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Key 2024 election takeaways: Trump sets tone for South Dakota Republican rout

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Key 2024 election takeaways: Trump sets tone for South Dakota Republican rout


The Republican rampage that propelled Donald Trump to the White House with majorities in the U.S. Senate and possibly the U.S. House of Representatives was felt strongly in conservative South Dakota.

Not just in candidate races, where GOP establishment favorites Rep. Dusty Johnson and Kristie Fiegen easily won re-election to Congress and South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, respectively.

But also on ballot measures, where progressive priorities such as abortion rights, grocery tax repeal and legalized recreational marijuana all went down to defeat, as did open primaries and even an attempt to get rid of male-only references in the state constitution, which fell prey to the uproar over pronouns.

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The only winning ballot initiative efforts involved the core conservative principle of work requirements for Medicaid expansion and the populist rancor over carbon pipelines, which led to Referred Law 21 going down in flames.

In state legislative races, delayed in some cases by the glacial pace of vote counting in Minnehaha County, South Dakota Republicans increased their super majority to 32-3 in the Senate and 64-6 in the House, setting up intraparty battles for leadership between establishment and populist factions.

Johnson, taking the stage at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Sioux Falls after being lauded by U.S. Sen. John Thune and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, talked about fighting back against inflation, illegal immigration, crime and government spending under a Trump administration and possible Republican trifecta.

“I’m here to tell you that’s not easy work, but it’s going to get a whole lot easier to get done after what we’ve seen tonight,” Johnson said to cheers from the party faithful on a night that seemed like an endless stream of positive news for the GOP and soul-searching for everyone else.

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Here are a few other main takeaways from South Dakota’s 2024 election.

Trump ended up with 65% of the statewide vote in South Dakota, a slight improvement of his 62% showings in 2016 and 2020.

The general perception was that the former president’s resounding triumph nationally set the stage for what happened in South Dakota, from ballot amendments tanking to Republicans securing convincing legislative wins in vulnerable districts.

Inflation and the rising cost of living during the Biden Administration were big factors that led Monte Sandal of New Underwood to vote for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. Sandal, 55, owns a restaurant in New Underwood and a hot-tub servicing business in the Black Hills and has about 25 employees overall.

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Sandal said inflation has made it difficult to afford food products at his restaurant and the chemicals needed to service about 600 hot tubs he has under contract.

“This election will dictate if my prices will increase because I’ve been eating a lot of costs the past few years,” he said.

Sandal said Trump’s demeanor has given him some pause but that, overall, he wants a business-focused president in the White House.

“I don’t know if I’d want to sit down and have a beer with the guy,” he said. “But you can’t argue with his policies because he’s a businessman and I like a business way of thinking.”

One of the main questions entering the election was whether South Dakota Democrats could improve their strikingly low representation in Pierre, where Republicans outnumbered the junior party 94-11 the past two years, including 63-7 in the House and 31-4 in the Senate.

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The short answer is no.

Republicans actually gained a Senate seat to make it 32-3, with Tamara Grove knocking off Democratic incumbent Shawn Bordeaux in District 26, which includes the Rosebud Indian Reservation and the West River I-90 corridor of Chamberlain, Presho and Murdo.

Former gubernatorial candidate Jamie Smith won District 15 in north-central Sioux Falls, holding the seat previously held by fellow Democrat Reynold Nesiba.

But other Democratic Senate hopefuls in Sioux Falls such as Clay Hoffman (District 12) and Sandra Henry (District 14) fell short. So did Sarah Carda, the Yankton School Board president who was seen as a strong candidate against Republican Lauren Nelson in District 18, which includes Yankton and Clay counties.

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Nelson, who ran to Jean Hunhoff’s right in the primary on a platform of limited government, property rights and Second Amendment protections, rode the Republican wave on Tuesday night to a comfortable victory with 57% of the vote.

Republicans also picked up a seat in the House to increase their advantage to 64-6, a low-water mark for the Democrats over the past two decades.

In District 26A, Republicans prevailed as populist Jana Hunt handily defeated Democrat Carl Peterson to take the seat formerly held by House Minority Leader Oren Lesmeister, who was term-limited.

Also, Kameron Nelson of Sioux Falls was ousted in District 10, where fellow Democratic incumbent Erin Healy (38%) and Republican Bobbi Andera (32%) finished ahead of Nelson (30%) in a tight race.

Democrats gained a seat in District 32 (Rapid City), where Nicole Uhre-Balk joined Republican Steve Duffy as the two top vote-getters.

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All eyes now turn to Pierre, where intraparty GOP battles for leadership positions will heavily influence the Legislature’s policy-making machinery in 2025 and 2026.

Can a surge among populist candidates on the Republican right, animated by the carbon pipeline issue, lead to changes in caucus leadership, threatening the ability of the party’s pro-business establishment to craft and control policy?

Right now it’s too close to call in the Senate and leaning establishment in the House, but an influx of new members makes it tough to assess.

The votes are scheduled for Friday night, so the suspense won’t last long.

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There was a marked difference in mood between the election night gatherings for anti-abortion Life Defense Fund and progressive petition group Dakotans for Health, which sponsored Amendment H to enshrine abortion rights in the South Dakota Constitution.

