PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Republicans will remain in control of the South Dakota Legislature come 2025. The still unresolved question with all 105 seats up for election on Tuesday is how much control.
That’s because, as of 1:30 a.m. CT Wednesday, final vote totals hadn’t been reported yet to the South Dakota Secretary of State office from many of the legislative districts in western South Dakota, including no numbers at all from four of the Pennington County legislative districts where Republicans have traditionally dominated but Democrats and independents this fall were making competitive challenges.
Meanwhile, counting had stopped for the night in the Minnehaha County legislative districts, including several where Democrats were trying hard to unseat established Republicans.
What wasn’t clear early Wednesday morning was which direction the numbers will go. The South Dakota Legislature has 35 districts and voters from each district elect one senator and two representatives. The House of Representatives currently has 63 Republicans and seven Democrats. The Senate currently has 31 Republicans and four Democrats.
Here’s a look at what we know — and what we don’t — about some potentially pivotal races.
District 1 House: This was a six-way race for two open seats. Logan Manhart of Aberdeen and Christopher Reder of Warner won the Republican nominations, finishing ahead of 6-year incumbent Tamara St. John in the June primary. The Democratic candidates were a former lawmaker, Steven McCleerey of Sisseton, who served six years in the House, and Mark Sumption of Frederick, who on July 25 replaced Dana Pulfrey. The Libertarian candidates were Josh Dennert of Aberdeen and Tamara Lesnar of Grenville.
With 41 of 43 precincts reporting, the two Republicans were in the lead, with Manhart at 5,030 votes and Reder 4,697. Then came the two Democrats, with McCleerey at 3,741 and Sumption 3,638. The Libertarians were far back, with Dennert at 719 and Lesnar 517.
District 3 House: The Republican candidates were 22-year incumbent Al Novstrup of Aberdeen and two-year incumbent Brandei Schaefbauer of Aberdeen. They faced Democrat Erin Rudner of Aberdeen, meaning there will be at least one Republican winner for certain.
With 10 of 12 precincts reporting, Schaefbauer led with 1,582 votes, followed by Novstrup at 1,483. Rudner had 1,060.
District 10 House: A possible upset was taking shape when Minnehaha County stopped counting for the night. With three of 12 precincts partially in, six-year Democratic incumbent Erin Healy was out front for one of the seats with 867 votes. But Republican Bobbi Andera was ahead of two-year Democratic incumbent Kameron Nelson 705 to 670 for the other.
District 11 Senate: Ten-year Republican incumbent Arch Beal of Sioux Falls faced Democrat Clay Hoffman of Sioux Falls. With two of 13 precincts reporting, Beal was in the lead 2,003 to 1,367.
District 14 Senate: Ten-year Republican incumbent Larry Zikmund of Sioux Falls faced Democrat Sandra Henry of Sioux Falls. With one of 10 precincts partially reporting, Zikmund led 510 to 385.
District 18 Senate: Lauren Nelson of Yankton defeated 24-year-incumbent Jean Hunhoff of Yankton 1,235 to 1,139 in the June primary to win the Republican nomination. On July 22, Sarah Carda of Yankton replaced Dennis Menke as the Democratic candidate. And on Tuesday, Nelson rolled past Carda 6,163 to 4,594.
District 21 Senate: Mykala Voita of Bonesteel defeated 4-year incumbent Erin Tobin 1,842 to 1,794 in the June primary to win the Republican nomination. Voita faced little difficulty defeating Democrat Dan Andersson of Burke on Tuesday 8,450 to 2,515.
District 30 Senate: A three-way battle in the June primary saw Amber Hulse of Hot Springs finish ahead of 8-year incumbent Julie Frye-Mueller of Rapid City, 2,216 to 2,048, for the Republican nomination. Bret Swanson of Hermosa is the Democratic candidate. With seven of 26 precincts reporting, Hulse led 2,358 to 1,005.
District 31 House: Republican incumbents Scott Odenbach of Spearfish and Mary Fitzgerald of St. Onge faced independents Victoria Greenlee of Spearfish, who filed on May 1, and Shana McVickers of Spearfish, who filed on April 19. Odenbach placed first with 9,100 votes, with Fitzgerald receiving 7,767 to take the second seat. Greenlee was at 3,986 and McVickers 3,049.
District 32 Senate: Republican Helene Duhamel, a 6-year incumbent, faced independent Karen McNeal, who filed as a candidate on April 30. There was no report yet as of 1:30 a.m. CT.
District 32 House: Brook Kaufman of Rapid City and two-year incumbent Steve Duffy won Republican nominations in a three-way primary. They faced Democrat Nicole Uhre-Balk of Rapid City, meaning at least one of the Republicans had to win. There was no report yet as of 1:30 a.m. CT.
District 34 Senate: In the June primary, Taffy Howard of Rapid City, a former 6-year representative, defeated Jason Green of Rapid City, 1,598 to 1,564, to win the Republican nomination. On August 16, Kehala Two Bulls of Rapid City replaced Michael Calabrese as the Democratic candidate. There was no report yet as of 1:30 a.m. CT.
You can look here for more of Tuesday’s legislative results.
