Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: South Dakota State Legislature
From Ballotpedia
October 31, 2012
By Ballotpedia's State legislative team
| South Dakota's State Legislative Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate seats | Contested senate seats | House seats | Contested house seats |
| 35 | 21 (60.0%) | 70 | 34 (48.6%) |
PIERRE, South Dakota: There are 105 total legislative seats with 2012 elections in South Dakota, where polling places are open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Any voter at the polling place prior to 7:00 pm is allowed to cast a ballot. South Dakota is divided between Central and Mountain time zones.
Republicans have a commanding 30-5 advantage in the Senate, as well as the House where they hold 50 of the 70 seats.
Of the 105 incumbents up for election in 2012, 71 (67.6%) of them are running for re-election. A total of 55 of 105 (52.4%) districts will see more than one major party candidate in the general election.
Here are a few races to watch:
Senate
- District 2: Incumbent Jim Hundstad (D) is retiring due to term limits. Senator Art Fryslie (R) will try to win the seat for Republicans, while Chuck Welke will attempt to keep it for Democrats.
- District 3: Rep. H. Paul Dennert (D) will take on incumbent Al Novstrup (R).
- District 4: Rep. Steven Street (D) will face incumbent Tim Begalka (R), who defeated Speaker of the House Val Rausch in the primary.
House
- District 14 is currently split, with incumbent Marc S. Feinstein (D) and incumbent R. Shawn Tornow (R) looking to keep their seats. Two more challengers, Jeff Winters (D) and Larry P. Zikmund (R) are in the fray as well.
| South Dakota State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 5 | 7 | |
| Republican Party | 30 | 28 | |
| Total | 35 | 35 | |
| South Dakota House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 19 | 17 | |
| Republican Party | 50 | 53 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 70 | 70 | |
Articles
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: South Dakota Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- State legislative elections, 2012
- South Dakota elections, 2012
Footnotes
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