South Dakota held its general election on November 5, 2024, deciding 105 legislative seats across 71 districts and the office of Public Utilities Commissioner. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Republicans tightened an already lopsided grip, picking up two seats to reach 32-3 in the Senate and 64-6 in the House, while voters rejected six of the seven statewide measures in front of them, including the abortion-rights amendment and the carbon-pipeline law.
- Three seats moved to Republicans and Democrats took one back:
- The closest race in the state was decided by fewer than ten votes. In Sioux Falls' House District 15, Erik Muckey (D) beat Joni Tschetter (R) by seven votes on election night, and a two-day recount she requested left him ahead by nine.
- Only one of the seven measures survived: Amendment F, allowing Medicaid work requirements. Voters turned down Amendment G, the abortion-rights initiative, by about three to two, the third time the state has voted on abortion but the first time it rejected a measure expanding access rather than restricting it; tossed out Referred Law 21, the pipeline-regulation law legislators and Gov. Kristi Noem had passed for the Summit Carbon Solutions project, after opponents referred it by petition; Summit said the next morning it would reapply for its permit; and rejected Amendment H (top-two primaries), Initiated Measure 29 (recreational marijuana), Initiated Measure 28 (repealing the grocery sales tax), and Amendment E (gender-neutral constitutional language).
- Across the 71 legislative races, 2 incumbents were defeated and 18 seats drew a single candidate. Because South Dakota's House districts elect two members each, a raw seat-by-seat flip count would overstate the shift; the four changes above are the ones that moved the chamber totals.
Legislature
- House (70 seats): 7 D, 63 R before the election, 5 D, 65 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (35 seats): 4 D, 31 R before the election, 3 D, 32 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Legislative races
| Race | Winner | Others | Notes |
|---|
| House 1 | Logan Manhart (R) 27.8%, Christopher Reder (R) 25.9% | Mark Sumption (D) 19.7%, Steven McCleerey (D) 19.5% | |
| House 2 | John Sjaarda (R) 50.5%, David Kull (R) 49.5% | Unopposed | |
| House 3 | Brandei Schaefbauer (R) 37.1%, Al Novstrup (R) 35.2% | Erin Rudner (D) 27.7% | |
| House 4 | Kent Roe (R) 52.1%, Dylan Jordan (R) 47.9% | Unopposed | |
| House 5 | Matt Roby (R) 45%, Josephine Garcia (R) 31.9% | Diane Drake (D) 12%, Amy D. Rambow (D) 11% | |
| House 6 | Herman Otten (R) 41.7%, Aaron Aylward (R) 37.8% | Garret Campbell (D) 20.5% | |
| House 7 | Roger DeGroot (R) 32.8%, Mellissa Heermann (R) 30.7% | Fedora Sutton-Butler (D) 19.2%, Blake Stevens (D) 17.3% | |
| House 8 | Tim Walburg (R) 46%, Tim Reisch (R) 44.3% | Greg Zimmerman (L) 9.7% | |
| House 9 | Tesa Schwans (R) 38.5%, Bethany Soye (R) 38% | Beverly Johnson (D) 23.5% | |
| House 10 | Erin Healy (D) 38.3%, Bobbi Andera (R) 31.6% | Kameron Nelson (D) 30.1% | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| House 11 | Brian Mulder (R) 29.7%, Keri Weems (R) 28.2% | Sonja Mentzer (D) 21.9%, Aaron Matson (D) 20.3% | |
| House 12 | Amber Arlint (R) 31%, Greg Jamison (R) 29.6% | Erin Royer (D) 21.9%, JR Anderson (D) 17.5% | |
| House 13 | John Hughes (R) 51.5%, Tony Venhuizen (R) 48.5% | Unopposed | |
| House 14 | Taylor Rehfeldt (R) 33.4%, Tony Kayser (R) 27.2% | Keith Block (D) 21.3%, BJ Motley (D) 18.1% | |
| House 15 | Kadyn Wittman (D) 26.5%, Erik Muckey (D) 25.4% | Joni Tschetter (R) 25.3%, Brad Lindwurm (R) 22.8% | |
| House 16 | Karla Lems (R) 43.5%, Richard Vasgaard (R) 40.5% | Matt Ness (D) 16% | |
| House 17 | Chris Kassin (R) 40.7%, William Shorma (R) 33.4% | Ray Ring (D) 25.8% | |
| House 18 | Michael R. Stevens (R) 35.6%, Julie Auch (R) 31.7% | Paul Harens (D) 21.2%, Sarah Mechtenberg (D) 11.6% | |
| House 19 | Jessica Bahmuller (R) 52.5%, Drew Peterson (R) 47.5% | Unopposed | |
| House 20 | Jeff Bathke (R) 53.6%, Kaley Nolz (R) 46.4% | Unopposed | |
| House 21 | Marty Overweg (R) 51.9%, Jim Halverson (R) 48.1% | Unopposed | |
| House 22 | Kevin Van Diepen (R) 50.5%, Lana Greenfield (R) 49.5% | Unopposed | |
| House 23 | Spencer Gosch (R) 51.8%, Scott Moore (R) 48.2% | Unopposed | |
| House 24 | Will Mortenson (R) 51.7%, Mike Weisgram (R) 48.3% | Unopposed | |
| House 25 | Jon Hansen (R) 52.5%, Les Heinemann (R) 47.5% | Unopposed | |
| House 26A | Eric Emery (D) 51.1% | Ron Frederick (R) 30.2%, William Lafferty (Other) 18.7% | |
| House 26B | Rebecca Reimer (R) | David Reis (I) | |
| House 27 | Liz May (R) 36.8%, Peri Pourier (D) 34.2% | Elsie Meeks (D) 28.9% | |
| House 28 | Travis Ismay (R), Jana Hunt (R) 57.5% | Carl J. Petersen (D) 42.5% | Flipped D to R |
| House 29 | Terri Jorgenson (R) 51.3%, Kathy Rice (R) 48.7% | Unopposed | |
| House 30 | Tim Goodwin (R) 42.6%, Trish Ladner (R) 41% | Susan Scheirbeck (D) 16.4% | |
| House 31 | Scott Odenbach (R) 38.1%, Mary Fitzgerald (R) 32.5% | Victoria Greenlee (I) 16.7%, Shana McVickers (I) 12.8% | |
