South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2018

Elections in South Dakota, 2018

* General election: Nov. 6
* Voter registration deadline: Oct. 22
* Early voting: Sept. 21 - Nov. 5
* Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5

* Online registration: No
* Same-day registration: No
* Voter ID: Photo ID required
* Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

* * *

On the ballot: U.S. House • Governor • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • State ballot measures • Democratic primaries • Republican primaries

2018 South Dakota
House elections

General| November 6, 2018
Primary| June 5, 2018
Past election results

2016・2014・2012・2010・2008
2006・2004・2002・2000
2018 elections

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Republicans maintained their supermajority in the 2018 elections for South Dakota House of Representatives, winning 59 seats to Democrats' 11. At the time of the election, Republicans held 59 seats to Democrats' 10, with one vacancy.

The Republican Party maintained its trifecta in South Dakota in 2018 by holding majorities in the state Senate and House and by retaining the governorship.

The South Dakota House of Representatives was one of 87 state legislative chambers holding elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

South Dakota state representatives serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

## Contents

* 1 Post-election analysis
* 1.1 National background
* 2 Candidates
* 3 General election candidates
* 4 Primary election candidates
* 4.1 Margins of victory
* 4.2 Seats flipped
* 4.3 Incumbents retiring
* 4.4 Process to become a candidate
* 4.4.1 For primary candidates
* 4.4.2 For independent candidates
* 4.4.3 For write-in candidates
* 4.4.4 Qualifications
* 4.4.5 Salaries and per diem
* 4.4.6 When sworn in
* 4.5 South Dakota political history
* 4.5.1 Party control
* 4.5.1.1 2018
* 4.5.1.2 2016
* 4.5.2 Trifectas
* 4.6 Impact of term limits
* 4.7 Wave election analysis
* 4.8 Competitiveness
* 4.8.1 Results from 2016
* 4.8.2 Historical context
* 4.9 Pivot Counties
* 4.9.1 Presidential results by legislative district
* 4.10 See also
* 4.11 External links
* 4.12 Footnotes

## Post-election analysis[edit]

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

The Republican Party maintained supermajority status in both chambers of the South Dakota State Legislature in the 2018 election. In the state Senate, all 35 seats were up for election. Republicans increased their supermajority in the South Dakota State Senate from 29-6 to 30-5. No incumbents were defeated in the general election.

The South Dakota House of Representatives held elections for all 70 seats. The Republican supermajority in the House of Representatives saw no change from 59-10 to 59-11. One seat was vacant before the election. One Democratic incumbent and three Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.

### National background[edit]

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

* Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
* Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
* A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

Want more information?

* Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
* 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
* 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
* 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities

## Candidates[edit]

See also: Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

# General election candidates[edit]

#### South Dakota House of Representatives General Election 2018

* Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.

Office |  Democratic |  Republican | Other
District 1 (2 seats) |

Steven McCleerey (i)
H. Paul Dennert

Tamara St. John

District 2 (2 seats) |

Jenae Hansen
Mike McHugh

Lana Greenfield (i)
Kaleb Weis

District 3 (2 seats) |

Brooks Briscoe
Justin Roemmick

Drew Dennert (i)
Carl Perry

District 4 (2 seats) |

Jim Chilson
Kathy Tyler

Did not make the ballot:
Melissa Meidinger

John Mills (i)
Fred Deutsch

Daryl Root (Libertarian Party)

District 5 (2 seats) |

Diana Hane
Brett Ries

Hugh Bartels (i)
Nancy York (i)

District 6 (2 seats) |

Kyle Boese
Nancy Kirstein

Isaac Latterell (i)
Herman Otten (i)

Aaron Aylward (Libertarian Party)

District 7 (2 seats) |

Dwight Adamson
Zachary Kovach

Tim Reed (i)
Doug Post

Cory Ann Ellis (Independent)

District 8 (2 seats) |

Chris Francis
Jason Unger

Did not make the ballot:
Joan Stamm
Mary Leary

Marli Wiese (i)
Randy Gross

Did not make the ballot:
Leslie J. Heinemann (i)

