2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2022 United States gubernatorial elections.

2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election

←  2018 November 8, 2022 2026  →
Turnout	59.40%
Nominee Kristi Noem Jamie Smith Party Republican Democratic Running mate Larry Rhoden Jennifer Healy Keintz Popular vote 217,035 123,148 Percentage 61.98% 35.17%
County results Noem:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Smith:     50–60%     70–80%     80–90%
Governor before election Kristi Noem Republican Elected Governor Kristi Noem Republican

The 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, electing the governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor Kristi Noem defeated Democratic nominee Jamie Smith to win a second term. ^[1]

Despite speculation about this race potentially being competitive, Noem improved on her 2018 performance by 11 percentage points and flipped 17 counties that had been won by Billie Sutton. She also received over 44,000 more raw votes than she did in the previous election, setting a record for the most votes received by a candidate for governor in South Dakota.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kristi Noem, incumbent governor ^[2]
  • Running mate: Larry Rhoden, incumbent lieutenant governor ^[3]

Eliminated in primary

Former state house speaker Steven Haugaard challenged Noem in the primary but lost.

• Steven Haugaard, state representative and former Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives ^[4]

Declined

• Lora Hubbel, former state representative, former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party and the South Dakota Constitution Party, and candidate for governor in 2014 and 2018 ^[5] (running as an independent)
• Mark Mickelson, former Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives ^[6]

Endorsements

Kristi Noem

U.S. executive branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) ^[7]

U.S. representatives

• Dusty Johnson, U.S. representative from South Dakota's at-large congressional district (2019–present) ^[8]

State officials

• Marty Jackley, former attorney general of South Dakota (2009–2019) and candidate for Governor of South Dakota in 2018 ^[9]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Steven Haugaard	Kristi Noem	Undecided
South Dakota State University [10]	May 2–15, 2022	– (LV)	± 3.0%	17%	61%	22%

Results

Results by county

  Noem

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Republican primary results ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kristi Noem (incumbent)	91,661	76.4
	Republican	Steven Haugaard	28,315	23.6
Total votes			119,976	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jamie Smith, Minority Leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives ^[12]
  • Running mate: Jennifer Healy Keintz, state representative ^[13]

Declined

• Dan Ahlers, former state representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020 ^[14]
• Remi Bald Eagle, former official for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and nominee for the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in 2020 ^[15]
• Kooper Caraway, president of the South Dakota Federation of Labor ^[16]
• Troy Heinert, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate ^[17]
• Steve Hildebrand, political strategist ^[14]
• Mike Huether, former mayor of Sioux Falls ^[14]
• Brendan Johnson, former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota and son of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson ^[18]
• Peri Pourier, state representative ^[15]
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, president of Augustana University and former U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district ^[18]
• Randy Seiler, chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party, former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota, and nominee for attorney general in 2018 ^[19]
• Billie Sutton, former Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate and nominee for governor in 2018 ^[20]
• Bob Sutton, businessman ^[14]

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

• Tracey Quint, coordinator ^[21]
  • Running mate: Ashley Strand ^[22]

Independents

Candidates

Withdrew

• Lora Hubbel, former state representative, former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party and the South Dakota Constitution Party, and candidate for governor in 2014 and 2018 ^[5] (running for State Senate) ^[22]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [23]	Solid R	March 4, 2022
Inside Elections [24]	Solid R	March 4, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball [25]	Safe R	January 26, 2022
Politico [26]	Likely R	October 3, 2022
RCP [27]	Likely R	September 25, 2022
Fox News [28]	Solid R	May 12, 2022
538 [29]	Solid R	October 5, 2022
Elections Daily [30]	Safe R	November 7, 2022

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Kristi Noem (R)	Jamie Smith (D)	Other	Undecided
Emerson College [31]	October 19–21, 2022	1,500 (LV)	± 2.4%	56%	37%	3% [b]	4%
				57%	39%	4% [c]	–
South Dakota State University [32]	September 28 – October 10, 2022	565 (RV)	± 4.0%	45%	41%	–	14%

Post-primary endorsements

Kristi Noem (R)

U.S. representatives

• Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. representative from Hawaii's 2nd congressional district (2013–2021) (Independent) ^[33]

Statewide officials

• Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia (2022–present) ^[34]

Organizations

• NRA Political Victory Fund ^{[35] [36]}
• Susan B. Anthony List ^[36]

