Incumbency no protection as GOP primary brings upsets of longtime lawmakers
Election results guarantee overhaul of South Dakota Legislature
The make up of the South Dakota Legislature will be significantly different in 2025, after hard-right GOP candidates pulled off upsets over a handful of longtime incumbents.
Driven by no top of the ticket races and low voter turnout overall, at least half a dozen sitting Republican lawmakers within the party’s more moderate faction were dispatched Tuesday, setting the stage for major changes in in the makeup of both the House and the Senate next year.
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Chief among those were the defeats of Sens. Erin Tobin and Jean Hunhoff. Tobin, who joined the Legislature in 2020 in an upset bid that unseated a longtime incumbent, has been considered by many of her more like minded colleagues to be a “rising star” within the party, while Hunhoff has long headed the Legislature’s powerful, budget-setting Appropriations Committee and is the longest serving female lawmaker in state history.
Both lost to lesser known, outsider candidates.
Other races that came up with surprising results included the defeat of veteran House lawmaker Tamara St. John, Rep. Tyler Tordsen in District 14, and former Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch regaining his former seat in north central South Dakota, defeating Rep. James Wangsness. Former House lawmaker and congressional candidate Taffy Howard also advanced out of the primary.
On the other side of the column, Rep. Stephanie Sauder was able to defeat district mate Fred Deutsch in a narrow bid to represent District 4 in the Senate, though those results are narrow enough to entitle Deutsch to a recount. Lee Qualm, a former majority leader and target of moderate political activist groups, also lost, though he too is entitled to a recount.
Results as of 1 a.m. June 5 are listed below, current to the time this story was published:
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 01
Logan Manhart: 38%
Tamara St. John: 28%
Christopher Reder: 34%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 02
Jake Schoenbeck: 16%
John Sjaarda: 46%
David Kull: 38%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 03
Katherine (Katie) Washnok: 48%
Carl Perry: 52%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 04 (POSSIBLE RECOUNT)
Fred Deutsch: 49%
Stephanie Sauder: 51%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 04
Dylan C. Jordan: 25%
Vanessa Namken: 23%
Barbara Guenette: 20%
Kent Roe: 32%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 05 (POSSIBLE RECOUNT)
Byron I. Callies: 27%
Josephine Garcia: 27%
Matt Roby: 46%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 06
Wendi Hogan: 27%
Herman Otten: 33%
Aaron Aylward: 40%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 07
Roger DeGroot: 35%
Jeffrey A. Struwe: 27%
Mellissa Heermann: 38%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 08
Casey Crabtree: 72%
Rick Weible: 28%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 08
Matt Wagner: 31%
Tim Walburg: 34%
Tim Reisch: 35%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 09
Joy Hohn: 74%
Mark K. Willadsen: 26%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 09
Bethany Soye: 35%
Kristi Golden: 20%
Daryl Christensen: 16%
Tesa Schwans: 28%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 11 (POSSIBLE RECOUNT)
Bill Linsenmeyer: 12%
Brian K. Mulder: 29%
Keri K. Weems: 29%
John C. Kunnari: 29%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 12
Amber Arlint: 40%
Greg Jamison: 33%
Manny Steele: 27%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 13
John Hughes: 34%
Brad Jankord: 26%
Penny Baybridge: 5%
Tony Venhuizen: 34%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 14
Tony Kayser: 35%
Taylor Rae Rehfeldt: 39%
Tyler Tordsen: 26%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 16
Kevin D. Jensen: 65%
Eric Hohman: 35%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 16
Karla J. Lems: 48%
Richard Vasgaard: 35%
Brian J. Burge: 16%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 17
Sydney Davis: 67%
Jeffrey Church: 33%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 17
William (Bill) Shorma: 42%
Chris Kassin: 50%
Robin J. Schiro: 8%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 18
Lauren Nelson: 52%
Jean M. Hunhoff: 48%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 18
Mike Stevens: 33%
Julie Auch: 39%
John R. Marquardt: 29%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 19
Drew Peterson: 30%
Steven Mettler: 26%
Jessica Bahmuller: 45%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 21 (POSSIBLE RECOUNT)
Erin Tobin: 49%
Mykala Voita: 51%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 21 (POSSIBLE RECOUNT)
Lee Qualm: 29%
Marty Overweg: 40%
Jim Halverson: 31%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 22
Kevin Van Diepen: 34%
Terry Nebelsick: 29%
Lana Greenfield: 37%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 23
Steven Ray Roseland: 44%
Mark Lapka: 56%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 23
Spencer Gosch: 37%
Scott Moore: 42%
James D. Wangsness: 21%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 25
Jordan Youngberg: 32%
Tom Pischke: 68%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 27
Gerald M. Cournoyer Jr.: 34%
Red Dawn Foster: 66%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 27
Anthony G. Kathol: 60%
Bruce Whalen: 40%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 28
Susan M. Peterson: 45%
Sam Marty: 55%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 28A
Ryan Maher: 44%
Jana Hunt: 56%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 28B
Travis Ismay: 55%
Travis W. Martin: 45%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 29
Kirk Chaffee: 45%
John Carley: 55%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 29
Gary L. Cammack: 30%
Terri Jorgenson: 35%
Kathy Rice: 36%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 30
Amber Hulse: 45%
Forrest Foster: 12%
Julie Frye-Mueller: 43%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 30
Pat Baumann: 24%
Matt Smith: 22%
Trish Ladner: 23%
Stephen Saint: 6%
Tim Goodwin: 22%
Matthew Monfore: 4%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 31
Randy Deibert: 59%
Kate Crowley-Johnson: 41%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 31
Mark Mowry: 27%
Mary J. Fitzgerald: 29%
Scott Odenbach: 44%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 32
Steve Duffy: 42%
John Robert James: 26%
Brook Kaufman: 32%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 33
David Johnson: 47%
Curt Voight: 53%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 34
Jason Green: 49%
Taffy Howard: 51%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 34
Heather Baxter: 35%
Mike Derby: 37%
Becky J. Drury: 28%
STATE SENATOR - DISTRICT 35
Greg Blanc: 54%
Curtis Nupen: 7%
Michael A. Walsh: 39%
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Wave election bringing change.
"On the other side of the column, Rep. Stephanie Sauder was able to defeat district mate Fred Deutsch in a narrow bid to represent District 4 in the Senate, though those results are narrow enough to entitle Deutsch to a recount." Well it is SOMETHING?