District 9 (2 seats) |

Toni Miller
Michael Saba

Michael Clark (i)
Deb Peters

District 10 (2 seats) |

Dean Kurtz
Barbara Saxton

Doug Barthel (i)
Steven Haugaard (i)

District 11 (2 seats) |

Sheryl Johnson
Margaret Kuipers

Chris Karr (i)
Mark Willadsen (i)

District 12 (2 seats) |

Jeff Hayward
Scott Petersen

Arch Beal (i)
Manford Steele

District 13 (2 seats) |

Kelly Sullivan

Sue Peterson (i)
Rex Rolfing

District 14 (2 seats) |

Erin Healy
Valerie Loudenback

Tom Holmes (i)
Larry P. Zikmund (i)

District 15 (2 seats) |

Jamie Smith (i)
Linda Duba

|  |

District 16 (2 seats) |

Chad Skiles
Mike Steinbrecher

David Anderson (i)
Kevin Jensen (i)

District 17 (2 seats) |

Ray Ring (i)
John Gors

Nancy Rasmussen (i)

Gregory Baldwin (Libertarian Party)

District 18 (2 seats) |

Terry Crandall
Ryan Cwach

Jean Hunhoff (i)
Max Farver

District 19 (2 seats) |

John Koch

Kent Peterson (i)
Kyle Schoenfish (i)

Alison Bowers (Independent)
Roger Hofer (Independent)

District 20 (2 seats) |

Ione Klinger
James Schorzmann

Lance Koth
Paul Miskimins

District 21 (2 seats) |

Anna Kerner Andersson
Faith Spotted Eagle

Did not make the ballot:
Brian Jorgensen

Lee Qualm (i)
Caleb Finck

District 22 (2 seats) |

Tyler Volesky

Roger Chase (i)
Bob Glanzer (i)

District 23 (2 seats) |

Eleanor Iverson
Margaret Ann Walsh

Did not make the ballot:
Philip Testerman

Spencer Gosch (i)
John Lake (i)

District 24 (2 seats) |

Terry Keller
Brian Watterson

Mary Duvall (i)
Tim Rounds (i)

District 25 (2 seats) |

Dan Ahlers (i)
BJ Motley

Tom Pischke (i)
Jon Hansen

District 26A |

Shawn Bordeaux (i)

|  |

District 26B |

Debra Smith

Rebecca Reimer (i)

District 27 (2 seats) |

Peri Pourier
Margaret Ross

Steve Livermont (i)
Elizabeth May (i)

District 28A |

Oren Lesmeister (i)

|  |

District 28B |

Did not make the ballot:
Lynn Frey

J. Sam Marty (i)

Jason Hill (Libertarian Party)

District 29 (2 seats) |

Jade Addison
Michael McManus

Thomas Brunner (i)
Kirk Chaffee

Did not make the ballot:
Larry Rhoden (i)

District 30 (2 seats) |

Karen McGregor
Whitney Raver

Did not make the ballot:
Henry Whitney

Julie Frye-Mueller (i)
Tim Goodwin (i)

District 31 (2 seats) |

Naveen Malik
Wyatt Osthus

Timothy R. Johns (i)
Charles Turbiville (i)

District 32 (2 seats) |

Susan Kelts
Bill Knight

Did not make the ballot:
Angel Staley

Scyller Borglum (i)
Chris Johnson

Did not make the ballot:
Sean McPherson (i)

District 33 (2 seats) |

Lilias Jarding

Did not make the ballot:
Ian Keegan

Taffy Howard (i)
David Johnson (i)

Nick Reid (Independent)

