2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election

2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Kristi Noem Billie Sutton Party Republican Democratic Running mate Larry Rhoden Michelle Lavallee Popular vote 172,912 161,454 Percentage 51.0% 47.6%

County results Noem:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Sutton:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

Governor before election Dennis Daugaard Republican Elected Governor Kristi Noem Republican

Elections in South Dakota
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Ballot measures 2006 Amendment C 2008 Measure 9 Measure 10 2020 Amendment A Measure 26
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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[]

Republican primary results

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[]

Libertarian convention delegate vote results^[22]

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[]

• Rick Gortmaker^[28][23]

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

Endorsements[]

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[]

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2018^[58]

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[]

External links[]

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

• Kristi Noem (R) for Governor
• Billie Sutton (D) for Governor
• Kurt Evans (L) for Governor