Results

Swing by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +15-20%
•   Democratic — +10-15%
•   Democratic — +5-10%
•   Democratic — +0-5%
•   Republican — +0-5%
•   Republican — +5-10%
•   Republican — +10-15%
•   Republican — +15-20%
•   Republican — +20-25%
•   Republican — +25-30%
•   Republican — +>30%

Trend by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +15-20%
•   Democratic — +10-15%
•   Democratic — +5-10%
•   Democratic — +0-5%
•   Republican — +0-5%
•   Republican — +5-10%
•   Republican — +10-15%
•   Republican — +15-20%
•   Republican — +20-25%
•   Republican — +25-30%
•   Republican — +>30%

2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kristi Noem (incumbent) Larry Rhoden (incumbent)	217,035	61.98%	+11.01%
	Democratic	Jamie Smith Jennifer Healy Keintz	123,148	35.17%	−12.43%
	Libertarian	Tracey Quint Ashley Strand	9,983	2.85%	+1.42%
Total votes			350,166	100.00%	N/A
Turnout			350,166	59.40%
Registered electors			597,073
	Republican hold

By county

County [37]	Kristi Noem Republican		Jamie Smith Democratic		Tracey Quint Libertarian		Margin		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Aurora	894	73.64%	284	23.39%	36	2.97%	610	50.25%	1,214
Beadle	3,901	66.84%	1,716	29.40%	219	3.75%	2,185	37.44%	5,836
Bennett	619	60.39%	368	35.90%	38	3.71%	251	24.49%	1,025
Bon Homme	1,858	72.52%	650	25.37%	54	2.11%	1,208	47.15%	2,562
Brookings	6,974	56.12%	5,096	41.01%	357	2.87%	1,878	15.11%	12,427
Brown	8,456	60.56%	5,167	37.00%	341	2.44%	3,289	23.55%	13,964
Brule	1,463	69.37%	589	27.93%	57	2.70%	874	41.44%	2,109
Buffalo	144	36.27%	234	58.94%	19	4.79%	-90	-22.67%	397
Butte	3,211	76.71%	823	19.66%	152	3.63%	2,388	57.05%	4,186
Campbell	561	84.11%	93	13.94%	13	1.95%	468	70.16%	667
Charles Mix	2,187	70.75%	849	27.47%	55	1.78%	1,338	43.29%	3,091
Clark	1,223	76.44%	341	21.31%	36	2.25%	882	55.13%	1,600
Clay	2,054	43.29%	2,581	54.39%	110	2.32%	-527	-11.11%	4,745
Codington	7,520	67.87%	3,253	29.36%	307	2.77%	4,267	38.51%	11,080
Corson	522	56.25%	379	40.84%	27	2.91%	143	15.41%	928
Custer	3,633	71.56%	1,293	25.47%	151	2.97%	2,340	46.09%	5,077
Davison	4,887	67.51%	2,179	30.10%	173	2.39%	2,708	37.41%	7,239
Day	1,599	63.43%	876	34.75%	46	1.82%	723	28.68%	2,521
Deuel	1,479	74.28%	458	23.00%	54	2.71%	1,021	51.28%	1,991
Dewey	662	42.06%	862	54.76%	50	3.18%	-200	-12.71%	1,574
Douglas	1,272	85.71%	188	12.67%	24	1.62%	1,084	73.05%	1,484
Edmunds	1,321	77.66%	346	20.34%	34	2.00%	975	57.32%	1,701
Fall River	2,679	73.04%	859	23.42%	130	3.54%	1,820	49.62%	3,668
Faulk	771	80.73%	167	17.49%	17	1.78%	604	63.25%	955
Grant	2,328	72.41%	830	25.82%	57	1.77%	1,498	46.59%	3,215
Gregory	1,618	78.77%	393	19.13%	43	2.09%	1,225	59.64%	2,054
Haakon	892	90.37%	82	8.31%	13	1.32%	810	82.07%	987
Hamlin	2,118	77.58%	548	20.07%	64	2.34%	1,570	57.51%	2,730
Hand	1,177	78.36%	290	19.31%	35	2.33%	887	59.05%	1,502
Hanson	1,267	77.63%	336	20.59%	29	1.78%	931	57.05%	1,632
