2018 South Dakota Senate election

Last updated

2018 South Dakota Senate election
Flag of South Dakota.svg
← 20166 November 2018 2020  →
All 35 seats in the South Dakota Senate
18 seats needed for a majority
Turnout64.89% [1]
 Majority partyMinority party
  3x4.svg Billie Sutton Headshot (cropped).jpg
Leader Blake Curd Billie Sutton
(term-limited)
Party Republican Democratic
Leader since10 January 20175 January 2015
Leader's seat District 12 District 21
Last election296
Seats after305
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Majority Leader before election

Blake Curd
Republican

Elected Majority Leader

Kris Langer
Republican

The 2018 South Dakota Senate election was held on 6 November 2018 to determine which party would control the South Dakota Senate for the following two years in the 94th South Dakota Legislature. All 35 seats in the South Dakota Senate were up for election and the primary was held on 5 June 2018. Prior to the election, 29 seats were held by Republicans and 6 seats were held by Democrats. The general election saw Republicans expanding their majority in the State Senate by a single seat. [2] [3]

Contents

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Governing [4] Safe R8 October 2018

Retirements

Democrats

  1. District 1: Jason Frerichs was term-limited.
  2. District 21: Billie Sutton was term-limited and went on to unsuccessfully run for governor of South Dakota.
  3. District 27: Kevin Killer retired.

Republicans

  1. District 5: Neal Tapio retired to unsuccessfully run for South Dakota's at-large congressional district.
  2. District 7: Larry Tidemann was term-limited.
  3. District 9: Deb Peters was term-limited.
  4. District 10: Jenna Netherton resigned on 10 April 2018.
  5. District 35: Terri Haverly retired.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

  1. District 12, 0.28%
  2. District 18, 5.32%
  3. District 26, 6.08%
  4. District 13, 8.34%
  5. District 21, 9.26% (gain)

Results

District 1

District 1 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Susan Wismer 5,886 100.0%
Total votes5,886 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 2

District 2 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Brock Greenfield (incumbent) 6,574 67.21%
Democratic Paul Register3,20732.79%
Total votes9,781 100.0%
Republican hold

District 3

District 3 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Al Novstrup (incumbent) 5,338 58.50%
Democratic Cory Heidelberger3,78741.50%
Total votes9,125 100.0%
Republican hold

District 4

District 4 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican John Wiik (incumbent) 6,500 64.84%
Democratic Dennis Evenson3,52535.16%
Total votes10,025 100.0%
Republican hold

District 5

District 5 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lee Schoenbeck 6,358 100.0%
Total votes6,358 100.0%
Republican hold

District 6

District 6 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ernie Otten (incumbent) 6,945 65.09%
Democratic Teresa Ann Robbins3,72534.91%
Total votes10,670 100.0%
Republican hold

District 7

District 7 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican V. J. Smith 4,628 61.15%
Independent Mary Perpich2,94038.85%
Total votes7,568 100.0%
Republican hold

District 8

District 8 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jordan Youngberg (incumbent) 5,517 55.18%
Democratic Scott Parsley4,48144.82%
Total votes9,998 100.0%
Republican hold

District 9

District 9 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Wayne Steinhauer 4,759 56.66%
Democratic Laura Swier Kotelman3,64043.34%
Total votes8,399 100.0%
Republican hold

District 10

District 10 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Margaret Sutton 5,240 59.56%
Democratic Rachel Willson3,55840.44%
Total votes8,798 100.0%
Republican hold

District 11

District 11 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Stalzer (incumbent) 6,190 60.40%
Democratic Kevin Elsing4,05839.60%
Total votes10,248 100.0%
Republican hold

District 12

District 12 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Blake Curd (incumbent) 4,872 50.14%
Democratic Kasey Olivier4,84549.86%
Total votes9,717 100.0%
Republican hold

District 13

District 13 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jack Kolbeck (incumbent) 6,165 54.17%
Democratic Melissa Hiatt5,21545.83%
Total votes11,380 100.0%
Republican hold

