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| Elections in South Dakota |
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The 2026 South Dakota gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican Governor Kristi Noem is expected to resign if confirmed by the US Senate for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security. [1] Even before the appointment, Noem was term-limited and thus ineligible to seek a third consecutive term.
Stephanie Marie Herseth Sandlin is an American attorney, university administrator, and politician from the Democratic Party. She represented South Dakota's at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2004 until 2011. Sandlin was first elected to Congress in a July 2004 special election and won three full terms before losing to Republican Kristi Noem in 2010. She was the youngest female member of the House, and the first woman elected to the House from South Dakota. Before her 2007 marriage to Max Sandlin, she was known as Stephanie Herseth. She is a Democrat and a member of the Herseth family of South Dakota. She and Senator Tim Johnson are the last Democrats to win a statewide and/or federal election in South Dakota.
John Randolph Thune is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he has been elected the Senate majority leader and Senate Republican leader, a post he is to assume in January 2025. Thune is in his fourth Senate term and is the Senate minority whip, a post he has held since 2021, and the dean of South Dakota's congressional delegation. From 1997 to 2003 he served three terms as the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district.
Dennis Martin Daugaard is an American attorney and politician who served as the 32nd governor of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first chief executive of a U.S. state to be the child of deaf parents. Before being elected governor, he was a lawyer, banker, development director for a nonprofit organization; he also served as a state senator from 1997 to 2003 and the 37th lieutenant governor of South Dakota from 2003 to 2011.
The structure of the government of South Dakota is based on that of the federal government, with three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The structure of the state government is laid out in the Constitution of South Dakota, the highest law in the state. The constitution may be amended either by a majority vote of both houses of the legislature, or by voter initiative.
The South Dakota Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in South Dakota. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling South Dakota's at-large U.S. House seat, both U.S. Senate seats, the governorship, and has supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. State Sen. John Wiik has served as the party's chairman since 2023.
The 2010 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Voters selected a representative for their single At-Large district, who run on a statewide ballot. On June 8, 2010, the Republicans nominated Kristi Noem, Assistant Majority Leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives and the Democrats nominated the incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. B. Thomas Marking ran as an Independent candidate. In the general election, Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin, winning 48.1 percent of the vote to 45.9 percent for Herseth Sandlin.
Kristi Lynn Noem is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 33rd governor of South Dakota. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 2011 to 2019, and a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives for the 6th district from 2007 to 2011.
The 2014 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Dakota, concurrently with the election of the Governor of South Dakota, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2014 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the U.S. representative from South Dakota's at-large congressional district, who would represent the state of South Dakota in the 114th United States Congress. The election coincided with the elections of a U.S. Senator from South Dakota, the Governor of South Dakota and other federal and state offices. Incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Kristi Noem won reelection.
Larry Rhoden is an American politician and businessman serving as the 39th lieutenant governor of South Dakota since 2019.
Martin J. Jackley is an American attorney and politician who is currently serving as the Attorney General of South Dakota since 2023, having previously served from 2009 to 2019. He assumed office as Attorney General again in 2023 after winning the 2022 election unopposed. He previously served as the 39th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of South Dakota in 2018, losing the Republican primary to Kristi Noem.
The 2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor Dennis Daugaard was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota was held on November 6, to elect the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with other statewide, legislative, and local elections.
The 2022 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of South Dakota. Incumbent three-term Republican U.S. Senator John Thune, who is the Senate Minority Whip, was first elected in 2004, defeating Democratic incumbent Tom Daschle, the then-Senate Minority Leader. He ran for reelection to a fourth term. The Democratic nominee was 26-year Navy, Air Force JAG Corps veteran, and former college professor Brian Bengs. Thune was ultimately reelected, becoming the first Senator from South Dakota to be elected to a fourth term since Karl Mundt in 1966, and only the second to do so after Mundt.
The 2018 South Dakota elections were held on November 6, 2018. All of South Dakota's executive officers were up for election as well as South Dakota's at-large seat in the United States House of Representatives.
The 2022 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of South Carolina. Incumbent Republican governor Henry McMaster ran for re-election for a second full term in office and secured the Republican nomination in the June 14 primary. Joe Cunningham, former United States Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district, was the Democratic nominee. McMaster won the general election with 58% of the vote — a larger margin than in 2018.
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.
Elections are held in the U.S. state of South Dakota regularly.
The 2022 South Dakota Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of South Dakota. On June 21, 2022, former Republican Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was convicted and removed from office for malfeasance of office. The State Senate further barred Ravnsborg from holding office in South Dakota. Republican Mark Vargo was appointed to fill the remainder of Ravnsborg's term and did not run for a full term.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024. Many of the states with elections in this cycle have incumbents who are officially term-limited.