District 34 (2 seats) |

Brian Davis
George Nelson

Michael Diedrich (i)
Jess Olson

District 35 (2 seats) |

Michael Hanson
Bo Sistak

Tina Mulally
Tony Randolph

# Primary election candidates[edit]

2018 South Dakota House of Representatives primary candidates

District |

Democrat

Republican

| Other
1  | Steven McCleerey (I) a
H. Paul Dennert a
Robert Whitmyre | Tamara St. John a |
2  | Jenae Hansen a
Mike McHugh a | Lana Greenfield (I) a
Kaleb Weis a |
3  | Brooks Briscoe a
Justin Roemmick a | Drew Dennert (I) a
Carl Perry a |
4  | Jim Chilson a
Melissa Meidinger a | John Mills (I) a
Fred Deutsch a |
5  | Diana Hane a
Brett Ries a | Hugh Bartels (I) a
Nancy York (I) a |
6  | Kyle Boese a
Nancy Kirstein a | Isaac Latterell (I) a
Herman Otten (I) a |
7  | Dwight Adamson a
Zachary Kovach a | Tim Reed (I) a
Doug Post a |
8  | Mary Leary a
Joan Stamm a | Leslie Heinemann (I) a
Marli Wiese (I) a |
9  | Toni Miller a
Michael Saba a | Michael Clark (I) a
Deb Peters a |
10  | Dean Kurtz a
Barbara Saxton a | Doug Barthel (I) a
Steven Haugaard (I) a |
11  | Sheryl Johnson a
Margaret Kuipers a | Chris Karr (I) a
Mark Willadsen (I) a |
12  | Jeff Hayward a
Scott Petersen a | Arch Beal (I) a
Manford Steele a |
13  | Kelly Sullivan a | Sue Peterson (I) a
Amber Mauricio
Rex Rolfing a |
14  | Erin Healy a
Valerie Loudenback a | Tom Holmes (I) a
Larry P. Zikmund (I) a
R. Shawn Tornow |
15  | Jamie Smith (I) a
Linda Duba a
Patrick Kirschman
Josh Reinfeld | No candidate |
16  | Chad Skiles a
Mike Steinbrecher a | David Anderson (I) a
Kevin Jensen (I) a |
17  | Ray Ring (I) a
John Gors a | Nancy Rasmussen (I) a |
18  | Terry Crandall a
Ryan Cwach a | Jean Hunhoff (I) a
Max Farver a |
19  | John Koch a | Kent Peterson (I) a
Kyle Schoenfish (I) a
Michael Boyle |
20  | Ione Klinger a
James Schorzmann a | Lance Koth a
Paul Miskimins a |
21  | Brian Jorgensen a
Anna Kerner Andersson a
Faith Spotted Eagle | Lee Qualm (I) a
Caleb Finck a |
22  | Tyler Volesky a | Roger Chase (I) a
Bob Glanzer (I) a |
23  | Eleanor Iverson a
Philip Testerman a | Spencer Gosch (I) a
John Lake (I) a |
24  | Terry Keller a
Brian Watterson a | Mary Duvall (I) a
Tim Rounds (I) a
Roxanne Weber |
25  | Dan Ahlers (I) a
BJ Motley a | Tom Pischke (I) a
Tamera Enalls
Jon Hansen a |
26A  | Shawn Bordeaux (I) a
Troy Lunderman | No candidate |
26B  | Debra Smith a | Rebecca Reimer a |
27  | Nicole Littlewhiteman
Peri Pourier a
Margaret Ross a | Steve Livermont (I) a
Elizabeth May (I) a |
28A  | Oren Lesmeister (I) a | No candidate |
28B  | Lynn Frey a | J. Sam Marty (I) a |
29  | Jade Addison a
Michael McManus a | Thomas Brunner (I) a
Larry Rhoden (I) a |
30  | Whitney Raver a
Henry Whitney a | Julie Frye-Mueller (I) a
Tim Goodwin (I) a |
31  | Naveen Malik a
Wyatt Osthus a | Timothy Johns (I) a
Charles Turbiville (I) a |
32  | Susan Kelts a
Angel Staley a | Sean McPherson (I) a
Scyller Borglum a
Ed Randazzo |
33  | Lilias Jarding a
Ian Keegan a | Taffy Howard (I) a
David Johnson (I) a
Melanie Torno |
34  | Brian Davis a
George Nelson a | Michael Diedrich (I) a
Janette McIntyre
Jess Olson a |
35  | Michael Hanson a
Bo Sistak a | Tina Mulally a
Tony Randolph a |
Notes | • An (I) denotes an incumbent.
| • Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our Elections Project.

