South Dakota has cast its electoral votes in 33 elections since gaining statehood in 1889. The Democratic ticket has carried the state only four times. In the other 29 elections, South Dakota supported the Republican ticket, often by large margins. Note: A version of this post has been added to the Online Almanac of South Dakota Politics and will be kept up-to-date there.
In 1912, the Republican nominee for President was William Howard Taft, the incumbent, who prevailed at the national convention against former President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt subsequently accepted the nomination of the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party. In South Dakota, the Republican Party was controlled by progressives, who selected a Republican slate pledged to Roosevelt. This means that, in South Dakota in 1912, Roosevelt was the Republican nominee and Taft did not appear on the ballot.
The presidential ticket that won the largest share of the vote in South Dakota was the Republican ticket of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, when the pair was first elected in 1952. Following that was the Reagan/Bush reelection in 1984, the Trump/Pence reelection in 2020, the original Trump/Pence ticket in 2016, and the Reagan/Bush ticket in 1980.
The largest margin of victory in South Dakota was won by the Republican ticket of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge in 1920, which benefited from a Democratic ticket that lost support to the third-party Nonpartisan League.
The closest finish in South Dakota was in 1896, when the Democratic ticket of William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewell carried South Dakota, prevailing by just 0.22% against the Republican McKinley/Hobart ticket. Bryan, a Nebraskan, was also supported by the Populist Party, which also narrowly won the South Dakota governorship and both U.S. House seats that year.
Here is how South Dakota has voted in each presidential election, beginning in 1892. (A third party is only listed if it received at least 5% of the vote):
| Year | GOP Ticket | GOP% | DEM Ticket | DEM% | 3rd Party 5%+ | 3rd% |
| 1892 | Benjamin Harrison / Whitelaw Reid | 49.48% | Grover Cleveland / Adlai E. Stevenson | 12.88% | Weaver / Field (Populist) | 37.64% |
| 1896 | William McKinley / Garret Hobart | 49.48% | William Jennings Bryan / Arthur Sewell | 49.70% | ||
| 1900 | William McKinley / Theodore Roosevelt | 56.73% | William Jennings Bryan / Adlai E. Stevenson | 41.14% | ||
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt / Charles W. Fairbanks | 56.42% | Alton B. Parker / Henry G. Davis | 37.59% | ||
| 1908 | William Howard Taft / James S. Sherman | 58.84% | William Jennings Bryan / John W. Kern | 35.08% | ||
| 1912 | Theodore Roosevelt / Hiram Johnson | 50.56% | Woodrow Wilson / Thomas R. Marshall | 42.07% | ||
| 1916 | Charles Evans Hughes / Charles W. Fairbanks | 49.80% | Woodrow Wilson / Thomas R. Marshall | 45.91% | ||
| 1920 | Warren G. Harding / Calvin Coolidge | 60.35% | James Cox / Franklin D. Roosevelt | 19.72% | Christiansen / Hayes (Nonpartisan League) | 19.04% |
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge / Charles Daws | 49.69% | John W. Davis / Charles W. Bryan | 13.35% | LaFollette / Wheeler (Progressive) | 36.96% |
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover / Charles Curtis | 60.18% | Alfred E. Smith / Joseph T. Robinson | 39.20% | ||
| 1932 | Herbert Hoover / Charles Curtis | 34.40% | Franklin D. Roosevelt / John Nance Garner | 63.62% | ||
| 1936 | Alfred M. Landon / Frank Knox | 42.49% | Franklin D. Roosevelt / John Nance Garner | 54.02% | ||
| 1940 | Wendell Willkie / Charles McNary | 57.41% | Franklin D. Roosevelt / Henry A. Wallace | 42.59% | ||
| 1944 | Thomas E. Dewey / John Bricker | 58.33% | Franklin D. Roosevelt / Harry S. Truman | 41.67% | ||
| 1948 | Thomas E. Dewey / Earl Warren | 51.84% | Harry S. Truman / Alben W. Barkley | 47.04% | ||
| 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower / Richard Nixon | 69.27% | Adlai E. Stevenson / John J. Sparkman | 30.73% | ||
| 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower / Richard Nixon | 58.39% | Adlai E. Stevenson / Estes Kefauver | 41.61% | ||
| 1960 | Richard Nixon / Henry Cabot Lodge | 58.21% | John F. Kennedy / Lyndon B. Johnson | 41.79% | ||
| 1964 | Barry Goldwater / William Miller | 44.39% | Lyndon B. Johnson / Hubert H. Humphrey | 55.61% | ||
| 1968 | Richard Nixon / Spiro Agnew | 53.27% | Hubert H. Humphrey / Edmund S. Muskie | 41.96% | ||
| 1972 | Richard Nixon / Spiro Agnew | 54.15% | George S. McGovern / Sargent Shriver | 45.52% | ||
| 1976 | Gerald R. Ford / Robert J. Dole | 50.39% | Jimmy Carter / Walter F. Mondale | 48.91% | ||
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan / George Bush | 60.53% | Jimmy Carter / Walter F. Mondale | 41.01% | Anderson / Flint (Ind.) | 6.10% |
| 1984 | Ronald Reagan / George Bush | 63.00% | Walter F. Mondale / Geraldine Ferraro | 36.53% | ||
| 1988 | George Bush / Dan Quayle | 52.85% | Michael Dukakis / Lloyd Bentsen | 46.51% | ||
| 1992 | George Bush / Dan Quayle | 40.66% | William J. Clinton / Al Gore | 37.14% | Perot / Stockdale (Ind.) | 21.80% |
| 1996 | Robert J. Dole / Jack Kemp | 46.49% | William J. Clinton / Al Gore | 43.03% | Perot / Campbell (Ind.) | 9.65% |
| 2000 | George W. Bush / Richard B. Cheney | 60.30% | Al Gore / Joseph Lieberman | 37.56% | ||
| 2004 | George W. Bush / Richard B. Cheney | 59.91% | John Kerry / John Edwards | 38.44% | ||
| 2008 | John McCain / Sarah Palin | 53.16% | Barack Obama / Joseph R. Biden | 44.75% | ||
| 2012 | Mitt Romney / Paul Ryan | 57.89% | Barack Obama / Joseph R. Biden | 39.87% | ||
| 2016 | Donald J. Trump / Micheal Pence | 61.53% | Hillary Rodham Clinton / Tim Kaine | 31.74% | Johnson / Weld (Libertarian) | 5.63% |
| 2020 | Donald J. Trump / Micheal Pence | 61.77% | Joseph Biden / Kamala Harris | 35.61% | Jorgensen / Cohen (Libertarian) | 2.63% |
Here is that same list, sorted this time by Republican margin, measured against the second-pace ticket. The four Democratic tickets that carried South Dakota are listed at the end, expressed as negative Republican margins.
