the former state chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party; and Prohibition nominee M. D. Alexander. The election was largely a replay of the gubernatorial elections of 1890 and 1892, with the Farmers' Alliance candidate placing second and the Democratic nominee placing a distant third. This time, however, Sheldon won an outright majority and the Democratic Party's vote share shrunk to just 11%, its worst performance in state history.
The 1892 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1892. Incumbent Republican Governor Arthur C. Mellette declined to seek re-election to a third term. Former territorial legislator Charles H. Sheldon was nominated by the Republican Party as Mellette's replacement, and he faced former legislator Abraham Lincoln Van Osdel, a leader in the South Dakota Farmers' Alliance and the nominee of the Independent Party, along with Democratic nominee Peter Couchman, in the general election. The result was largely a replay of the 1890 election, with Sheldon winning by a large margin, but only a plurality, and Van Osdel taking second place over Couchman.
The 1896 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1896. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles H. Sheldon declined to run for re-election to a third term. Former Secretary of State Amund O. Ringsrud was nominated as Sheldon's replacement at the Republican convention. Ringrud's main opponent was businessman Andrew E. Lee, who was nominated by a makeshift coalition of Populists, Free Silver Republicans, and Democrats. In the general election, Lee narrowly defeated Ringsrud, the first defeat for the Republican Party in a gubernatorial election since statehood.
The 1902 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1902. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles N. Herreid ran for re-election to a second term. He faced former Watertown Mayor John W. Martin, the Fusion nominee who was listed as the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Herreid defeated Martin in a landslide to win his second term.
The 1900 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1900. Incumbent Governor Andrew E. Lee, a Populist elected under Fusion with Populists, Free Silver Republicans, and Democrats, opted to run for Congress rather than for a third term. Former Sioux Falls Mayor Burre H. Lien won the Fusion nomination and ran against former Lieutenant Governor Charles N. Herreid. However, despite the closeness of the 1896 and 1898 elections, the Fusion's luck ran out; Herreid defeated Lien in a landslide to reclaim the office for the Republican Party.
The 1904 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1904. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles N. Herreid declined to run for re-election to a third term. Clark County State's Attorney Samuel H. Elrod won the Republican nomination to run as Herreid's successor, and he faced Democratic nominee Louis N. Crill, the former president of the state Senate, and former U.S. Congressman Freeman Knowles, the Socialist nominee. For the first time since 1894, the Democratic and Populist Parties nominated separate candidates. Ultimately, the split in the two parties did not prove dispositive; Elrod defeated Crill and the other candidates in a landslide.
The 1930 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Republican Senator William H. McMaster ran for re-election to a second term. After beating back a challenge in the Republican primary from former State Senator George J. Danforth, McMaster faced Democratic nominee William J. Bulow, the incumbent Governor, in the general election. As the Democratic Party performed well nationwide, Bulow narrowly defeated McMaster.
The 1954 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican Senator Karl E. Mundt ran for re-election to his second term. He was opposed by former State Representative Kenneth Holum, the Democratic nominee. Mundt defeated Holum in a landslide to win re-election.
The 1968 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 5, 1968. Incumbent Democratic Senator George McGovern ran for re-election to a second term. He was challenged by former Governor Archie M. Gubbrud, who was persuaded to enter the race by the South Dakota Republican establishment. McGovern defeated Gubbrud by a wide margin, even as Richard Nixon was defeating Hubert Humphrey in the state's presidential election in a landslide.
Byron S. Payne was an American attorney and politician from South Dakota. A Republican, he was best known for his service as the state's attorney general from 1919 to 1923.
The 1910 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1910. Incumbent Republican Governor Robert S. Vessey ran for re-election to a second term. He faced two serious competitors in the Republican primary: colorful disbarred attorney George W. Egan and former Governor Samuel H. Elrod, and won the primary only with a narrow plurality. In the general election, he faced Democratic nominee Chauncey L. Wood, the Mayor of Rapid City. He improved on his margin from 1908, defeating Wood in a landslide.
The 1914 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Despite a close election in 1912, incumbent Republican governor Frank M. Byrne defeated Democratic nominee James W. McCarter, an Edmunds County Judge, with 50.07% of the vote. Coincidently, Bryne's Democratic opponent in 1912, Edwin S. Johnson, was elected the same year to represent South Dakota in the United States Senate.
The 1938 United States Senate elections in South Dakota took place on November 8, 1938. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Norbeck died in office on December 20, 1936. Herbert E. Hitchcock was appointed by Governor Tom Berry as Norbeck's replacement. Two elections for the same Senate seat were held on the same day; one as a special election to fill the remainder of Norbeck's six-year term, and another to select a Senator to serve the next six-year term.
The 1928 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1928. Incumbent Democratic Governor William J. Bulow ran for re-election to a second term. In the general election, he faced Attorney General Buell F. Jones, the Republican nominee. Despite Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover overwhelmingly defeating Democratic nominee Al Smith overwhelmingly in South Dakota, Bulow defeated Jones by a decisive margin to retain the governorship. In so doing, he became the first Democratic candidate for Governor to receive a majority of the vote in the state's history.
The 1930 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Democratic Governor William J. Bulow declined to run for re-election to a third term, instead opting to successfully run for the U.S. Senate. The Republican nomination was hard-fought and the primary was crowded; because no candidate received 35% of the vote, state law required that the nomination be decided at a state party convention. There, former State Senator Warren Green, the last-place finisher in the primary, defeated Secretary of State Gladys Pyle, the plurality winner. In the general election, Green faced D. A. McCullough, the state's Rural Credits Commissioner and the Democratic nominee. Despite Bulow's success in the preceding two elections, Green defeated McCullough by a decisive margin—even as Bulow himself was elected to the U.S. Senate.
The 1932 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932. Incumbent Republican Governor Warren Green ran for re-election to a second term. He defeated former Governor Carl Gunderson in the Republican primary and faced former State Representative Tom Berry, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Aided by Democratic presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide victory in South Dakota, Berry defeated Green for re-election in a landslide.
The 1934 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Incumbent Democratic Governor Tom Berry ran for re-election to a second term. After defeating an intra-party challenge from Lieutenant Governor Hans Ustrud, Berry faced magazine publisher William C. Allen, who won a crowded Republican primary with a large plurality. Aided by the national environment favoring Democrats, Berry won re-election in a landslide.
The 1940 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Republican Governor Harlan J. Bushfield sought re-election to a second term. After winning the Republican primary by a large margin, he faced Democrat Lewis W. Bicknell, former Day County State's Attorney, in the general election. Though Bushfield underperformed Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie, who won the state in a landslide, he nonetheless defeated Bicknell by a wide margin to easily win re-election.
The 1942 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Republican Governor Harlan J. Bushfield declined to seek re-election to a third term and instead successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. A crowded Republican primary developed to succeed him, and because no candidate received 35% of the vote, the nomination was decided at the state Republican convention, where former Attorney General Merrell Q. Sharpe, the second-place finisher in the primary, won the nomination. In the general election, Sharpe faced Democratic nominee Lewis W. Bicknell, the 1940 Democratic nominee for governor. Aided by the national Republican landslide, Sharpe defeated Bicknell in a landslide.