## Margins of victory[edit]

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 South Dakota House of Representatives races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

* Elections won
* Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
* Elections won without opposition
* Average margin of victory[1]

South Dakota House of Representatives: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis

Party | Elections won[2] | Elections won by less than 10% | Unopposed elections | Average margin of victory[1]
Democratic | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1.9%
Republican | 34 | 19 | 0 | 11.2%
Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A
Total[3] | 37 | 19 | 3 | 7.7%

The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races). Red dots represent Republicans, blue dots represent Democrats, yellow dots represent Libertarians, and grey dots represent independent candidates. Candidates are ordered from left to right based on their share of the vote. The margin of victory is the margin between the bottom-place winner and the top-place losing candidate.

South Dakota House of Representatives: 2018 Margin of Victory by District

District | Winning Candidates | Losing Candidates | Margin of Victory
South Dakota House of Representatives District 27 |  |  | 0.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 9 |  |  | 0.4%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 13 |  |  | 0.5%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 25 |  |  | 0.5%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 14 |  |  | 1.0%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 1 |  |  | 1.2%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 32 |  |  | 1.5%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 12 |  |  | 2.2%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 18 |  |  | 4.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 11 |  |  | 4.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 7 |  |  | 4.8%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 2 |  |  | 5.5%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 17 |  |  | 5.7%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 8 |  |  | 6.8%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 31 |  |  | 6.9%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 4 |  |  | 7.0%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 3 |  |  | 7.8%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 22 |  |  | 8.2%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 20 |  |  | 8.9%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 6 |  |  | 11.0%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 5 |  |  | 11.6%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 10 |  |  | 11.8%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 21 |  |  | 12.0%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 33 |  |  | 12.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 34 |  |  | 12.9%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 35 |  |  | 13.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 16 |  |  | 15.5%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 24 |  |  | 17.2%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 30 |  |  | 19.6%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 29 |  |  | 23.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 26B |  |  | 23.1%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 19 |  |  | 23.9%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 23 |  |  | 24.9%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 28B |  |  | 70.4%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 28A |  | None | Unopposed
South Dakota House of Representatives District 10 |  | None | Unopposed
South Dakota House of Representatives District 26A |  | None | Unopposed

## Seats flipped[edit]

See also: State legislative seats that changed party control, 2018

The below map displays each seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2018, South Dakota House of Representatives

District | Incumbent | 2018 winner | Direction of flip
South Dakota House of Representatives District 1 |  Susan Wismer |  Tamara St. John | D to R
South Dakota House of Representatives District 13 |  G. Mark Mickelson |  Kelly Sullivan | R to D
South Dakota House of Representatives District 14 |  Tom Holmes |  Erin Healy | R to D
South Dakota House of Representatives District 18 |  Mike Stevens |  Ryan Cwach | R to D
South Dakota House of Representatives District 21 |  Julie Bartling |  Caleb Finck | D to R
South Dakota House of Representatives District 25 |  Dan Ahlers |  Jon Hansen | D to R
South Dakota House of Representatives District 27 |  Elizabeth May |  Peri Pourier | R to D
South Dakota House of Representatives District 7 |  Spencer Hawley |  Doug Post | D to R
South Dakota House of Representatives District 9 |  Michael Clark |  Michael Saba | R to D

## Incumbents retiring[edit]

Eighteen incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018. Those incumbents were:

Name  | Party  | Office

|
|

Susan Wismer |  Democratic | House District 1
Burt E. Tulson |  Republican | House District 2
Daniel Kaiser |  Republican | House District 3
Jason Kettwig |  Republican | House District 4
Spencer Hawley |  Democratic | House District 7
Wayne Steinhauer |  Republican | House District 9
Greg Jamison |  Republican | House District 12
G. Mark Mickelson |  Republican | House District 13
Karen Soli |  Democratic | House District 15
Mike Stevens |  Republican | House District 18
Lance Carson |  Republican | House District 20
Tona Rozum |  Republican | House District 20
Julie Bartling |  Democratic | House District 21
James Schaefer |  Republican | House District 26B
Kristin Conzet |  Republican | House District 32
David Lust |  Republican | House District 34
Lynne DiSanto |  Republican | House District 35
Blaine Campbell |  Republican | House District 35

