Red Dawn Foster

Red Dawn Foster

Democratic Party

South Dakota State Senate District 27

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

6

Predecessor

Kevin Killer

Compensation

Base salary

$13,436/year

Per diem

$166/day for legislators who reside more than 50 miles away from the capitol

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Contact

Official website

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal Instagram

Red Dawn Foster (Democratic Party) is a member of the South Dakota State Senate, representing District 27. She assumed office on January 8, 2019. Her current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Foster (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the South Dakota State Senate to represent District 27. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Appropriations Committee

2021-2022

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Commerce and Energy Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Senate Local Government Committee

2019-2020

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Senate Transportation Committee
• Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Incumbent Red Dawn Foster defeated Anthony Kathol in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster (D)	52.0	3,807
	Submit photo	Anthony Kathol (R)	48.0	3,518

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,325
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Incumbent Red Dawn Foster defeated Gerald Cournoyer Jr. in the Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster	72.9	401
	Submit photo	Gerald Cournoyer Jr.	27.1	149

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 550
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Anthony Kathol defeated Bruce Whalen in the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Kathol	60.0	689
		Bruce Whalen	40.0	460

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,149
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Foster in this election.

Pledges

Foster signed the following pledges.

• U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Incumbent Red Dawn Foster defeated David Jones in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster (D)	51.4	3,179
	Submit photo	David Jones (R)	48.6	3,000

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,179
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Red Dawn Foster advanced from the Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. David Jones advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27.

2020

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Incumbent Red Dawn Foster defeated Judd Schomp in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster (D)	56.3	3,829
		Judd Schomp (R)	43.7	2,978

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,807
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Red Dawn Foster advanced from the Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Judd Schomp advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27.

2018

See also: South Dakota State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Red Dawn Foster defeated Bill Hines in the general election for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster (D)	58.6	3,673
	Submit photo	Bill Hines (R)	41.4	2,598

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,271
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Red Dawn Foster defeated James Bradford in the Democratic primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Red Dawn Foster	55.6	628
		James Bradford	44.4	502

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 1,130
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27

Bill Hines advanced from the Republican primary for South Dakota State Senate District 27 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Bill Hines

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the South Dakota House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 29, 2016. Incumbent Kevin Killer (D) did not seek re-election.

Incumbent Elizabeth May and Steve Livermont defeated Red Dawn Foster, James Bradford and Everette McKinley in the South Dakota House of Representatives District 27 general election.

South Dakota House of Representatives, District 27 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Elizabeth May Incumbent	25.97%	2,905
	Republican	Steve Livermont	25.45%	2,847
	Democratic	Red Dawn Foster	23.35%	2,612
	Democratic	James Bradford	22.09%	2,471
	Independent	Everette McKinley	3.14%	351
Total Votes				11,186
Source: South Dakota Secretary of State

Red Dawn Foster and James Bradford were unopposed in the South Dakota House of Representatives District 27 Democratic primary.

South Dakota House of Representatives, District 27 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Red Dawn Foster
	Democratic	James Bradford

Incumbent Elizabeth May and Steve Livermont were unopposed in the South Dakota House of Representatives District 27 Republican primary.

South Dakota House of Representatives, District 27 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Elizabeth May Incumbent
	Republican	Steve Livermont

This district was included in the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's list of "2016 Essential Races." Read more »

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Red Dawn Foster did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Red Dawn Foster did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Red Dawn Foster did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Red Dawn Foster campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	South Dakota State Senate District 27	Won general	$26,569	$0
2022	South Dakota State Senate District 27	Won general	$25,267	$0
2020	South Dakota State Senate District 27	Won general	$8,742	N/A**
2018	South Dakota State Senate District 27	Won general	$4,756	N/A**
Grand total			$65,334	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in South Dakota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Dakota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 26. Elevate Rapid City Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community. Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes related to business. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. South Dakota Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 27. Elevate Rapid City Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community. Family Heritage Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes related to business. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 28. Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota/New Approach South Dakota/South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws Legislators are scored on their votes related to cannabis. Elevate Rapid City Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community. Family Heritage Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes related to business. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. South Dakota Multi-Housing Association Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to housing. South Dakota Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 29. Americans for Prosperity - South Dakota Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Elevate Rapid City Legislators are scored on their stances related to the Rapid City business community. Family Heritage Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes related to business. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. South Dakota Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 30. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Family Heritage Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. South Dakota Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].
In 2019, the South Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 29. Family Heritage Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. SD Citizens For Liberty Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2024 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Officeholder

South Dakota State Senate District 27

Website

Personal

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Twitter

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Kevin Killer (D)	South Dakota State Senate District 27 2019-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the South Dakota State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Jim Mehlhaff

Minority Leader:Liz Larson

Senators

District 1

Michael Rohl (R)

District 2

Steve Kolbeck (R)

District 3

Carl Perry (R)

District 4

Stephanie Sauder (R)

District 5

Glen Vilhauer (R)

District 6

Ernie Otten (R)

District 7

Tim Reed (R)

District 8

Casey Crabtree (R)

District 9

Joy Hohn (R)

District 10

Liz Larson (D)

District 11

Chris Karr (R)

District 12

Arch Beal (R)

District 13

Sue Peterson (R)

District 14

Larry Zikmund (R)

District 15

Jamie Smith (D)

District 16

Kevin Jensen (R)

District 17

Sydney Davis (R)

District 18

Lauren Nelson (R)

District 19

Kyle Schoenfish (R)

District 20

Paul Miskimins (R)

District 21

MyKala Voita (R)

District 22

Brandon Wipf (R)

District 23

Mark Lapka (R)

District 24

Jim Mehlhaff (R)

District 25

Tom Pischke (R)

District 26

Tamara Grove (R)

District 27

Red Foster (D)

District 28

J. Marty (R)

District 29

John Carley (R)

District 30

Amber Hulse (R)

District 31

Randy Deibert (R)

District 32

Helene Duhamel (R)

District 33

Curt Voight (R)

District 34

Taffy Howard (R)

District 35

Greg Blanc (R)

Republican Party (32)

Democratic Party (3)