South Dakota results for every midterm race
There are two noteworthy statewide races in South Dakota, and Republicans are favored to win both of them.
In the governor’s race, four-term Republican Rep. Kristi Noem pulled out a solid victory during the state’s primary earlier this year and is expected to come out on top even though Democratic state legislator Billie Sutton has put forth a surprisingly strong challenge. Though the race isn’t polled much, sporadic ones have put Sutton within a few points of Noem — almost unbelievable in this red state.
While Noem is still widely viewed as the favorite, Cook’s Jennifer Duffy has cautioned that negative sentiment toward Republicans could ultimately make the outcome much closer than expected — shifting the race from a “Likely Republican” designation to a toss-up.
If Noem ends up winning, she would become the first woman in the state to ever hold this position.
Meanwhile, Republican Dusty Johnson and Democrat Timothy Bjorkman are duking it out for the House seat that Noem is vacating, with early polling signaling a strong lead for Johnson.
More than 100 seats in the state’s heavily conservative Legislature are also in contention, and Daily Kos rates the body as safe Republican. There is also a slew of ballot initiatives that include increases to the tobacco tax and the strengthening of campaign finance restrictions.
President Donald Trump remains popular in this state, though he does have a 45 percent disapproval rating per Morning Consult.
South Dakota US House 1
GOP | Dustin "Dusty" Johnson | 202,673 | 60% | |
DEM | Tim Bjorkman | 121,002 | 36% | |
IND | Ron Wieczorek | 7,322 | 2% | |
LIB | George Hendrickson | 4,912 | 1% |
South Dakota Governor
GOP | Kristi Noem | 172,894 | 51% | |
DEM | Billie Sutton | 161,416 | 48% | |
LIB | Kurt Evans | 4,844 | 1% |