## Process to become a candidate[edit]

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in South Dakota

See statutes: Title 19, Chapter 12-6, Title 19, Chapter 12-7 of South Dakota Codified Law

### For primary candidates[edit]

A primary election candidate must file a petition no earlier than January 1 and no later than the last Tuesday of March at 5 p.m., prior to the primary election. The petition must contain the required signatures and a declaration of candidacy. The declaration of candidacy must be completed before the candidate collects signatures. The declaration must be completed in the presence of an authorized notary public. A petition for party office or partisan public office must be signed by no less than 1 percent of the party's total registered members in the applicable electoral district. For a state legislative candidate, the petition must be signed by the lesser of 50 voters or 1 percent of the party's total registered members in that district. Any state legislative candidate must be a resident of the district for which he or she is a candidate at the time he or she signs the declaration of candidacy.[4][5][6][7]

### For independent candidates[edit]

Any candidate for nonjudicial public office who is not nominated by a primary election may be nominated as an independent candidate by filing with the South Dakota Secretary of State or county auditor. Filing must be completed no earlier than January 1 at 8:00 a.m. and no later than the last Tuesday of April at 5:00 p.m., prior to the election. An independent candidate's certificate of nomination must be signed by registered voters within the applicable district or political subdivision. The number of signatures required may not be less than 1 percent of the total combined vote cast for governor at the last certified gubernatorial election within the district or political subdivision. Registered party members cannot sign petitions for independent candidates. No petition or certificate of nomination may be circulated prior to January 1 of the year in which the election will be held. Primary election candidates are prohibited from filing as independent candidates for the same office in the same year. No candidate can file a certificate of nomination for an office for which he or she has been a candidate in the primary election of the same year. Any candidate for office in the state legislature must be a resident of the district for which he or she is a candidate.[7][8][9][10][11]

### For write-in candidates[edit]

The relevant statutes do not stipulate that a candidate may run as a write-in candidate. Write-in candidates for president are expressly prohibited.[12]

### Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the South Dakota House of Representatives, a candidate must be:[13]

* A U.S. citizen at the time of filing
* 21 years old at the filing deadline time
* A two-year resident of South Dakota at the filing deadline time
* May not have been convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime; may not have illegally taken "public moneys"
* A qualified voter. A qualified voter is someone who is:

* A U.S. citizen
* Reside in South Dakota
* At least 18 years old old on or before the next election
* Not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction which included imprisonment, served or suspended, in an adult penitentiary system
* Not be judged mentally incompetent by a court of law
* Not have served 4 consecutive terms

### Salaries and per diem[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislators

Salary| Per diem
$12,851/year| $151/day. Legislative days only. Unvouchered.

### When sworn in[edit]

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

South Dakota legislators assume office the second Tuesday in January after the general election.[14]

## South Dakota political history[edit]

See also: Partisan composition of state houses and State government trifectas

### Party control[edit]

#### 2018[edit]

In the 2018 elections, Democrats gained one seat South Dakota House of Representatives.

South Dakota House of Representatives

Party  | As of November 6, 2018  | After November 7, 2018
| Democratic Party | 10  | 11
| Republican Party | 59 | 59
| Vacancy  | 1  | 0
Total |  70 |  70

#### 2016[edit]

In the 2016 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 58-12 to 60-10.

South Dakota House of Representatives

Party  | As of November 7, 2016  | After November 8, 2016
| Democratic Party | 12  | 10
| Republican Party | 58 | 60
Total |  70 |  70

### Trifectas[edit]

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in South Dakota gained a state government trifecta as a result of the 1994 elections by taking control of the state Senate.