District 14

District 14 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Deb Soholt (incumbent) 6,531 60.48%
Democratic Justyn Hauck4,26839.52%
Total votes10,799 100.0%
Republican hold

District 15

District 15 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Reynold Nesiba (incumbent) 3,258 100.0%
Total votes3,258 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 16

District 16 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Bolin (incumbent) 6,815 68.52%
Democratic Elizabeth Merrigan3,13131.48%
Total votes9,946 100.0%
Republican hold

District 17

District 17 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Arthur Rusch (incumbent) 4,953 61.16%
Democratic Howard Grinager3,14538.84%
Total votes8,098 100.0%
Republican hold

District 18

District 18 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Craig Kennedy (incumbent) 4,518 52.66%
Republican Roger Meyer4,06147.34%
Total votes8,579 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 19

District 19 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Stace Nelson (incumbent) 7,531 74.03%
Democratic Ardon Wek2,64225.97%
Total votes10,173 100.0%
Republican hold

District 20

District 20 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Joshua Klumb (incumbent) 6,606 72.49%
Democratic Dan Miller2,50727.51%
Total votes9,113 100.0%
Republican hold

District 21

District 21 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Rocky Blare 4,918 54.63%
Democratic Julie Bartling4,08445.37%
Total votes9,002 100.0%
Republican gain from Democratic

District 22

District 22 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim White (incumbent) 5,933 72.65%
Democratic Eric Bliss2,23427.35%
Total votes8,167 100.0%
Republican hold

District 23

District 23 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Justin Cronin (incumbent) 7,869 82.57%
Democratic Joe Yracheta1,66117.43%
Total votes9,530 100.0%
Republican hold

District 24

District 24 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Monroe (incumbent) 6,989 66.51%
Democratic Amanda Bachmann3,51933.49%
Total votes10,508 100.0%
Republican hold

District 25

District 25 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Kris Langer (incumbent) 6,583 68.30%
Independent Brian Wirth1,93120.03%
Independent Peter Klebanoff1,12511.67%
Total votes9,639 100.0%
Republican hold

District 26

District 26 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Troy Heinert (incumbent) 3,896 53.04%
Republican Joel Koskan3,45046.96%
Total votes7,346 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 27

District 27 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Red Dawn Foster 3,673 57.90%
Republican Bill Hines2,59842.10%
Total votes6,171 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 28

District 28 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ryan Maher (incumbent) 5,818 67.79%
Democratic Alli Moran2,76432.21%
Total votes8,582 100.0%
Republican hold

District 29

District 29 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Gary Cammack (incumbent) 6,422 71.51%
Democratic Matt Kammerer2,55828.49%
Total votes8,980 100.0%
Republican hold

District 30

District 30 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lance Russell (incumbent) 6,652 56.72%
Democratic Kristine Winter2,94325.09%
Libertarian Gideon Oakes2,13418.19%
Total votes11,729 100.0%
Republican hold

District 31

District 31 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bob Ewing (incumbent) 6,962 65.24%
Democratic Sherry Bea Smith3,71034.76%
Total votes10,672 100.0%
Republican hold

District 32

District 32 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Alan Solano (incumbent) 5,602 62.20%
Democratic Ayla Rodriguez3,40437.80%
Total votes9,006 100.0%
Republican hold

District 33

District 33 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Phil Jensen (incumbent) 6,655 62.35%
Democratic Ryan Ryder4,01837.65%
Total votes10,673 100.0%
Republican hold

District 34

District 34 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Partridge (incumbent) 6,332 62.69%
Democratic Zach VanWyk3,76937.31%
Total votes10,101 100.0%
Republican hold

District 35

District 35 election, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lynne DiSanto 4,323 62.00%
Democratic Pat Cromwell2,65038.00%
Total votes6,973 100.0%
Republican hold

References

  1. ↑ "2018 Election History". sdsos.gov. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "South Dakota State Senate elections, 2018". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "General Election - November 6, 2018" (PDF). sdsos.gov. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  4. ↑ Jacobson, Louis (8 October 2018). "A Month Before Election Day, Democrats Poised for Legislative Gains". Governing. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
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