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| Elections in South Dakota |
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The 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 2, 2010 along other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.[1][2]
Background
Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. In spite of his lack of seniority, Thune rose to the position of chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the United States Senate.
No members of the South Dakota Democratic Party (or any other party) filed to challenge Thune. Scott Heidepriem, the South Dakota Senate Minority Leader and a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota, said, "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate."[3] There were approximately 90,000 undervotes compared to the concurrent gubernatorial election.
General election
Candidate
- John Thune, incumbent U.S. Senator
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Cook Political Report[4] | Solid R | October 26, 2010 |
| Rothenberg[5] | Safe R | October 22, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics[6] | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Safe R | October 21, 2010 |
| CQ Politics[8] | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
Polling
| Poll source | Date (s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
John Thune (R) |
Generic Democrat |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling | December 10–13, 2009 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 56% | 33% | — | 11% |
| Public Policy Polling | January 5, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 56% | 43% | — | 5% |
| Public Policy Polling | April 5, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 58% | 34% | — | 5% |
| Public Policy Polling | June 5–8, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 54% | 44% | — | 5% |
Fundraising
| Candidate (Party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Thune (R) | $6,282,750 | $2,988,648 | $7,194,549 | $0 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission[9] | ||||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Thune (incumbent) | 227,947 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 227,947 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Beadle (Largest city: Huron)
- Bon Homme (Largest city: Springfield)
- Brown (Largest city: Aberdeen)
- Brule (Largest city: Chamberlain)
- Charles Mix (Largest city: Wagner)
- Corson (Largest city: McLaughlin)
- Deuel (Largest city: Clear Lake)
- Grant (Largest city: Milbank)
- Jerauld (Largest city: Wessington Springs)
- Kingsbury (Largest city: De Smet)
- Lake (Largest city: Madison)
- Miner (Largest city: Howard)
- Minnehaha (Largest city: Sioux Falls)
- Moody (Largest city: Flandreau)
- Sanborn (Largest city: Woonsocket)
- Brookings (largest city: Brookings)
- Aurora (largest city: Plankinton)
- Bennett (largest city: Martin)
- Clark (largest city: Clark)
- Edmunds (largest city: Ipswich)
- Faulk (largest city: Faulkton)
- Hand (largest city: Miller)
- Jackson (largest city: Kadoka)
- Lyman (largest city: Lower Brule)
- Spink (largest city: Redfield)
- Yankton (largest city: Yankton)
- Day (Largest city: Webster)
- Roberts (Largest city: Sisseton)
- Ziebach (Largest city: Dupree)
- Marshall (largest city: Britton)
- Oglala Lakota (largest city: Pine Ridge)
- Todd (largest city: Mission)
- Buffalo (largest city: Fort Thompson)
- Mellette (Largest city: White River)
- Clay (Largest city: Vermillion)
- Dewey (Largest city: North Eagle Butte)
References
- ↑ "Republican Sen. John Thune unopposed by Democrats". KCAU-TV. April 1, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Kurt Evans drops out of SD race for US Senate". KCAU-TV. April 29, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
- ↑ Brokaw, Chet (April 1, 2010). "S.D. Dems Skip Senate Race Against GOP's Thune". Yankton Press & Dakotan. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
- ↑ "Senate". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ↑ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ↑ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ↑ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ↑ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ↑ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for South Dakota". fec.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
- ↑ Secretary of State - Election Night Results - November 2nd, 2010
External links
- South Dakota Elections and Voter Registration from the Secretary of State
- U.S. Congress candidates for South Dakota at Project Vote Smart
- South Dakota U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
- Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
- 2010 South Dakota Senate General Election graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
- 2010 South Dakota Senate Race from CQ Politics
- Race profile from The New York Times
- Official campaign websites