South Dakota Party Control: 1992-2022
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-nine years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year  | 92  | 93  | 94  | 95  | 96  | 97  | 98  | 99  | 00  | 01  | 02  | 03  | 04  | 05  | 06  | 07  | 08  | 09  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | 16  | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20  | 21  | 22

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Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R
Senate | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R
House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R

## Impact of term limits[edit]

See also: Impact of term limits on state representative elections in 2018 and Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

The South Dakota House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since South Dakota voters approved Ballot Issue A in 1992, an initiated constitutional amendment. This amendment became part of Section 6 of Article III of the South Dakota Constitution and limits the amount of time that state representatives can stay in office to no more than four consecutive two-year terms.

All 70 seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. In the 2018 elections, five representatives were ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state representatives were term limited in 2018:

Democratic: (1)

* Spencer Hawley

Republicans (4):

* Kristin Conzet
* Burt E. Tulson
* Tona Rozum
* James Schaefer[15]

Of the 87 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2018, 24 of them—12 senate chambers and 12 house chambers—included incumbents who were unable to run for re-election due to term limits.[16] In the 24 chambers affected by term limits in 2018, 1,463 seats were up for election.[17] The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

A total of 271 state legislators—96 state senators and 175 state representatives—were ineligible to run in the 2018 elections because of term limits. This represented 4 percent of the 6,066 total seats up for election in November 2018.[18][19] Republicans had twice as many state legislators term-limited in 2018 than Democrats. A total of 86 Democrats were term-limited, while 177 Republicans were term-limited.

## Wave election analysis[edit]

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

State legislative wave elections

Year | President | Party | Election type | State legislative seats change | Elections analyzed[20]
1932 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -1,022 | 7,365
1922 | Harding | R | First midterm | -907 | 6,907
1966 | Johnson | D | First midterm[21] | -782 | 7,561
1938 | Roosevelt | D | Second midterm | -769 | 7,179
1958 | Eisenhower | R | Second midterm | -702 | 7,627
2010 | Obama | D | First midterm | -702 | 7,306
1974 | Ford | R | Second midterm[22] | -695 | 7,481
1920 | Wilson | D | Presidential | -654 | 6,835
1930 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -640 | 7,361
1954 | Eisenhower | R | First midterm | -494 | 7,513

## Competitiveness[edit]

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

### Results from 2016[edit]

Below is Ballotpedia's 2016 competitiveness analysis. Click here to read the full study »

### Historical context[edit]

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

## Pivot Counties[edit]

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 66 South Dakota counties—7.6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008

County  | Trump margin of victory in 2016  | Obama margin of victory in 2012  | Obama margin of victory in 2008
Corson County, South Dakota | 4.51% | 11.08% | 21.48%
Day County, South Dakota | 23.77% | 6.16% | 12.89%
Marshall County, South Dakota | 15.51% | 8.66% | 16.48%
Roberts County, South Dakota | 15.53% | 9.84% | 19.64%
Ziebach County, South Dakota | 1.96% | 16.43% | 27.16%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won South Dakota with 61.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 31.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, South Dakota cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 63.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, South Dakota supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 86.7 to 10.0 percent. The state favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

#### Presidential results by legislative district[edit]

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in South Dakota. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[23][24]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won six out of 37 state House districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 19.9 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won four out of 37 state House districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 12.7 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 31 out of 37 state House districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 22.4 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 33 out of 37 state House districts in South Dakota with an average margin of victory of 32.5 points. Trump won five districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district

