South Dakota voters delivered a mix of decisive victories and unresolved races in Tuesday’s primary election, with a Republican gubernatorial contest heading toward a historic runoff while incumbents and high-profile candidates cruised in other top races.
Statewide turnout reached approximately 34.5%, with more than 171,000 ballots cast out of roughly 497,000 registered voters, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s office.
Governor’s Race Heads to Runoff
The most closely watched contest — the Republican primary for governor — remained unsettled late Tuesday as no candidate cleared the state’s 35% threshold required to win outright.
With just one precinct in the state left to be reported, businessman Toby Doeden led the four-way race with 31% of the vote, followed by incumbent Gov. Larry Rhoden at 25%, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson is just under 2,500 votes behind Rhoden with 23%, and House Speaker Jon Hansen at 21%.
Because no candidate surpassed the threshold, the top two finishers — Doeden and Rhoden — are expected to advance to a July runoff election, a rare scenario that has not been triggered in decades under South Dakota law.
The winner of that contest will face Democrat Dan Ahlers, who was unopposed for his party’s nomination.
Rounds Easily Wins GOP Senate Nomination
In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Republican Mike Rounds secured renomination in commanding fashion, defeating challenger Justin McNeal with roughly 76% of the vote.
Rounds now advances to the general election, where he will face Democrat Julian Beaudion, who also ran unopposed in the primary.
Jackley Wins Open U.S. House Seat by Wide Margin
In the race for South Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat, Republican Attorney General Marty Jackley delivered one of the night’s most decisive wins, earning about 79% of the vote against James Bialota.
The seat became open after Rep. Dusty Johnson opted to run for governor. Jackley will now face Democrat Nicole Gronli, who secured her party’s nomination unopposed.
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