The 2024 general election is in the books, as voters have once again elected Republican supermajorities to the South Dakota State Legislature.
Republicans have won a 32-3 majority in the State Senate, gaining one seat. In the State House, Republicans will hold a 64-6 majority, also gaining one seat. That means that Republicans will hold 96 of the 105 legislative seats, while there will be just 9 Democrats. That’s a gain for the Republicans of two seats, and the strongest level of Republican control since 1953. (In 1953, Republicans controlled the State Senate 35-0 and the State House, which had 75 members at that time, 73-2.)
Remarkably, 2024 marks the 8th straight election in which Republicans have maintained legislative majorities or made gains. The last time the Democrats gained seats in the State Legislature was in 2008.
The 2025 Legislature will have between 39 women as members. That’s the most in state history, topping the record of 31 set in the 2023 Legislature. Thirteen of the female legislators will be serving for the first time. Each chamber will also set a record for female members, with the 12 female senators, exceeding the record of 11 set in 1991-92, and the House including from 27 women, exceeding the record of 23 who served in the 2023-24 House.
Notably, Republican gains mean that all nine of the state’s Indian Reservations will be represented by at least one Republican legislator.
Republicans will have a 32-3 advantage in the State Senate. They gained one seat in District 26, where Republican Tamara Grove defeated Democratic incumbent Shawn Bordeaux. The three Democratic senators all represent Democratic strongholds. Senator Liz Larson was reelected without opposition in District 10, a district in central and northeastern Sioux Falls. Senator Jamie Smith will represent District 15, the Central Sioux Falls “cathedral district.” He returns to the legislature after previously serving in the House and running for governor in 2022. District 27, which includes the Pine Ridge Reservation, will continue to be represented by Senator Red Dawn Foster.
In the House, Republicans will hold a 64-6 advantage. Republicans gained two seats, while Democrats picked up one, for a net gain of one for the Republicans:
- In District 10, which includes central and northeastern Sioux Falls, Republican Bobbi Andera defeated Democratic incumbent Kameron Nelson.
- In District 28A, which encompasses the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock reservations and includes Corson, Dewey, Perkins, and Zeibach counties, Republican Jana Hunt defeated Democrat Carl J. Peterson, winning a district that had been held by Democratic leader Oren Lesmeister, who was term-limited.
- In District 32, which includes downtown Rapid City and North Rapid, Democrat Nicole Uhre-Balk won and incumbent Republican Steve Duffy was also reelected. The second seat had been held by Republican Kristin Conzet, who did not seek reelection.
With one exception, every House Democrat will represent a Democratic stronghold, coming from Districts 10 and 15 in Sioux Falls, District 26A (which includes the Rosebud Reservation), and District 27 (which includes the Pine Ridge Reservation). Uhre-Balk, elected from District 32 in Rapid City, is the exception; she is the first Democrat elected to the legislature from Rapid City since Tom Katus was elected to the Senate in 2006, and the first to serve in the House since Mike Wilson, who was elected in 1998.
Although a number of incumbent legislators lost in the 2024 primary election, Senator Shawn Bordeaux and Representative Kameron Nelson are the only incumbents to lose in the general election. No Republican incumbent lost on Tuesday, including those who sought to switch houses.
A majority of the Senate will be new to the body in 2025. Of the 35 senators, 16 are incumbents, 5 are moving from the House, 4 are former legislators returning to legislative service, and 10 are first-time legislators. In the 70-member House, there will be 40 returning incumbents, 2 moving from the Senate, 6 returning after prior legislative service, and 22 new members.
(There will likely be a recount for the House in District 15, where Democrat Eric Muckey defeated Republican Joni Tschetter by just 7 votes.)
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