At the Best Western Ramkota in Sioux Falls, Republican state legislator Jon Hansen and longtime anti-abortion advocate Leslee Unruh flew their “No on G” banner proudly as results showed the amendment barely getting 40% of the statewide vote.

Hansen hoisted a glass of wine in the hotel corridor as Unruh spoke to News Watch about the momentum of the anti-abortion movement, which was reflected in out-of-state donations, ground-level organization and poll swings leading up to the election.

“I feel that there are too many people who are triggered by this conversation,” said Unruh, who noted her decades of work at the Alpha Center, a Sioux Falls pregnancy resource center. “My hotline is going to be busy with women who are hurting because they feel (animosity) from both sides, and we can’t do that. We have to meet people where they’re at.”

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Though the campaign ran radio commercials conceding that South Dakota’s restrictive abortion law “may need to be changed” in the Legislature, Unruh didn’t offer any specifics changes that she would support.

Across town at the downtown ICON Lounge, Dakotans for Health founder Rick Weiland huddled with family and friends around 11 p.m., long after most attendees departed after seeing the handwriting on the wall for Amendment G and also Initiated Measure 28, the group’s ill-fated grocery tax repeal measure.

Abortion rights measures in other states were immune to the Trumpian wave, with successful efforts in states that the former president won, such as Arizona, Missouri, Nevada and Montana.

That suggests there was more at play than just ideology and vibes in South Dakota, where voters rejected near-total abortion bans by statewide vote in 2006 and 2008.

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The fact that Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union declined to get behind Amendment G early in the process complicated efforts to raise money nationally and build an effective coalition of political and legal stakeholders.

Dakotans for Health and its volunteers found themselves on an island, outraised by a margin of 4-to-1 as the anti-abortion factions launched a robust and effective ad campaign calling the measure “too extreme.”

“We didn’t have any money to push back when they were pushing hard,” Weiland told News Watch as a few stragglers watched election coverage on a big screen. “You can do a lot of damage with 3 million bucks if you keep throwing out messages of disinformation to scare people. It’s almost like their campaign has made lying fashionable or something.”

Unruh and Hansen wouldn’t commit to whether a scheduled trial in Minnehaha County challenging Dakotans for Health’s petition efforts would proceed starting in late January. One of the requests of the lawsuit was to prohibit Dakotans for Health “and those who worked with or for it” from being involved in petition or ballot measure campaigns for a period of four years.

“There’s a lot wrong with the way these ballot initiatives are done,” said Unruh. “My name’s on (the lawsuit) and I would personally like it to go forward, but there are other people involved, so we’ll just have to see.”

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This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they’re published. Contact Stu Whitney at  at stu.whitney@sdnewswatch.org.



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South Dakota

Duke 75-71 South Dakota State (Nov 17, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

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Duke 75-71 South Dakota State (Nov 17, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN


BROOKINGS, S.D. — — Jadyn Donovan finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds to help No. 16 Duke hold off South Dakota State 75-71 on Sunday.

Donovan hit 11 of 17 shots from the floor and added four assists and four steals for the Blue Devils (4-1). It was the second double-double this season for the sophomore.

Ashlon Jackson totaled 17 points and four assists for Duke. Vanessa de Jesus scored 13 off the bench.

Brooklyn Meyer scored 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting to lead the Jackrabbits (3-1). Paige Meyer had 12 points and seven assists. Haleigh Timmer scored 11 on 5-for-7 shooting. Kallie Theisen grabbed 12 rebounds but did not score.

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Jackson had nine points to guide the Blue Devils to a 23-18 advantage after one quarter.

Donovan scored off a rebound to give Duke a 10-point lead with 90 seconds left before halftime. But Brooklyn Meyer had the only basket from there and South Dakota State trailed 38-30.

The Jackrabbits grabbed the lead at 47-45 after Timmer’s layup and two free throws by Meyer. Donovan answered with a dunk off a rebound and finished off a three-point play, and Reigan Richardson and Toby Fournier sank shots in the final 44 seconds to send the Blue Devils to the fourth quarter with a 54-50 lead.

Mesa Byom hit a 3-pointer with 7:38 left to play to pull South Dakota State even at 59. Donovan answered with another rebound basket and a jumper, and the Blue Devils stayed in front from there.

The Jackrabbits stayed within striking distance by hitting 8 of 16 shots from beyond the arc while Duke sank just 3 of 11.

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The Blue Devils return home to play Belmont on Thursday.

—— Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball



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Jackson scores 19 as South Dakota State beats Southern Miss 101-76

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Jackson scores 19 as South Dakota State beats Southern Miss 101-76


Associated Press

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Jaden Jackson scored 19 points as South Dakota State beat Southern Miss 101-76 on Wednesday night.

Jackson had 10 rebounds for the Jackrabbits (4-1). Oscar Cluff scored 16 points while shooting 7 of 7 from the field and added nine rebounds. Kalen Garry shot 3 for 8 (1 for 5 from 3-point range) and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points.