Harding	632	93.35%	33	4.87%	12	1.77%	599	88.48%	677
Hughes	4,571	61.38%	2,652	35.61%	224	3.01%	1,919	25.77%	7,447
Hutchinson	2,507	78.99%	604	19.03%	63	1.98%	1,903	59.96%	3,174
Hyde	460	80.00%	106	18.43%	9	1.57%	354	61.57%	575
Jackson	623	67.79%	280	30.47%	16	1.74%	343	37.32%	919
Jerauld	604	69.75%	238	27.48%	24	2.77%	366	42.26%	866
Jones	395	83.69%	64	13.56%	13	2.75%	331	70.13%	472
Kingsbury	1,792	70.25%	692	27.13%	67	2.63%	1,100	43.12%	2,551
Lake	3,131	63.05%	1,720	34.64%	115	2.32%	1,411	28.41%	4,966
Lawrence	7,749	63.28%	4,041	33.00%	456	3.72%	3,708	30.28%	12,246
Lincoln	16,828	59.76%	10,727	38.09%	606	2.15%	6,101	21.66%	28,161
Lyman	879	66.69%	405	30.73%	34	2.58%	474	35.96%	1,318
Marshall	1,123	59.42%	737	38.99%	30	1.59%	386	20.42%	1,890
McCook	1,851	72.67%	625	24.54%	71	2.79%	1,226	48.14%	2,547
McPherson	911	82.82%	167	15.18%	22	2.00%	744	67.64%	1,100
Meade	8,482	71.46%	2,887	24.32%	501	4.22%	5,595	47.14%	11,870
Mellette	386	61.27%	214	33.97%	30	4.76%	172	27.30%	630
Miner	732	72.69%	248	24.63%	27	2.68%	484	48.06%	1,007
Minnehaha	39,234	52.53%	33,376	44.69%	2,072	2.77%	5,858	7.84%	74,682
Moody	1,668	62.97%	910	34.35%	71	2.68%	758	28.61%	2,649
Oglala Lakota	221	8.91%	2,172	87.58%	87	3.51%	-1,951	-78.67%	2,480
Pennington	27,586	60.78%	16,215	35.73%	1,587	3.50%	11,371	25.05%	45,388
Perkins	1,142	83.24%	177	12.90%	53	3.86%	965	70.34%	1,372
Potter	892	81.16%	187	17.02%	20	1.82%	705	64.15%	1,099
Roberts	2,164	60.70%	1,315	36.89%	86	2.41%	849	23.81%	3,565
Sanborn	757	75.40%	226	22.51%	21	2.09%	531	52.89%	1,004
Spink	1,832	68.61%	765	28.65%	73	2.73%	1,067	39.96%	2,670
Stanley	999	69.04%	407	28.13%	41	2.83%	592	40.91%	1,447
Sully	597	75.76%	169	21.45%	22	2.79%	428	54.31%	788
Todd	402	20.87%	1,444	74.97%	80	4.15%	-1,042	-54.10%	1,926
Tripp	1,873	82.58%	364	16.05%	31	1.37%	1,509	66.53%	2,268
Turner	2,834	73.32%	919	23.78%	112	2.90%	1,915	49.55%	3,865
Union	4,723	70.07%	1,848	27.42%	169	2.51%	2,875	42.66%	6,740
Walworth	1,573	76.62%	430	20.94%	50	2.44%	1,143	55.67%	2,053
Yankton	5,247	58.89%	3,350	37.60%	313	3.51%	1,897	21.29%	8,910
Ziebach	345	50.51%	304	44.51%	34	4.98%	41	6.00%	683
Totals	217,035	61.98%	123,148	35.17%	9,983	2.85%	93,887	26.81%	350,166

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Bon Homme (largest city: Springfield)
• Brookings (largest city: Brookings)
• Brown (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Charles Mix (largest city: Lake Andes)
• Corson (largest city: McLaughlin)
• Day (largest city: Webster)
• Hughes (largest city: Pierre)
• Lake (largest city: Madison)
• Marshall (largest city: Britton)
• Mellette (largest city: White River)
• Miner (largest city: Howard)
• Minnehaha (largest city: Sioux Falls)
• Moody (largest city: Flandreau)
• Roberts (largest city: Sisseton)
• Spink (largest city: Redfield)
• Yankton (largest city: Yankton)
• Ziebach (largest city: Dupree)

