2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election
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Elections in South Dakota |
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The 2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor Dennis Daugaard was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
Republican candidate Kristi Noem won against Democratic candidate Billie Sutton in the closest gubernatorial election in South Dakota since 1986, when Republican candidate George S. Mickelson (51.8%) defeated Democratic nominee Ralph Lars Herseth (48.2%) with a 152,543 to 141,898 advantage.[1] Noem also became the first female governor of the state. Her victory extended the longest active hold on a governorship by one party; the GOP has won every gubernatorial election in South Dakota since 1978.
Republican primary[]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Kristi Noem, U.S. Representative, former State Representative[2][3]
- Marty Jackley, Attorney General of South Dakota[4][5]
Failed to qualify for Primary Ballot[]
- Lora Hubbel, former State Representative, Republican candidate for Governor in 2014[6]
Declined[]
- Matt Michels, Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota[7]
- Mark Mickelson, Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives[8][9][10]
Debates[]
Jackley and Noem participated in three debates.
First Debate[]
In the first debate both candidates tried to define the other. Jackley stated: “It’s Washington experience versus South Dakota experience.” “Marty’s background has been being a government lawyer,” Noem said.[11]
Second Debate[]
In the second debate, Noem discussed Jackley’s scandals. “In EB5, the state oversite program, nobody went to jail. On Gear-Up, still, nobody’s been punished. When we talk about what’s been going on in Brookings with the Global Aquaponics scam—a con artist, Tobias Ritesman, held a fundraiser for Marty Jackley. Marty attended his phony groundbreaking for his phony project,” Noem says. “People lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Still, nobody’s been investigated and nobody’s been prosecuted. That needs to change in our state.”
Jackley was on the defensive during the second debate. “Congresswoman, he didn’t hold a fundraiser for me. I was at an event that he was at, and I did go to a ground breaking because that’s what important in South Dakota,” Jackley says. “When we have businesses expanding I think it’s important that we attend those. You talk about Gear-Up, there hasn’t been a sentencing because these defendants are presumed innocent. But I as attorney general, unlike Washington, have done something about it. I actually formed a grand jury. Indictments have been issued. They’re schedule to begin jury trials in July—or, excuse me—June, June 26th and I plan on trying those personally, because that’s what a leader does.” [12]
Final Debate[]
In the final debate, Jackley and Noem took tough questions about workforce development, anti-discrimination laws, drugs, uniting democrats and republicans in the state to make critical decisions and much more. While they spent a lot of time talking about their plans for the state, they also spent a lot of time attacking each others' records. A major topic of contention you might not expect? Boards and commissions. The state currently has 134 of them. Noem says she wants to streamline different processes for licensure, eliminating "red tape" but Jackley disagrees. "Every time that a proposal comes forward to create a new 'blue ribbon' task force, a board or a commission, what typically comes with that is another layer of bureaucracy," Noem said. Jackley defended the government bureaucracy. "We need a governor that understands that various different boards, isn't out there criticizing different boards and saying that type of service isn't important," Jackley said. Jackley spoke about putting together a task force to work on government transparency and open records laws. "I'm committed when I become governor to put forth a taskforce ...because we need to take a look at the open records law," he said. And they both ended the debate with another jab at one another. "It really comes to down to Washington experience versus South Dakota experience," Jackley said. "The congresswoman has been spending considerable time and effort talking about Marty Jackley, but I'm talking about you, South Dakota." "Days ago he stood up and talked about protecting victims while behind the scenes he was actively working to silence one to further his political career," Noem said. "You deserve a governor who will be honest with you, who will tell you the truth and who is willing to be accountable." [13]