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The Golden Eagles (2-2) were led by Neftali Alvarez, who posted 13 points. Christian Watson added 12 points and two steals for Southern Miss. Denijay Harris also had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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Title defenses highlight South Dakota state volleyball tournament storylines

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Title defenses highlight South Dakota state volleyball tournament storylines


SIOUX FALLS — As the curtain rises on the 2024 South Dakota high school volleyball state tournaments, all three class champions from 2023 return to defend their titles.

Harrisburg puts a lengthy win streak on the line while looking for three championships in a row in Class AA; Sioux Falls Christian attempts to extend its Class A reign of dominance; and Chester hopes to become the first Class B repeat champion other than stalwarts Warner and Northwestern since 2002.

Here’s what to keep an eye on Thursday through Saturday at the Premier Center:

Chargers aim for eight straight as No. 8

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For a decade and a half, Sioux Falls Christian has been the team to beat in Class A volleyball, winning 12 of the past 14 state titles and seven in a row entering this weekend.

But while most of those championships came from a favorable seed position, if the Chargers are to collect an unprecedented eighth consecutive title, they’ll have to do it as the No. 8 seed in the bracket. First up for Sioux Falls Christian is No. 1 seed Miller, which has just one loss on the season (to Class B No. 2 Warner), in the opening match of the tournament. Should the Chargers knock off the Rustlers, a meeting with rival and No. 4 seed Dakota Valley or No. 5 Mount Vernon/Plankinton would await in the semifinals.

This season, SFC is 25-12, with those 12 losses the most in any single season during their 15-year run of dominance. The Chargers lost just 14 total over the previous four seasons. But the record can be quite misleading. Seven of those 12 losses this season came to out-of-state foes, and an eighth came to Class AA No. 1 Harrisburg.

Class A 3-seed Dell Rapids split a pair of matches with the Chargers this season, and 4-seed Dakota Valley knocked them off twice, but no one else in the tournament field has seen SFC this season.

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Harrisburg’s Josalyn Samuels sets the ball in a high school volleyball match between the Harrisburg Tigers and the Mitchell Kernels on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Mitchell.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

Harrisburg goes for back-to-back unbeaten seasons

To find the last time Harrisburg was on the losing end of a volleyball match, one must go back to Oct. 4, 2022.

Since then, the Tigers have stacked up 75 consecutive match wins and now stand three wins away from back-to-back perfect seasons. En route to a 28-0 record so far this season, Harrisburg has only dropped five total sets, sweeping 23 opponents, and has yet to be taken the distance in a best-of-five sets match. Of those five set losses, only one came against a Class AA foe, as Sioux Falls Washington, the No. 3 tournament seed, nabbed on Sept. 24.

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Of the other contenders, look to the winner No. 4 O’Gorman and No. 5 Watertown, which should be a hard-fought match and will likely have the winner carrying a “nothing to lose” feeling against the Tigers in the semifinals. O’Gorman has only lost once in the last six weeks, that being a 3-0 loss to Harrisburg on Oct. 29.

In the bottom of the bracket, Jefferson and Washington are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds and seem likely to face each other. A sleeper to watch is No. 6 Sioux Falls Roosevelt, which is 19-9, and went five sets with the Warriors twice already this season, both won by Washington. Both lower seeds in that bracket have been trending strong, with eight-straight wins for No. 7 Brandon Valley and seven in a row for Roosevelt.

11-12-24PrepVolleyballGregoryvsChesterSoDak16-31.jpg

Chester’s Lily Van Hal sets the ball to a teammate in a Class B SoDak 16 volleyball match on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Canistota.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

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Chester looks to defend title against deep field of contenders

Since 2003, no two consecutive seasons have passed without either Warner (eight titles in that span) or Northwestern (nine titles) winning a Class B championship, but Chester is looking to change that.

The Flyers took down Warner in a five-set thriller during last season’s championship match and enter this year’s tournament as the No. 1 seed. At 29-2, Chester’s lone losses this season came at the Pentagon Invitational tournament to a pair of Iowa programs. For the third year in a row, Chester enters the state tournament without a loss to another Class B team and the last such outcome was a 2022 state championship loss to Warner. 

But even as the favorite, a championship repeat doesn’t figure to be a cakewalk. Six of the eight Class B teams in the field are back from 2023. No. 2 Warner surely wants to avenge its loss in last year’s title matchup, and No. 3 Hitchcock-Tulare also hails from the powerhouse Region 1B. Lower seeds Burke, Gayville-Volin, Colman-Egan and Castlewood are all among the experienced state tournament programs looking to make a run.

But the Flyers are loaded, have a lot of big-match experience at the state tournament and a veteran coach in Jean O’Hara. For all of the skill and ability, Chester still has only two seniors on the roster and the Flyers appear to be in position to go back-to-back.

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Landon Dierks

Dierks covers prep and collegiate athletics across the Mitchell Republic’s coverage region area. His focus areas include: Mitchell High School football and boys basketball; area high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and track and field; and South Dakota State football. He is also at the forefront of the Mitchell Republic’s podcasting efforts. Dierks is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. He joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021. He can be reached at ldierks@mitchellrepublic.com and found on Twitter at @LDierksy.





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