District | Obama | Romney | 2012 Margin | Clinton | Trump | 2016 Margin | Party Control
1 | 51.58% | 46.48% | D+5.1 | 37.24% | 57.24% | R+20 | D
2 | 41.78% | 55.63% | R+13.8 | 28.47% | 65.46% | R+37 | R
3 | 44.43% | 52.39% | R+8 | 33.93% | 59.00% | R+25.1 | R
4 | 40.82% | 56.54% | R+15.7 | 27.54% | 66.02% | R+38.5 | R
5 | 39.90% | 58.16% | R+18.3 | 27.89% | 65.65% | R+37.8 | R
6 | 38.47% | 59.68% | R+21.2 | 30.89% | 61.65% | R+30.8 | R
7 | 50.40% | 46.81% | D+3.6 | 43.62% | 47.39% | R+3.8 | D
8 | 43.39% | 54.25% | R+10.9 | 32.58% | 61.26% | R+28.7 | R
9 | 44.78% | 52.69% | R+7.9 | 35.24% | 57.43% | R+22.2 | R
10 | 42.73% | 55.52% | R+12.8 | 34.89% | 58.46% | R+23.6 | R
11 | 42.02% | 56.19% | R+14.2 | 36.63% | 56.47% | R+19.8 | R
12 | 43.37% | 54.72% | R+11.3 | 40.26% | 52.71% | R+12.4 | R
13 | 42.42% | 55.91% | R+13.5 | 42.90% | 50.51% | R+7.6 | R
14 | 45.37% | 53.02% | R+7.7 | 42.55% | 50.96% | R+8.4 | R
15 | 60.76% | 36.19% | D+24.6 | 50.37% | 40.21% | D+10.2 | D
16 | 37.11% | 61.13% | R+24 | 28.21% | 66.43% | R+38.2 | R
17 | 46.23% | 51.48% | R+5.3 | 38.71% | 54.73% | R+16 | D
18 | 42.37% | 55.09% | R+12.7 | 34.30% | 58.81% | R+24.5 | R
19 | 30.80% | 67.46% | R+36.7 | 21.26% | 73.69% | R+52.4 | R
20 | 39.03% | 58.77% | R+19.7 | 28.66% | 65.65% | R+37 | R
21 | 32.69% | 65.58% | R+32.9 | 21.75% | 74.28% | R+52.5 | D
22 | 40.25% | 57.55% | R+17.3 | 28.05% | 65.80% | R+37.8 | R
23 | 27.77% | 70.13% | R+42.4 | 17.94% | 77.32% | R+59.4 | R
24 | 31.98% | 66.03% | R+34.1 | 26.93% | 66.80% | R+39.9 | R
25 | 39.10% | 58.97% | R+19.9 | 31.43% | 61.88% | R+30.4 | D
26A | 71.98% | 26.91% | D+45.1 | 62.07% | 31.66% | D+30.4 | D
26B | 38.65% | 59.41% | R+20.8 | 27.43% | 66.49% | R+39.1 | R
27 | 59.61% | 39.08% | D+20.5 | 51.30% | 43.71% | D+7.6 | R
28A | 59.49% | 38.69% | D+20.8 | 48.66% | 46.00% | D+2.7 | D
28B | 21.01% | 75.69% | R+54.7 | 13.67% | 79.93% | R+66.3 | R
29 | 26.65% | 70.23% | R+43.6 | 18.53% | 73.59% | R+55.1 | R
30 | 28.42% | 68.70% | R+40.3 | 22.14% | 71.69% | R+49.5 | R
31 | 34.98% | 61.85% | R+26.9 | 28.34% | 62.58% | R+34.2 | R
32 | 37.98% | 59.43% | R+21.5 | 33.81% | 56.85% | R+23 | R
33 | 32.89% | 64.91% | R+32 | 28.15% | 64.55% | R+36.4 | R
34 | 34.28% | 63.64% | R+29.4 | 32.46% | 59.35% | R+26.9 | R
35 | 35.21% | 61.55% | R+26.3 | 26.34% | 64.40% | R+38.1 | R
Total | 39.87% | 57.89% | R+18 | 31.74% | 61.53% | R+29.8 | \-
Source: Daily Kos

## See also[edit]

* South Dakota House of Representatives
* South Dakota State Legislature
* State legislative elections, 2018
* South Dakota state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
* South Dakota state legislative Republican primaries, 2018

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* South Dakota State Legislature

