2020 South Dakota Senate election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →
All 35 seats in the South Dakota Senate 18 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	64.31%[1]
Majority party Minority party   Leader Kris Langer (retiring) Troy Heinert Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 25th district 26th district Seats before 30 5 Seats won 32 3 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 271,017 78,110 Percentage 72.83% 20.99%
Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold Results by gains and holds      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%      50–60% Results by winning party vote share
Majority Leader before election Kris Langer Republican Majority Leader after election Gary Cammack Republican

Elections to the South Dakota Senate were held on November 3, 2020 as a part of the biennial elections in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Voters in 35 single-member constituencies elected members to the 93rd Senate. Elections were also held in the state for U.S. president, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, and the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Primary elections were held on June 2, 2020.^[2]

Background

The Republican Party had been in majority control of the Senate since 1995, and had not come close to losing it since then. Although the Democratic Party held some support from urban areas and districts with a large Native American population, they had been losing seats over time; the last time Democrats held a number of seats in the double digits was 2010.

Predictions

Results

Overview

Summary of the November 3, 2020 South Dakota Senate election

Party		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats
					Before	After	+/–
	Republican	35	271,017	72.83	30	32	2
	Democratic	17	78,110	20.99	5	3	2
	Libertarian	7	13,938	3.75	0	0
	Independent	2	9,045	2.43	0	0
Total			372,110	100.00	35	35
Registered/Turnout			578,655	64.31
Source: South Dakota Secretary of State

Popular vote

Republican			72.83%
Democratic			20.99%
Libertarian			3.75%
Others			2.43%

Senate seats

Republican			91.43%
Democratic			8.57%

Election results

^[4]

See also

• 2020 South Dakota elections
• 2020 United States state legislative elections

References