SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota primary election is wrapping up and with results as of 10:28 p.m. Tuesday, there were some incumbents who lost their seats or had very close races.
At 8:38 a.m., 100% of the precincts had fully reported, according to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s website.
Click the election results below to learn the results.
Election results
In District 1, Republican Rep. Tamara St. John will not return to the House as Logan Manhurt and Christopher Reder will advance to the November election.
Republican Rep. Byron Callies is one incumbent who appears to have lost. Callies lost in District 27 with 1,077 votes or 27%. Josephine Garcia and Matt Roby were declared the winners in that race. Garcia also had 27% of the vote. This is one of at least three races where a recount is possible, according to the Secretary of State website.
District 21 Republican Sen. Erin Tobin lost to Mykala Voita 49% to 51%, but this race is also a possible recount race.
The voter turnout was at 12% as of 10:30 p.m. That’s lower than the 32% in 2022 which had been the highest since 2010 with a 35% voter turnout. It had been about 28% in 2020. In other years it was in the low to mid 20% from 2020 to 2014.
Biden wins Democrat primary
The results show Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden won the primary with 74% of the vote as of 10:04 p.m. Biden received 8,250 votes as of 10:04 p.m.
Vote totals climbing to increased percentage but still low
Voting totals had reached 12% of the state’s 591,153 registered voters or 71,129 voters as of 10:26 p.m. Of the votes cast, 12,357 have been Democrat and 43,823 have been Republican. This was as of 10:04 p.m.
The SOS is updating results about every five minutes.
Click the election results below to learn the results.
The election is for 26 RepublicanHouse of Representatives racesand 18SenateRepublican races. Winners of the primary election will represent their district on the November ballot.
The number of candidates vying for state or local county seats may have played a role in voter turnout. The state had 26 RepublicanHouse of Representatives racesand 18SenateRepublican contested races. Two candidates from the Republican party in House races and one from Senate races will advance to the November election. There is one contested Democratic state race.
What was the voter turnout like at some Sioux Falls precincts?
With about an hour left before polls closed at 7 p.m. CT, the voter turnout in precincts 5-1 and 5-2 in District 15 had not improved greatly since about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Precinct 5-2 had 31 votes while precinct 5-1 had 68 votes.
Poll workers Jennifer Foss said although there was a contested county commissioner race in District 15 which could have drawn voters, the district has many registered Democrats. The district does not have any state or local contested Democratic primary races.
One-hundred-ninety three votes were cast by around 4 p.m. Tuesday at the District 11 voting site of Good News Church along 26th Street in western Sioux Falls.
District 11 had contested state races in the Republican party.
“This isn’t great,” poll worker Nancy Lehr said.
“I would have liked a larger turnout,” poll worker Tracy Hohm said.
The voting site was tracking at about 10% turnout of registered voters, poll worker Tyler Roberts said.
KELOLAND News election resources
- Voter registration information
- Meet the candidates: District 14 House race
- Meet the candidates: District 11 House race
- Meet the candidates: District 6 House race
- Meet the candidates: District 13 House race
- Meet the candidates: District 2 House race
- Spending reports are rolling in for Senate primary races
Several blocks west at Memorial Middle School the poll workers precinct 3-16 in District 9 were more optimistic.
As of about 4:07 p.m., there were 201 votes cast, said poll workers.
“I think it’s encouraging that this many turned out for a primary election,” poll worker Anne McGoffin said.
District 15 precinct 5-1 poll worker Jess Hariri said a lower voter turnout should not be in the norm for the area. “We shouldn’t get used to people not turning out,” Hariri said.
District 9 had contested races in the Republican party.
Across the Memorial Middle School gym poll workers were in the 3-17 precinct where 80 people had voted as of about 4 p.m. The turnout doesn’t seem high, especially with the number of registered voters, poll workers said.
Poll workers said the registered voting list had 5,000 registered voters.
“That seems like a high number of people,” poll worker Dawn Hartigan said of the number of registered voters.
Poll worker Peggy Teslow said it’s likely a chunk of those registered voters lived in apartments and have moved out of the district.
“They need to get re-registered,” Teslow said.
The 2:45 p.m. turnout in 2 District 15 precincts
Voter turnout in precincts 5-1 and 5-2 in District 15 as of 2:45 p.m. was low, poll workers said. District 15 has a contest race the state House.
Still, the turnout as of 2:45 p.m. was “kind of sad,” said first-time poll worker Jadeyn Foss. Foss was working with her brother Jayse and mom Jennifer on Tuesday in precinct 5-2. All three are active voters.
The primary election should have drawn more voters, all eight poll workers at the two precincts said.
“We have a big race for county commission,” Jennifer Foss, who said she was a Republican. “Those are the people who decide where the (public) funds go.”
Poll worker Polly Mosey said at the rate of voting by mid-afternoon, the voter turnout could be lower than the 7.7% in the April city election.
“We still have time,” Hariri said.
Mosey said it may take a miracle to improve the numbers.
Wayne Kerslake was one the voters in Lincoln County who was out voting earlier Tuesday.
“I want the people out there who believe like I do and would vote the way I want them to,” Kerslake said.
A poll worker at one precinct in Lincoln County said the turnout was slow to steady late Tuesday morning.
For registered Democratic and Independent voters, there is only one local primary. That race is in Senate in District 27. All Democratic and Independent voters can vote for the Democratic Presidential nominee between Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson and Armando Perez-Serrato.
View South Dakota primary sample ballot
The ballot for each voter will differ depending upon what county and what legislative district you live. To view a sample ballot or find your polling location, use the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Voter Information Portal.
This election also includes several county commissioner races as well as some local ballot issues.
The polls close at 7 p.m. local time in CT and MT.
Find my legislative district
KELOLAND News will be covering the election and updating this story throughout the day.
KELOLAND reporter Kelli Volk contributed to this story.