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Excludes unopposed elections
2. ↑ Defined as the number of districts where at least one of this party's candidates won.
3. ↑ These numbers are lower than the sum of the figures found in the above rows due to the presence of multimember districts.
4. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-6-4," accessed January 31, 2014
5. ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Circulating a Nominating Petition," accessed October 29, 2013
6. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-6-7," accessed January 31, 2014
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-6," accessed February 4, 2014
8. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1," accessed February 4, 2014
9. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1," accessed February 4, 2014
10. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-1.1," accessed February 4, 2014
11. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-7-5," accessed February 4, 2014
12. ↑ South Dakota Codified Law, "Title 12-20-21.2," accessed February 17, 2014
13. ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Qualification to Hold Office & Term Limitations," accessed December 18, 2013
14. ↑ South Dakota Constitution, "Article 3, Section 7," accessed November 20, 2012
15. ↑ Schaefer died before the end of his term. His seat was still counted in the total number of term-limited state representatives in 2018.
16. ↑ The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate were up for election in 2018 and have term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018.
17. ↑ The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. In the three chambers, a total of 129 seats were up for election in 2018. No legislators were unable to run in 2018 in those three chamber because of term limits.
18. ↑ Ballotpedia confirmed through phone calls that at least seven California legislators were term-limited in 2018. The number of California legislators term-limited and the overall number of term-limited state legislators had a chance to change if Ballotpedia could confirm that more members were term-limited in 2018.
19. ↑ Some of the 271 term-limited state legislators in 2018 may resign before their term ends. These legislators were still counted in the total number of term-limited legislators in 2018.
20. ↑ The number of state legislative seats available for analysis varied, with as many as 7,795 and as few as 6,835.
21. ↑ Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
22. ↑ Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
23. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
24. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[show]

Current members of the South Dakota House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Spencer Gosch

Majority Leader:Kent Peterson

Minority Leader:Jamie Smith

Representatives

District 1

Jennifer Keintz (D)

Tamara St. John (R)

District 2

Lana Greenfield (R)

Kaleb Weis (R)

District 3

Drew Dennert (R)

Carl Perry (R)

District 4

Fred Deutsch (R)

John Mills (R)

District 5

Hugh Bartels (R)

Nancy York (R)

District 6

Aaron Aylward (R)

Ernie Otten (R)

District 7

Tim Reed (R)

Larry Tidemann (R)

District 8

Randy Gross (R)

Marli Wiese (R)

District 9

Rhonda Milstead (R)

Bethany Soye (R)

District 10

Doug Barthel (R)

Steven Haugaard (R)

District 11

Chris Karr (R)

Mark Willadsen (R)

District 12

Arch Beal (R)

Greg Jamison (R)

District 13

Sue Peterson (R)

Richard Thomason (R)

District 14

Erin Healy (D)

Taylor Rehfeldt (R)

District 15

Linda Duba (D)

Jamie Smith (D)

District 16

David Anderson (R)

Kevin Jensen (R)

District 17

Sydney Davis (R)

Richard Vasgaard (R)

District 18

Ryan Cwach (D)

Mike Stevens (R)

District 19

Marty Overweg (R)

Kent Peterson (R)

District 20

Lance Koth (R)

Paul Miskimins (R)

District 21

Rocky Blare (R)

Caleb Finck (R)

District 22

Roger Chase (R)

Lynn Schneider (R)

District 23

Spencer Gosch (R)

Charles Hoffman (R)

District 24

Will Mortenson (R)

Mike Weisgram (R)

District 25

Jon Hansen (R)

Tom Pischke (R)

District 26A

Shawn Bordeaux (D)

District 26B

Rebecca Reimer (R)

District 27

Elizabeth May (R)

Peri Pourier (D)

District 28A

Oren Lesmeister (D)

District 28B

J. Marty (R)

District 29

Kirk Chaffee (R)

Dean Wink (R)

District 30

Tim Goodwin (R)

Trish Ladner (R)

District 31

Mary Fitzgerald (R)

Scott Odenbach (R)

District 32

Becky Drury (R)

Chris Johnson (R)

District 33

Taffy Howard (R)

Phil Jensen (R)

District 34

Mike Derby (R)

Jess Olson (R)

District 35

Tina Mulally (R)

Tony Randolph (R)

Republican Party (62)

Democratic Party (8)

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