Polling[]
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Kristi Noem |
Marty Jackley |
Lora Hubbel[14] |
Terry LaFleur[14] |
Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mason-Dixon | May 21–23, 2018 | 625 | ± 4.5% | 45% | 44% | – | – | 11% |
Leverage Public Strategies | May 4–7, 2018 | 350 | ± 5.2% | 38% | 39% | – | – | 24% |
Clout Research (R) | April 21–23, 2018 | 815 | ± 3.4% | 49% | 37% | – | – | 14% |
Rockbridge Strategy (R) | April 4, 2018 | 500 | ± 2.9% | 44% | 33% | – | – | 23% |
Moore Information | February 8, 2018 | 300 | ± 6.0% | 40% | 35% | 5% | 2% | 18% |
New Age Consultants (R-LaFleur) | November 3, 2017 | 509 | ± 4.4% | 22% | 24% | – | 3% | 51% |
Results[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/2018_SD_gubernatorial_GOP.svg/220px-2018_SD_gubernatorial_GOP.svg.png)
- Noem—70–80%
- Noem—60–70%
- Noem—50–60%
- Jackley—50–60%
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Kristi Noem | 57,437 | 56.0% | |
Republican | Marty Jackley | 45,069 | 44.0% | |
Total votes | 102,506 | 100.0% |
Democratic primary[]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Billie Sutton, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate[15]
Declined[]
- Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. Representative[16][17]
- Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls[18][19][20]
Libertarian Party[]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Kurt Evans, former science teacher, Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senator in 2002[21]
- C.J. Abernathey[21]
Results[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Libertarian | Kurt Evans | 10 | 66.7% | |
Libertarian | C.J. Abernathey | 5 | 33.3% | |
Total votes | 15 | 100.0% |
Constitution Party[]
Following an internal controversy within the Constitution Party of South Dakota over who was the legal party chair, Dan Lederman—individually and in his capacity as chair of the South Dakota Republican Party—sued Republican secretary of state Shantel Krebs to prevent her from certifying any Constitution Party nominees for the general-election ballot. For somewhat complex reasons, state circuit judge Patricia DeVaney ruled in favor of the Republican Party on August 17.[23][24]
G. Matt Johnson and Lora Hubbel—Constitution Party nominees for the state's at-large U.S. House seat and governor respectively—then sued Krebs in federal court on August 29 seeking ballot access for themselves and four other Constitution Party nominees. For various procedural reasons, federal district judge Roberto Lange ruled against the Constitution Party on October 1.[25][26][27]
Candidates[]
Declared[]
- Lora Hubbel, former State Representative, Republican candidate for Governor in 2014[23]
- Terry LaFleur[23]
Withdrawn[]
Independents[]
Candidates[]
Declined[]
- Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls[20][29][30]
- Lora Hubbel, former State Representative, Republican candidate for Governor in 2014[6][23]
General election[]
Candidates[]
- Kristi Noem (Republican), U.S. Representative
- Running mate: Larry Rhoden, State Representative[31]
- Billie Sutton (Democratic), Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate
- Running mate: Michelle Lavallee, Businesswoman[32]
- Kurt Evans (Libertarian), 2002 nominee for U.S. Senator
- Running mate: Richard Shelatz, Vice-Chairman of the Libertarian Party of South Dakota[33]
Predictions[]
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report[34] | Tossup | October 26, 2018 |
The Washington Post[35] | Tossup | November 5, 2018 |
FiveThirtyEight[36] | Lean R | November 5, 2018 |
Rothenberg Political Report[37] | Tilt R | November 1, 2018 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball[38] | Lean R | November 5, 2018 |
RealClearPolitics[39] | Tossup | November 4, 2018 |
Daily Kos[40] | Lean R | November 5, 2018 |
Fox News[41][a] | Lean R | November 5, 2018 |
Politico[42] | Tossup | November 5, 2018 |
Governing[43] | Tossup | November 5, 2018 |
- Notes
- ^ The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races
Endorsements[]
- Federal officials
- State officials
- Dave Volk, former Republican State Treasurer[52]
- Dave Knudson, former Republican Majority Leader of the South Dakota Senate[52]
- Stan Adelstein, former Republican State Senator[52]
- Kay Jorgensen, former Republican State Representative[52]
- Joyce Hodges, former Republican State Representative[52]
- Mark DeVries, former Republican State Representative[52]
- Dick Werner, former Republican State Representative[52]
- County and local officials
- Jim Schmidt, Republican Lincoln County Commissioner[52]
- Carol Twedt, former Republican Minnehaha County Commissioner[52]