See also

• 2022 South Dakota elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Quint (L) with 3%
3. Quint (L) with 4%

References

1. Mueller, Julia (November 8, 2022). "Noem wins reelection in South Dakota governor's race". The Hill . Retrieved November 8, 2022.
2. Todd, Annie (November 12, 2021). "South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announces re-election campaign for 2022 election". Argus Leader . Retrieved November 12, 2021.
3. Ellis, Jonathan (May 24, 2022) [May 23, 2022]. "Gov. Kristi Noem's reelection campaign says it has raised $15 million". Argus Leader . Retrieved August 5, 2022.
4. King, Ryan (November 17, 2021). "Gov. Kristi Noem gets primary challenge from the Right in former state speaker". Washington Examiner . Retrieved November 18, 2021.
5. "Former state Rep. Lora Hubbel running for governor again".
6. Lawrence, Tom (February 15, 2021). "Can Noem be defeated in 2022? History says not a chance ... but her actions as governor could change things". The South Dakota Standard. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
7. Sneve, Joe. "South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gets endorsement from Donald Trump". www.argusleader.com. Argus Leader . Retrieved February 9, 2022.
8. "Governor Kristi Noem and Congressman Dusty Johnson hitting door-to-door this weekend". dakotawarcollege.com. June 4, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
9. "Former political rivals Noem & Jackley endorse each other for upcoming elections". www.dakotanewsnow.com. February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
10. South Dakota State University ^{[ dead link ]}
11. "2022 Primary Election Official State Canvass Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of South Dakota . June 14, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
12. Sneve, Joe. "Democrat Jamie Smith to run for governor in 2022 election". www.argusleader.com. Argus Leader . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
13. Sneve, Joe (July 7, 2022). "Jamie Smith taps Aberdeen-area lawmaker as running mate on Democratic ticket for governor". Argus Leader . Retrieved August 4, 2022.
14. Sneve, Joe (June 9, 2021). "Analysis: Who will challenge Gov. Kristi Noem in South Dakota's 2022 election? Here are potential candidates". Argus Leader . Retrieved June 20, 2021.
15. Vondracek, Christopher (June 9, 2021). "A party waits for Billie Sutton: South Dakota Democrats mull if former legislator will force a '22 rematch with Gov. Noem". www.thedickinsonpress.com. The Dickinson Press . Retrieved November 26, 2021.
16. Mercer, Bob (June 18, 2018). "Democrats favor Seiler over Means". Capitol Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
17. "South Dakota Minority Leader Heinert passes on run for Governor, joining private sector after term". December 16, 2021.
18. Lawrence, Tom (November 29, 2020). "Is it just a South Dakota political legend or eerie fate: Will Sen. John Thune end the 'Curse of Karl' in 2022?". The South Dakota Standard . Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
19. Lawrence, Tom (January 29, 2022). "Democrats set to announce gubernatorial candidate". Black Hills Pioneer . Retrieved January 29, 2022.
20. Woster, Kevin (February 23, 2022). "Sutton's political time will come again, but not just yet". South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
21. "Libertarian House candidate, Sturgis rancher Collin Duprel: I am running to give South Dakota voters a choice". Archived from the original on July 23, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
22. "2022 General Election". South Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
23. "2022 Governor Race Ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
24. "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections . Retrieved February 19, 2021.
25. "2022 Gubernatorial race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
26. "South Dakota Governor Race 2022". Politico. April 1, 2022.
27. "2022 Governor Races". RCP. January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
28. "2022 Election Forecast". Fox News. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
29. "2022 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. June 30, 2022. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
30. Szymanski, Joe (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Unveils Final 2022 Midterm Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
31. Emerson College
32. South Dakota State University
33. "Glenn Youngkin, Tulsi Gabbard to campaign for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem". October 28, 2022.
34. "Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to stump for Gov. Kristi Noem's reelection campaign in Sioux Falls".
35. "South Dakota Grades & Endorsements". nrapvf.org. NRA-PVF. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
36. "Kristi Noem's Ratings and Endorsements". justfacts.votesmart.org. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
37. Barnett, Steve (November 15, 2022). "2022 General Election Official State Canvass Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of South Dakota . Archived (PDF) from the original on September 16, 2025. Retrieved January 4, 2026.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Kristi Noem (R) for Governor
• Tracey Quint (L) for Governor Archived August 8, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
• Jamie Smith (D) for Governor