| Year | GOP Margin | GOP Ticket | GOP% | DEM Ticket | DEM% | 3rd Party 5%+ | 3rd% |
| 1920 | 40.63% | Harding / Coolidge | 60.35% | Cox / Roosevelt | 19.72% | Christiansen / Hayes (NPL) | 19.04% |
| 1952 | 38.54% | Eisenhower / Nixon | 69.27% | Stevenson / Sparkman | 30.73% | ||
| 2016 | 29.79% | Trump / Pence | 61.53% | Clinton / Kaine | 31.74% | Johnson / Weld (Libtn) | 5.63% |
| 1984 | 26.47% | Reagan / Bush | 63.00% | Mondale / Ferraro | 36.53% | ||
| 2020 | 26.16% | Trump / Pence | 61.77% | Biden / Harris | 35.61% | Jorgensen / Cohen (Lbtn) | 2.63% |
| 1908 | 23.76% | Taft / Sherman | 58.84% | Bryan / Kerm | 35.08% | ||
| 2000 | 22.74% | Bush / Cheney | 60.30% | Gore / Lieberman | 37.56% | ||
| 2004 | 21.47% | Bush / Cheney | 59.91% | Kerry / Edwards | 38.44% | ||
| 1928 | 20.98% | Hoover / Curtis | 60.18% | Smith / Robinson | 39.20% | ||
| 1980 | 19.52% | Reagan / Bush | 60.53% | Carter / Mondale | 41.01% | Anderson / Flint (IND) | 6.10% |
| 1904 | 18.83% | Roosevelt / Fairbanks | 56.42% | Parker / Davis | 37.59% | ||
| 2012 | 18.02% | Romney / Ryan | 57.89% | Obama / Biden | 39.87% | ||
| 1956 | 16.78% | Eisenhower / Nixon | 58.39% | Stevenson / Kefauver | 41.61% | ||
| 1944 | 16.66% | Dewey / Bricker | 58.33% | Roosevelt / Truman | 41.67% | ||
| 1960 | 16.42% | Nixon / Lodge | 58.21% | Kennedy / Johnson | 41.79% | ||
| 1900 | 15.59% | McKinley / Roosevelt | 56.73% | Bryan / Stevenson | 41.14% | ||
| 1940 | 14.82% | Willkie / McNary | 57.41% | Roosevelt / Wallace | 42.59% | ||
| 1924 | 12.73% | Coolidge / Dawes | 49.69% | Davis / Bryan | 13.35% | LaFollette / Wheeler (PROG) | 36.96% |
| 1892 | 11.84% | Harrison / Reid | 49.48% | Cleveland / Stevenson | 12.88% | Weaver / Field (POP) | 37.64% |
| 1968 | 11.31% | Nixon / Agnew | 53.27% | Humphrey / Muskie | 41.96% | ||
| 1972 | 8.63% | Nixon / Agnew | 54.15% | McGovern / Shriver | 45.52% | ||
| 1912 | 8.49% | Roosevelt / Johnson | 50.56% | Wilson / Marshall | 42.07% | ||
| 2008 | 8.41% | McCain / Palin | 53.16% | Obama / Biden | 44.75% | ||
| 1988 | 6.34% | Bush / Quayle | 52.85% | Dukakis / Bentsen | 46.51% | ||
| 1948 | 4.80% | Dewey / Warren | 51.84% | Truman / Barkley | 47.04% | ||
| 1916 | 3.89% | Hughes / Fairbanks | 49.80% | Wilson / Marshall | 45.91% | ||
| 1992 | 3.52% | Bush / Quayle | 40.66% | Clinton / Gore | 37.14% | Perot / Stockdale (IND) | 21.80% |
| 1996 | 3.46% | Dole / Kemp | 46.49% | Clinton / Gore | 43.03% | Perot / Campbell (IND) | 9.65% |
| 1976 | 1.48% | Ford / Dole | 50.39% | Carter / Mondale | 48.91% | ||
| 1896 | -0.22% | McKinley / Hobart | 49.48% | Bryan / Sewell | 49.70% | ||
| 1964 | -11.22% | Goldwater / Miller | 44.39% | Johnson / Humphrey | 55.61% | ||
| 1936 | -11.53% | Landon / Knox | 42.49% | Roosevelt / Garner | 54.02% | ||
| 1932 | -29.22% | Hoover / Curtis | 34.40% | Roosevelt / Garner | 63.62% |
SoDak Governors 