- Rick Knobe, former Republican Mayor of Sioux Falls[52]
- Labor unions
- South Dakota Education Association[53]
- Organizations
- Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association[54]
- Newspapers
Polling[]
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Kristi Noem (R) |
Billie Sutton (D) |
Kurt Evans (L) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Change Research | November 2–4, 2018 | 851 | – | 45% | 51% | 2% | – | – |
Emerson College | November 1–4, 2018 | 514 | ± 4.5% | 48% | 47% | – | 1% | 5% |
Mason-Dixon | October 29–31, 2018 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 47% | 44% | 1% | – | 8% |
Mason-Dixon | October 18–22, 2018 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 45% | 45% | 1% | – | 9% |
ALG Research (D-Sutton) | September 20–24, 2018 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 42% | 45% | 3% | – | 10% |
ALG Research (D-Sutton) | July 19–25, 2018 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 46% | 42% | – | – | 13% |
ALG Research (D-Sutton) | October 4–9, 2017[57] | 500 | ± 4.4% | 53% | 40% | – | – | – |
Results[]
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 |
References[]
- ^ Ellis, Jonathon (November 6, 2018). "Yes, South Dakota has had close governor races, but it's been awhile". Argus Leader. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- ^ Tan, Tiffany (February 5, 2016). "Noem open to running for governor". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ Hagen, Lisa (November 14, 2016). "South Dakota rep. launches gubernatorial bid". The Hill. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- ^ "Marty Jackley moves $700K toward governor run". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "SD Attorney General Marty Jackley Jumps into 2018 Governors Race | Radio 570 WNAX". Radio 570 WNAX. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ a b Epp, Todd (March 27, 2018). "UPDATE: Who is officially on ballot for Governor, House? Hubbel running as independent". KELO Newstalk. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ Dockendorf, Randy (March 31, 2017). "Michels Says He Won't Run For Governor". Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
- ^ Ellis, Jonathan (February 14, 2015). "Noem, Mickelson, Jackley eye governor". Argus Leader. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ Holland, Jim (April 16, 2016). "Mark Mickelson visit could presage run for the governorship". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ "Mark Mickelson Says He Won't Run For Governor In 2018". KELOLAND News. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ "Jackley and Noem battle in TV debate". capjournal.com. May 28, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ "GOP Governor Candidates Spar Over Transparency During SDPB TV Debate". sdpb.org. May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ "Jackley, Noem face-off in final contentious debate before primary election". dakotanewsnow.com. May 31, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- ^ a b hypothetical Republican candidate, seeking Constitution Party nomination
- ^ Ferguson, Dana (May 31, 2017). "Democrats, Sutton enter South Dakota governor race". Argus Leader. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ Woster, Kevin (October 3, 2015). "Disaffected Democrats ready to return to Herseth Sandlin — in the governor's race". KELO-TV. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ Raposa, Megan (February 23, 2017). "Herseth Sandlin: 'I am done seeking political office'". Argus Leader. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Ellis, Jonathan (November 5, 2015). "Mayor says he'll need 'suicide watch' when term ends". Argus Leader. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ Tupper, Seth (November 10, 2015). "Beginning of the Huether for Governor tour?". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ a b Anderson, Patrick (December 19, 2016). "Huether dumps Dems amid speculation of statewide run". Argus Leader. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ a b Bardash, Ellen (May 21, 2018). "Evans announces run for Libertarian Party nomination". Mitchell Daily Republic. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ Heidelberger, Cory (June 10, 2018). "Libertarian Party Resets, Picks Evans over Abernathey for Governor". Dakota Free Press. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Epp, Todd (August 15, 2018). "Constitution Party has two gubernatorial candidates--for now". KELO Newstalk. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Askins, Dave (August 19, 2018). "Libertarians listed first on South Dakota ballots". Pierre Capital Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Peters, Anna (August 30, 2018). "South Dakota Candidates File Lawsuit To Get On November Ballot". KELO-TV. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Mallory, Brady (September 27, 2018). "Federal Judge Hears Constitution Party Members' Lawsuit". KELO-TV. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Winger, Richard (October 3, 2018). "South Dakota Constitution Party Asks Federal Court to Put Its Nominees on Ballot and to Resolve Intra-Party Dispute, but Court Declines". Ballot Access News. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Heidelberger, Cory (June 17, 2018). "Gortmaker Challenges LaFleur for Constitution Party Nomination for Governor". Dakota Free Press. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ Sneve, Joe (March 7, 2017). "Huether moves hint at 2018 run". Argus Leader. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Collen, Courtney (March 23, 2017). "Sitting down with Mayor Mike and Cindy Huether Sitting down with Mike and Cindy Huether". KSFY. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Ferguson, Dana (June 20, 2018). "Kristi Noem names long-time state lawmaker Larry Rhoden as running mate". Argus Leader. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- ^ Ferguson, Dana (June 14, 2018). "Billie Sutton names running mate right before SD Democractic Party meet in Sioux Falls". Argus Leader. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- ^ Venhuizen, Tony (June 10, 2018). "Libertarians and the modern history of minor party candidates for SD Governor". SoDak Governors. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Governor Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
- ^ "The Washington Post's gubernatorial race ratings". The Washington Post. October 16, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Governor Forecast | FiveThirtyEight". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ^ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2018 Governor". www.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ^ "2018 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. October 9, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Governor Race Ratings". Daily Kos. June 5, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "2018 Midterm Power Ranking". Fox News.
- ^ "Politico Race Ratings". Politico.
- ^ "2018 Governor Elections: As November Nears, More Governors' Races Become Tossups". www.governing.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
- ^ "Trump endorses Noem in South Dakota". The Washington Post. September 7, 2018.
- ^ Mike Pence. "PROUD to stand with @KristiNoem - the next Governor of the Great State of South Dakota! Go vote @KristiNoem tomorrow!". Twitter.
- ^ a b c d Tupper, Seth (October 23, 2018). "Four days after saying he was undecided, Jackley endorses Noem". Rapid City Journal.
- ^ Ivanka Trump. "I appreciate the great work of @RepKristiNoem to deliver massive tax cuts + much needed relief to hard working American families! She is a tireless champion for the great people of South Dakota! VOTE for Kristi Noem for Governor!". Twitter.
- ^ "SD RIGHT TO LIFE ENDORSES NOEM". Kristi for Governor. August 29, 2018.
- ^ "NRA endorses Kristi Noem for governor". KSFY. September 24, 2018.
- ^ Mearhoff, Sarah (October 25, 2018). "SD bombshell: Poll shows governor's race dead heat in deep red state". The Globe. The Globe. Archived from the original on November 4, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ^ "Sutton Picks Up Republican Endorsements". KDLT. KDLT. October 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mercer, Bob (October 30, 2018). "Election Analysis: Democrats Seeking Republican Votes". KELO. Nexstar Media Group.
- ^ Royal, Allison (September 11, 2018). "South Dakota Education Association Endorses Billie Sutton - KDLT". KDLT. KDLT-TV.
- ^ "Sutton Gathers Input from Nine Tribes; Receives Endorsement of Tribal Chairmen | Lakota Country Times". www.lakotacountrytimes.com. Lakota Country Times. September 6, 2018.
- ^ "Editorial: Billie Sutton makes sense for South Dakota". Argus Leader. Argus Leader. October 18, 2018.
- ^ "OURS: Journal endorses Sutton for governor". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City Journal. October 19, 2018.
- ^ Mehta, Aaron Bycoffe, Ritchie King and Dhrumil (28 June 2018). "South Dakota Governor Polls". FiveThirtyEight.
- ^ "South Dakota Secretary of State" (PDF). sdsos.gov.
External links[]
- Candidates at Vote Smart
- Candidates at Ballotpedia
- Official campaign websites
- 2018 South Dakota elections
- 2018 United States gubernatorial elections
- South Dakota gubernatorial elections