| House 32 | Nicole Uhre-Balk (D) 35%, Steve Duffy (R) 34.9% | Brook Kaufman (R) 30.1% | Flipped R to D |
| House 33 | Curt Massie (R) 50.1%, Phil Jensen (R) 49.9% | Unopposed | |
| House 34 | Mike Derby (R) 52.7%, Heather Baxter (R) 47.3% | Unopposed | |
| House 35 | Tony Randolph (R) 34.9%, Tina Mulally (R) 34.2% | Pat Cromwell (D) 15.9%, Jason Lind (D) 15% | |
| Senate 1 | Michael Rohl (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 2 | Steve Kolbeck (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 3 | Carl Perry (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 4 | Stephanie Sauder (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 5 | Glen Vilhauer (R) 71.1% | Dennis Solberg (D) 28.9% | |
| Senate 6 | Ernie Otten (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 7 | Tim Reed (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 8 | Casey Crabtree (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 9 | Joy Hohn (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 10 | Liz Larson (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 11 | Chris Karr (R) 58.9% | Steve Natz (D) 41.1% | |
| Senate 12 | Arch Beal (R) 55.7% | Clay Hoffman (D) 44.3% | |
| Senate 13 | Sue Peterson (R) 58.5% | Ali Horsted (D) 41.5% | |
| Senate 14 | Larry Zikmund (R) 54.6% | Sandra Henry (D) 45.4% | |
| Senate 15 | Jamie Smith (D) 52.4% | Brenda Lawrence (R) 47.6% | |
| Senate 16 | Kevin Jensen (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 17 | Sydney Davis (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 18 | Lauren Nelson (R) 57.2% | Sarah Carda (D) 42.8% | |
| Senate 19 | Kyle Schoenfish (R) 77.2% | Mike Miller (R) 22.8% | |
| Senate 20 | Paul Miskimins (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 21 | MyKala Voita (R) 77% | Dan Andersson (D) 23% | |
| Senate 22 | David Wheeler (R) 73.2% | Jim Schmidt (D) 26.8% | |
| Senate 23 | Mark Lapka (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 24 | Jim Mehlhaff (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 25 | Tom Pischke (R) 72.7% | Brian Wirth (D) 27.3% | |
| Senate 26 | Tamara Grove (R) 57.3% | Shawn Bordeaux (D) 42.7% | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| Senate 27 | Red Dawn Foster (D) 52% | Anthony Kathol (R) 48% | |
| Senate 28 | Sam Marty (R) 64.1% | Dean Schrempp (D) 22.7%, Shane Farlee (Other) 13.2% | |
| Senate 29 | John Carley (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 30 | Amber Hulse (R) 74.4% | Bret Swanson (D) 25.6% | |
| Senate 31 | Randy Deibert (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 32 | Helene Duhamel (R) 60% | Karen McNeal (D) 40% | |
| Senate 33 | Curt Voight (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 34 | Taffy Howard (R) 60.2% | Kehala Two Bulls (D) 39.8% | |
| Senate 35 | Greg Blanc (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Constitutional Amendment E | Amend the constitution to change male pronouns in the Constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles. This legislatively referred constitutional amendment was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 43.0% voting yes. | Failed (43% yes) |
| Constitutional Amendment F | Amend the South Dakota Constitution to provide that the state "may impose a work requirement on any person ... who has not been diagnosed as being physically or mentally disabled" for eligible individuals to receive Medicaid under the Medicaid expansion that took effect on July 1, 2023. This legislatively referred constitutional amendment was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters approved it with 56.0% voting yes. | Passed (56% yes) |
| Constitutional Amendment G | Provide for a state constitutional right to abortion with a trimester framework for regulations. This citizen-initiated measure was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 41.0% voting yes. | Failed (41% yes) |
| Constitutional Amendment H | Establish top-two primaries for federal, state, and certain local offices in South Dakota. This citizen-initiated measure was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 34.0% voting yes. | Failed (34% yes) |
| Initiated Measure 28 | Prohibit state sales taxes on anything sold for human consumption, not including alcoholic beverages or prepared food. This citizen-initiated measure was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 31.0% voting yes. | Failed (31% yes) |
| Initiated Measure 29 | Legalize the recreational or personal use of marijuana. This citizen-initiated measure was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 44.0% voting yes. | Failed (44% yes) |
| Referred Law 21 | Uphold Senate Bill 201, which would provide requirements for regulating carbon dioxide pipelines and other transmission facilities, and allow counties to impose a surcharge on certain pipeline companies. This citizen-initiated measure was placed on the South Dakota 2024 ballot. Voters rejected it with only 41.0% voting yes. | Failed (41% yes) |