2018 South Dakota elections

2018 South Dakota elections

November 6, 2018

The 2018 South Dakota elections were held on November 6, 2018. All of South Dakota's executive officers were up for election as well as South Dakota's at-large seat in the United States House of Representatives.

United States House of Representatives

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota

Incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Kristi Noem did not run for re-election and instead ran for governor.^[1] Republican Dusty Johnson won the general election.

South Dakota's at-large congressional district, 2018^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dusty Johnson	202,446	60.35%	−3.75%
	Democratic	Tim Bjorkman	120,816	36.01%	+0.11%
	Independent	Ron Wieczorek	7,313	2.18%	N/A
	Libertarian	George D. Hendrickson	4,896	1.46%	N/A
Total votes			335,471	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Main article: 2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election

Incumbent Republican governor Dennis Daugaard was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. Republican Kristi Noem narrowly won the general election

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2018^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kristi Noem	172,912	50.97%	−19.50%
	Democratic	Billie Sutton	161,454	47.60%	+22.17%
	Libertarian	Kurt Evans	4,848	1.43%	N/A
Total votes			339,214	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Attorney general

Main article: 2018 South Dakota Attorney General election

Incumbent Republican attorney general Marty Jackley was term-limited and could not run for a third term. Jackley unsuccessfully ran for governor. Republican Jason Ravnsborg won becoming the next attorney general.

Results

2018 South Dakota Attorney General election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jason Ravnsborg	179,071	55.16%	−5.07%
	Democratic	Randy Seiler	145,558	44.84%	+12.26%
Total votes			324,629	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

Republican primary

Lawrence County State's Attorney John Fitzgerald, Chief Deputy Attorney General Charlie McGuigan, and attorney and 2014 U.S. Senate candidate Jason Ravnsborg ran for the Republican nomination and won.^[5][6][7]

Democratic primary

Former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota, Randy Seiler won the nomination at the South Dakota Democratic Convention.

Secretary of State

Final results by county:

  Barnett

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90%

  Frederick

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Shantel Krebs did not run for re-election and instead unsuccessfully ran for Congress.^[8] Governing magazine projected the race as "safe Republican".^[9] Steve Barnett ran for the Republican nomination and won.^[10] He easily won the general election.

South Dakota Secretary of State election, 2018^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Steve Barnett	211,064	65.17%
	Democratic	Alexandra Frederick	112,807	34.83%
Total votes			323,871	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

State Treasurer

Final results by county:

  Haeder

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%

  Matson

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Rich Sattgast was term-limited and could not run for a third term. Josh Haeder, Northeast Director for Senator Mike Rounds, ran for the Republican nomination and won.^[12] He easily won the general election.

South Dakota State Treasurer election, 2018^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Josh Haeder	195,019	62.35%
	Democratic	Aaron Matson	117,763	37.65%
Total votes			312,782	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

State Auditor

Final results by county:

  Sattgast

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%

  Cool

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

Incumbent Republican state auditor Steve Barnett was term-limited and could not run for a third term. Republican Rich Sattgast won the general election.

South Dakota State Auditor election, 2018^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rich Sattgast	202,055	64.01%
	Democratic	Tom Cool	113,628	35.99%
Total votes			315,683	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Commissioner of School and Public Lands

Final results by county:

  Brunner

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90%

  Houser

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Brunner (incumbent)	193,434	62.4
	Democratic	Woody Houser	116,786	37.6
Total votes			310,220	100.0
	Republican hold

Public Utilities Commissioner

Final results by county:

  Fiegen

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%

  Frederick

•      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90%

South Dakota Public Utilities Commission^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kristie Fiegen (incumbent)	206,436	65.5
	Democratic	Wayne Frederick	108,925	34.5
Total votes			315,361	100.0
	Republican hold

References

1. Ellis, Jonathan (November 14, 2016). "Noem announces historic bid for governor". Argus Leader. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
2. Johnson, Cheryl L. (February 28, 2019). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 2018". Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
3. "South Dakota Secretary of State" (PDF). sdsos.gov.
4. "2018 General Election Canvass" (PDF). SDSOS. November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
5. Griffith, Tom (March 17, 2017). "Lawrence County State's Attorney in race for state AG". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
6. Powers, Pat (March 13, 2017). "Deputy AG McGuigan informs State's Atty's of his intention to run for AG". South Dakota War College. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
7. Dockendorf, Randy (February 21, 2017). "Ravnsborg Announces Run For S.D. Attorney General". Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
8. Ferguson, Dana (March 13, 2017). "Krebs announces bid for U.S. House seat". Argus Leader. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
9. Jacobson, Louis (June 4, 2018). "Secretary of State Races Are More Competitive and Important Than Ever". Governing. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
10. Taylor, Jack (April 24, 2017). "Steve Barnett wants Shantel Kreb's job". KELO. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
11. "South Dakota Secretary of State" (PDF). sdsos.gov.
12. "Huron man announces bid for S.D. state treasurer". Argus Leader. Associated Press. March 21, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
13. "South Dakota Secretary of State" (PDF). sdsos.gov.
14. "South Dakota Secretary of State" (PDF). sdsos.gov.
15. South Dakota Public Lands Commissioner election, 2018 - Ballotpedia
16. South Dakota Public Utilities Commission election, 2018 - Ballotpedia

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia
• Campaign finance at OpenSecrets

Official Attorney General campaign websites

• Jason Ravnsborg (R) for Attorney General
• Randy Seiler (D) for Attorney General

Official Secretary of State campaign websites

• Steve Barnett (R) for Secretary of State
• Alexandra Frederick (D) for Secretary of State

Official State Treasurer campaign websites

• Josh Haeder (R) for Treasurer
• Aaron Matson (D) for Treasurer

Official Commissioner of School and Public Lands campaign websites

• Ryan Brunner (R) for Commissioner

Official Public Utilities Commissioner campaign websites

• Kristie Fiegen (R) for Public Utilities Commissioner