The 2026 general election once again returned Republican supermajorities to the South Dakota State Legislature, but Democrats gained legislative seats for the first time in 18 years. The new Legislature will also include a record number of female senators and a large number of new members.
Republicans will hold a 33-2 majority in the State Senate, gaining one seat, and will hold 59 of the 70 seats in the State House. Democrats gained five House seats, all in Sioux Falls, while an independent won one House seat.
Overall, Republicans will control 92 of the 105 legislative seats, Democrats will hold 12, and an independent will hold one. That represents a net gain of four seats for Democrats, who will have their largest legislative delegation since 2019-20, when they held 16 seats.
This is the first election since 2008 in which Democrats have gained legislative seats. That year, Democrats won 14 Senate seats and 25 House seats, for a total of 39. Despite this year’s gains, Republicans will continue to hold nearly 88% of the seats in the Legislature. (See the partisan makeup of the State Legislature throughout history here.)
State Senate
Republicans will hold a 33-2 advantage in the State Senate, gaining one seat from the previous Legislature. That’s the most lopsided the chamber has been since 1953, when Republicans held all 35 seats.
The two remaining Democratic senators will both represent Sioux Falls: Liz Larson, who was reelected in District 10; and Erik Muckey, who was elected from District 15 after serving a term in the State House. The Republican gain came in District 27, where Republican Anthony Kathol won the seat previously held by Democrat Red Dawn Foster. Kathol defeated Democrat Celestine Stadnick and independent Peri Pourier, a term-limited representative who had been elected as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party last year.
The new Senate will include 26 returning senators and nine members who did not serve in the Senate last year. Of those nine, five will be serving in the Legislature for the first time, three are moving over from the State House, and one – former Senator Dave Johnson of Rapid City – is returning to his old seat.
The Senate will also set a new record for female representation. Thirteen of the 35 senators will be women, exceeding the previous record of 12 in 2025-26.
There will be no tribal members in the Senate, however – a first since legislative redistricting first created a majority-tribal legislative district in the 1980s. The previous Senate had two tribal members: Democrat Red Dawn Foster, who was term-limited, and Republican Tamara Grove, who lost reelection in the primary.
State House
In the State House, Republicans will hold 59 seats, Democrats will hold 10, and one seat will be held by an independent.
Democrats won five seats, all in Sioux Falls districts:
- District 10: Adam Bair and Kathleen Brudvig won both House seats. The district was previously represented by Democrat Erin Healy, who was term-limited, and Republican Bobbi Andera, who lost in the Republican primary.
- District 11: Sonja Mentzer defeated incumbent Republican Keri Weems, as Republican Brian Mulder retained the other seat.
- District 12: Stephanie Arne won an open seat against Republican Kerry Loudenslager, as incumbent Amber Arlint held the other seat.
- District 13: Ali Rae Horsted defeated incumbent Republican John Hughes, while incumbent Jack Kolbeck was reelected.
- District 14: Erinn Williams won a House seat, defeating former Republican Representative Tyler Tordsen, as incumbent Taylor Rehfeldt retained her seat.
In addition, independent Evangeline Poor Bear of Pine Ridge was elected in District 27 alongside incumbent Liz May, taking the place of Representative Peri Pourier, who was term-limited. Pourier had been elected four times as a Democrat, but in her last year had become a Republican. Poor Bear is the first independent elected to the Legislature since Jenna Hagger of District 15 in Sioux Falls in 2010; she was subsequently reelected as a Republican.
The House will also see considerable turnover. Exactly half of the 70 representatives will be new to the House compared to last year. Of those 35 members, 30 will be serving in the Legislature for the first time, while five are former representatives returning to the House: Fred Deutsch of Florence (District 4), Byron Callies of Watertown (District 5), Dick Werner of Herreid (District 23), Gary Cammack of Union Center (District 29), and Becky Drury of Rapid City (District 34). Notably, both Werner and Drury will represent different districts than they previously served. Werner previously represented District 22 from his former home in Huron from 2013-16, and Drury previously represented District 32 in Rapid City from 2021-24.
The new House will include 25 women, two fewer than the historic high of 27 elected in 2024. Two tribal members will serve in the House: Eric Emery of Rosebud, and Evangeline Poor Bear of Pine Ridge. It was just four years ago, in 2022, that a record eight tribal members were elected to the Legislature – two senators and six representatives.
The House will also include June CopperStad of Sioux Falls, who will become only the fourth African American to serve in the South Dakota Legislature. She follows Chet Jones, a Brandon Democrat who served from 1993-96; Tony Randolph, a Rapid City Republican who served 2019-26; and Tamara Grove, who was both African-American and a tribal member, and who served 2025-26.
Women and new legislators
Overall, the 2027 Legislature will include 38 women, one fewer than the record 39 elected in 2024. Although the overall number will decline slightly, the Senate will set a new record with 13 women, while the House will have 25, just below its record of 27.
The Legislature will also include 35 first-time legislators, exactly one-third of the 105 members. Five of those newcomers will serve in the Senate, and 30 in the House. Turnover will be particularly pronounced in the House, where exactly half of the members did not serve in that chamber during the previous legislative session.
Next to come is the election of legislative leaders, which will be taking place over the next few days. Once they are selected, the table will be set for the 102nd South Dakota State Legislature to convene on January 12, 2027.
