South Dakota 2010 Election Results

South Dakota held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 105 legislative seats across 70 districts and 8 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept the governorship and pushed their legislative majorities past two-thirds in both chambers: 29-6 in the Senate and 50-19-1 in the House, where one independent won a seat. Two weeks after the election, Sen.-elect Eldon Nygaard (D) of Vermillion switched to the Republican Party, widening the Republican Senate edge to 30-5.
• Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) beat Senate Democratic leader Scott Heidepriem (D) by about 23 points to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Rounds (R). South Dakota's last Democratic governor had left office 32 years earlier. The race largely focused on the budget, with Heidepriem, a former Republican legislator, arguing that Rounds and Daugaard had failed to control spending.
• The Senate saw the biggest swing. Republicans picked up open Democratic seats, including Heidepriem's own Senate District 13, which Phyllis M. Heineman (R) won, and four Democratic senators lost to Republicans:
  • Tim Rave (R) beat Dan Ahlers (D) by about 340 votes in Senate District 25.
  • Ried Holien (R) beat Nancy Turbak Berry (D) by about 530 in Senate District 5.
  • Larry Tidemann (R) beat Pamela Merchant (D) by about 660 in Senate District 7.
  • Mark Johnston (R) beat Sandy Jerstad (D) by about 980 in Senate District 12.
• All 9 legislators who lost in November were Democrats. In the House, where most districts elect two members, Reps. Gerald Lange (D), Darrell D. Solberg (D), and Oran A. Sorenson (D) lost to Republicans, and Jim White (R) finished 84 votes ahead of Rep. Quinten L. Burg (D) for the second House District 22 seat. In House District 15, Jenna Haggar (I) unseated Rep. Martha Vanderlinde (D). The narrowest margin came in House District 9, where Bob Deelstra (R) edged Trudi Hatch (D) by 48 votes for the second seat.
• Attorney General Marty Jackley (R) beat Ron Volesky (D). Jason Gant (R) won secretary of state, Steve Barnett (R) won auditor, and Rich Sattgast (R) won treasurer.
• Voters passed 2 of 4 measures. They approved Referendum 12, a ban on smoking in many public places, and Amendment K, one of four secret-ballot amendments that passed nationwide, aimed at the card check provisions of the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act. They rejected Initiative 13, which would have legalized medical marijuana, and Amendment L, which would have reduced the required annual transfers from the cement plant trust fund to the state's general fund.

Legislature

• House (70 seats): 24 D, 46 R before the election, 19 D, 50 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (35 seats): 14 D, 21 R before the election, 6 D, 29 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures