Rankings of the biggest wins for SD Governor are posted here.
| YEAR | WINNER | PARTY | % | RUNNER-UP | PARTY | % | OTHER % |
| 1889 | Arthur C. Mellette | R | 69.4 | P. F. McClure | D | 30.6 | |
| 1890 | Arthur C. Mellette* | R | 44.5 | Henry L. Loucks | IND1 | 31.7 | 23.8 |
| 1892 | Charles H. Sheldon | R | 47.5 | Abraham L. Van Osdel | IND1 | 32.0 | 20.6 |
| 1894 | Charles H. Sheldon* | R | 52.6 | Isaac Howe | IND1 | 34.6 | 12.7 |
| 1896 | Andrew E. Lee | POP2 | 49.8 | Amund O. Ringsrud | R | 49.4 | 0.9 |
| 1898 | Andrew E. Lee* | POP2 | 49.7 | Kirk G. Phillips | R | 49.2 | 1.2 |
| 1900 | Charles N. Herreid | R | 56.3 | Burre H. Lien | POP2 | 42.0 | 1.7 |
| 1902 | Charles N. Herreid* | R | 64.7 | John W. Martin | D | 28.7 | 6.5 |
| 1904 | Samuel H. Elrod | R | 68.3 | Louis N. Crill | D | 24.7 | 7.0 |
| 1906 | Coe I. Crawford | R | 65.3 | John A. Stransky | D | 26.7 | 8.0 |
| 1908 | Robert S. Vessey | R | 55.3 | Andrew E. Lee | D | 39.4 | 5.3 |
| 1910 | Robert S. Vessey* | R | 58.4 | Chauncey L. Wood | D | 35.9 | 5.8 |
| 1912 | Frank M. Byrne | R | 48.9 | Edwin S. Johnson | D | 46.1 | 5.0 |
| 1914 | Frank M. Byrne* | R | 50.1 | James W. McCarter | D | 35.2 | 14.7 |
| 1916 | Peter Norbeck | R | 56.6 | Orville V. Rinehart | D | 39.3 | 4.0 |
| 1918 | Peter Norbeck* | R | 53.2 | Mark P. Bates | IND3 | 26.1 | 20.7 |
| 1920 | William H. McMaster | R | 56.3 | Mark P. Bates | NPL3 | 26.3 | 17.3 |
| 1922 | William H. McMaster* | R | 45.0 | Louis N. Crill | D | 28.7 | 26.2 |
| 1924 | Carl Gunderson | R | 53.9 | William J. Bulow | D | 22.9 | 23.2 |
| 1926 | William J. Bulow | D | 47.4 | Carl Gunderson* | R | 40.3 | 12.3 |
| 1928 | William J. Bulow* | D | 52.5 | Buell F. Jones | R | 46.9 | 0.6 |
| 1930 | Warren E. Green | R | 53.0 | David A. McCullough | D | 46.2 | 0.8 |
| 1932 | Tom Berry | D | 55.6 | Warren E. Green* | R | 42.4 | 2.0 |
| 1934 | Tom Berry* | D | 58.6 | William C. Allen | R | 40.7 | 0.7 |
| 1936 | Leslie Jensen | R | 51.6 | Tom Berry* | D | 48.4 | |
| 1938 | Harlan J. Bushfield | R | 54.0 | Oscar Fosheim | D | 46.0 | |
| 1940 | Harlan J. Bushfield* | R | 55.1 | Lewis W. Bicknell | D | 44.9 | |
| 1942 | M. Q. Sharpe | R | 61.5 | Lewis W. Bicknell | D | 38.5 | |
| 1944 | M. Q. Sharpe* | R | 65.5 | Lynn Fellows | D | 34.5 | |
| 1946 | George T. Mickelson | R | 67.2 | Richard Haeder | D | 32.8 | |
| 1948 | George T. Mickelson* | R | 61.1 | Harold J. Volz | D | 38.9 | |
| 1950 | Sigurd Anderson | R | 60.9 | Joe Robbie | D | 39.1 | |
| 1952 | Sigurd Anderson* | R | 70.2 | Sherman Iverson | D | 29.8 | |
| 1954 | Joe Foss | R | 56.7 | Ed C. Martin | D | 43.3 | |
| 1956 | Joe Foss* | R | 54.4 | Ralph Herseth | D | 45.6 | |
| 1958 | Ralph Herseth | D | 51.4 | Phil Saunders | R | 48.6 | |
| 1960 | Archie Gubbrud | R | 50.7 | Ralph Herseth* | D | 49.3 | |
| 1962 | Archie Gubbrud* | R | 56.1 | Ralph Herseth | D | 43.9 | |
| 1964 | Nils Boe | R | 51.7 | John Lindley | D | 48.3 | |
| 1966 | Nils Boe* | R | 57.7 | Robert Chamberlin | D | 42.3 | |
| 1968 | Frank Farrar | R | 57.7 | Robert Chamberlin | D | 42.3 | |
| 1970 | Richard F. Kneip | D | 54.8 | Frank Farrar* | R | 45.2 | |
| 1972 | Richard F. Kneip* | D | 60.0 | Carv Thompson | R | 40.0 | |
| 1974 | Richard F. Kneip* | D | 53.6 | John E. Olson | R | 46.4 | |
| 1978 | William J. Janklow | R | 56.6 | Roger D. McKellips | D | 43.4 | |
| 1982 | William J. Janklow* | R | 70.9 | Michael O’Connor | D | 29.1 | |
| 1986 | George S. Mickelson | R | 51.8 | R. Lars Herseth | D | 48.2 | |
| 1990 | George S. Mickelson* | R | 58.9 | Robert L. Samuelson | D | 41.1 | |
| 1994 | William J. Janklow | R | 55.4 | James Beddow | D | 40.5 | 4.1 |
| 1998 | William J. Janklow* | R | 64.0 | Bernie Hunhoff | D | 32.9 | 3.1 |
| 2002 | M. Michael Rounds | R | 56.8 | James W. Abbott | D | 41.9 | 1.3 |
| 2006 | M. Michael Rounds* | R | 61.7 | Jack Billion | D | 36.1 | 2.2 |
| 2010 | Dennis Daugaard | R | 61.5 | Scott N. Heidepriem | D | 38.5 | |
| 2014 | Dennis Daugaard* | R | 70.5 | Susan Wismer | D | 25.4 | 4.1 |
| 2018 | Kristi Noem | R | 51.0 | Billie H. Sutton | D | 47.6 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | Kristi Noem* | R | 62.0 | Jamie R. Smith | D | 35.2 | 2.9 |
* Denotes incumbent candidates.
- Loucks, Van Osdel and Howe did not run as candidates “independent” of a party but rather as nominees of the populist “Independent Party.”
- Lee, a Populist, was elected in 1896 on a “People’s” ticket supported by Democrats, Populists and “Free Silver” Republicans. A Democratic-Populist “fusion” ticket nominated Lee in 1898 and Lien in 1900.
- In 1918, Bates ran as an independent, backed by the Nonpartisan League. In 1920, the Nonpartisan League nominated a statewide slate of candidates, including Bates.
SoDak Governors 