South Dakota 2020 Election Results

South Dakota held its general election on November 3, 2020, deciding 105 legislative seats across 71 districts and the office of Public Utilities Commissioner. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• The ballot measures were the story: South Dakota became the first state whose voters approved recreational and medical marijuana in the same election, though the recreational amendment was later struck down in court. Republicans also widened their supermajorities in both chambers, the majorities that would draw the post-2020-census maps.
• Voters approved all 3 statewide questions:
  • Constitutional Amendment A, legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, which a national legalization advocate called the most surprising victory of the night. Gov. Kristi Noem instigated the legal fight against it, and in November 2021 the state Supreme Court voted 4-1 to uphold a ruling striking it down for violating the constitution's one-subject rule.
  • Initiated Measure 26, creating a medical marijuana program; it was unaffected by the Amendment A ruling and had already taken effect.
  • Constitutional Amendment B, a legislative referral legalizing sports betting in Deadwood.
• Democrats lost ground in both chambers. In the Senate, their caucus fell from five members to three: Sen. Susan Wismer (D), who ran for governor in 2014, lost her seat to Michael Rohl (R) by about 10 points in Senate District 1, and Jean Hunhoff (R) took the open, Democratic-held Senate District 18 over Jordan Foos (D) by about 20 points. In the House, Democrats fell from 11 seats to eight. Reps. Michael Saba (D) in District 9 and Kelly Sullivan (D) in District 13 each lost their seats in two-member districts to Republicans, who also won both seats in District 17, one of them previously held by a Democrat. Rep. Steven McCleerey (D) also lost in District 1, but to a fellow Democrat, Jennifer Healy Keintz (D), so that seat stayed Democratic.
• Public Utilities Commission chair Gary Hanson (R), first elected in 2002, won a fourth term by about 41 points over Remi Bald Eagle (D) and Devin Saxon (L).
• Across the 71 legislative districts, the closest race beyond the Democratic losses above was in House District 12, where Rep. Arch Beal (R) kept the district's second seat by fewer than 70 votes over Erin Royer (D). Another 11 races were uncontested.

Legislature

• House (70 seats): 11 D, 59 R before the election, 8 D, 62 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (35 seats): 5 D, 30 R before the election, 3 D, 32 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures