2010 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota

The 2010 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Voters selected a representative for their single at-large district, who runs on a statewide ballot. On June 8, 2010, the Republicans nominated Kristi Noem, assistant majority leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives, and the Democrats nominated the incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. B. Thomas Marking ran as an Independent candidate. In the general election, Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin, winning 48.1 percent of the vote to 45.9 percent for Herseth Sandlin.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, incumbent

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee Kristi Noem, assistant majority leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives

Lost in primary Blake Curd, member of the South Dakota House of Representatives Chris Nelson, secretary of state of South Dakota (2003-2011)

Withdrawn Thad Wasson, technician

Declined Shantel Krebs, member of the South Dakota House of Representatives (2015-2019)

Primary results

Campaign Issues During the general election campaign, Republicans criticized Herseth Sandlin's voting record. They also criticized her lobbyist husband's clients list, noting that the companies had interests in legislation that would come before Congress. Noem pointed out that the National Association of Broadcasters paid Herseth Sandlin's husband, Max Sandlin, a lobbyist and former Congressman, $320,000 during the years 2008 and 2009 to lobby on their behalf, including a bill co-sponsored by Herseth Sandlin called the Local Radio Freedom Act. Herseth Sandlin responded that Noem's example was "laughable". The Rapid City Journal editorial board stated that Herseth Sandlin should not be laughing at a legitimate concern. Roll Call called the Republican effort an attempt "to stoke anti-Beltway emotions". Herseth Sandlin's campaign responded that she did not allow family members to lobby her or her staff. According to a Washington attorney, Herseth Sandlin's policy seemed compliant with House ethics rules tightened in 2007, though Republicans charged that Herseth Sandlin was violating the spirit of the conflict-of-interest rules. "The Sunlight Foundation, Public Citizen and other watchdog groups are highly critical of Herseth Sandlin and other Members whose relatives work in Congressional corridors," according to Roll Call. The groups have said the House ethics rules should be comparable to the Senate's and should ban all lobbying "under the Dome" by Member's relatives.

Polling Poll source Date(s) administered StephanieHersethSandlin (D) KristiNoem (R)Rasmussen Reports February 23, 2010 49% 34%Rasmussen Reports March 25, 2010 46% 35%Rasmussen Reports April 26, 2010 50% 35%Rasmussen Reports May 27, 2010 46% 43%Rasmussen Reports June 14, 2010 41% 53%Rasmussen ReportsWoster, Kevin. Poll: Herseth Sandlin gains back ground, but Noem still leads in House race, Rapid City Journal, July 9, 2010. July 6, 2010 44% 49%Rasmussen Reports August 3, 2010 42% 51%Rasmussen Reports September 8, 2010 47% 45%Rasmussen Reports October 4, 2010 44% 47%Rasmussen Reports October 20, 2010 44% 49%Nielson Brothers Polling October 20–22, 2010 42% 40% On October 24, 2010, Nate Silver of The New York Times FiveThirtyEight.com blog predicted that there was a 69.9% chance that Noem would defeat Sandlin.

Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report November 1, 2010 Rothenberg November 1, 2010 Sabato's Crystal BallCrystal Ball, November 1, 2010RCPRealClearPolitics, November 1, 2010CQ PoliticsOctober 28, 2010New York Times November 1, 2010FiveThirtyEight November 1, 2010

Fundraising The race saw each candidate spend over $1.75 million and was the first in Herseth Sandlin's career where she was outspent.

Funding from political parties and interest groups totaled $2,651,621 for the race, with 78% benefiting Noem. Groups supporting Herseth-Sandlin included the DCCC and CUNA. Noem was supported by the American Action Network, the NRCC, and the American Future Fund.

Results

By county CountyStephanie Herseth SandlinDemocraticKristi NoemRepublicanB. Thomas MarkingIndependentMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Aurora70750.72%59342.54%946.74%-114-8.18%1,394Beadle3,54151.32%2,94142.62%4186.06%-600-8.70%6,900Bennett50247.45%49947.16%575.39%-3-0.28%1,058Bon Homme1,33447.07%1,26544.64%2358.29%-69-2.43%2,834Brookings6,19555.57%4,14737.19%8087.25%-2,049-18.38%11,150Brown8,10055.95%5,71239.46%6654.59%-2,388-16.50%14,477Brule1,01747.35%97145.20%1607.45%-46-2.14%2,148Buffalo35177.48%9120.09%112.43%-260-57.40%453Butte1,12830.36%2,35763.43%2316.22%1,22933.07%3,716Campbell30138.10%45257.22%374.68%15119.11%790Charles Mix1,62046.13%1,71048.69%1825.18%902.56%3,512Clark78746.68%77345.85%1267.47%-14-0.83%1,686Clay2,80259.74%1,64235.01%2465.25%-1,160-24.73%4,690Codington4,68445.27%4,98348.16%6796.56%2992.89%10,346Corson45051.61%36241.51%606.88%-88-10.09%872Custer1,27832.20%2,37859.91%3137.89%1,10027.71%3,969Davison3,43747.22%3,46747.64%3745.14%300.41%7,278Day1,66860.48%93733.97%1535.55%-731-26.50%2,758Deuel99948.83%87742.86%1708.31%-122-5.96%2,046Dewey1,07067.89%44228.05%644.06%-628-39.85%1,576Douglas48929.40%1,08365.12%915.47%59435.72%1,663Edmunds83446.46%83846.69%1236.85%40.22%1,795Fall River1,05633.89%1,82458.54%2367.57%76824.65%3,116Faulk46642.87%55350.87%686.26%878.00%1,087Grant1,63846.80%1,59745.63%2657.57%-41-1.17%3,500Gregory78538.24%1,12954.99%1396.77%34416.76%2,053Haakon25424.54%71869.37%636.09%46444.83%1,035Hamlin96336.39%1,46355.29%2208.31%50018.90%2,646Hand80443.70%90649.24%1307.07%1025.54%1,840Hanson59434.06%1,04860.09%1025.85%45426.03%1,744Harding12718.93%49073.03%548.05%36354.10%671Hughes3,43244.54%3,84949.95%4255.52%4175.41%7,706Hutchinson1,17636.74%1,82256.92%2036.34%64620.18%3,201Hyde27738.47%41257.22%314.31%13518.75%720Jackson36938.36%53455.51%596.13%16517.15%962Jerauld58151.37%46140.76%897.87%-120-10.61%1,131Jones18030.51%37763.90%335.59%19733.39%590Kingsbury1,22949.66%1,04442.18%2028.16%-185-7.47%2,475Lake2,45847.23%2,41446.39%3326.38%-44-0.85%5,204Lawrence4,01939.41%5,43153.26%7477.33%1,41213.85%10,197Lincoln7,69942.77%9,44052.44%8624.79%1,7419.67%18,001Lyman60443.14%67748.36%1198.50%735.21%1,400Marshall1,10759.77%66035.64%854.59%-447-24.14%1,852McCook1,12644.82%1,21648.41%1706.77%903.58%2,512McPherson44737.03%69257.33%685.63%24520.30%1,207Meade3,04932.45%5,74161.10%6066.45%2,69228.65%9,396Mellette37349.21%32042.22%658.58%-53-6.99%758Miner58152.11%45841.08%766.82%-123-11.03%1,115Minnehaha32,43049.82%28,96844.50%3,6985.68%-3,462-5.32%65,096Moody1,43352.20%1,11140.47%2017.32%-322-11.73%2,745Pennington13,59736.66%21,48957.94%2,0025.40%7,89221.28%37,088Perkins41830.36%85962.38%1007.26%44132.03%1,377Potter51839.18%74556.35%594.46%22717.17%1,322Roberts2,07753.92%1,50739.12%2686.96%-570-14.80%3,852Sanborn57849.66%51444.16%726.19%-64-5.50%1,164Shannon2,26090.29%1917.63%522.08%-2,069-82.66%2,503Spink1,56453.20%1,20140.85%1755.95%-363-12.35%2,940Stanley60142.12%72650.88%1007.01%1258.76%1,427Sully27036.19%42757.24%496.57%15721.05%746Todd1,50074.93%42121.03%814.05%-1,079-53.90%2,002Tripp94937.84%1,39055.42%1696.74%44117.58%2,508Turner1,67644.07%1,87549.30%2526.63%1995.23%3,803Union2,40839.89%3,35655.60%2724.51%94815.71%6,036Walworth87138.90%1,22954.89%1396.21%35815.99%2,239Yankton4,33650.07%3,65342.18%6717.75%-683-7.89%8,660Ziebach41560.32%24535.61%284.07%-170-24.71%688Totals146,58945.89%153,70348.12%19,1345.99%7,1142.23%319,426

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Douglas (largest city: Armour) Union (largest city: Dakota Dunes) Hutchinson (largest city: Parkston) Lincoln (largest city: Sioux Falls) Turner (largest city: Parker) Butte (largest city: Belle Fourche) Perkins (largest city: Belle Fourche) Tripp (largest city: Winner) Fall River (largest city: Hot Springs) Lawrence (largest city: Spearfish) Meade (largest city: Sturgis) Pennington (largest city: Rapid City) Gregory (largest city: Gregory) Stanley (largest city: Fort Pierre) Sully (largest city: Onida) Hughes (largest city: Pierre) Hyde (largest city: Highmore) McPherson (largest city: Eureka) Potter (largest city: Gettysburg) Walworth (largest city: Mobridge) Campbell (largest city: Herreid) Hanson (largest city: Alexandria) Codington (largest city: Watertown) Davison (largest city: Mitchell) Hamlin (largest city: Estelline) McCook (largest city: Salem) Charles Mix (largest city: Wagner) Edmunds (largest city: Ipswich) Faulk (largest city: Faulkton) Hand (largest city: Miller) Jackson (largest city: Kadoka) Lyman (largest city: Lower Brule) Custer (largest city: Custer) Douglas (largest city: Armour) Haakon (largest city: Philip) Harding (largest city: Buffalo) Jones (largest city: Murdo)

See also South Dakota's at-large congressional district

References

External links Elections from the South Dakota Secretary of State U.S. Congress Candidates for South Dakota at Project Vote Smart graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com

House - South Dakota from the Cook Political Report South Dakota - At-Large from OurCampaigns.com Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets 2010 South Dakota - 1st District from CQ Politics Race profile at The New York Times Debates Sparks fly in first U.S. House debate (video), Jonathan Ellis, Argus Leader, August 12, 2010, includes full video (1:29:40) at the Sioux Empire Fair (1st debate) Kristi Noem says no to school vouchers, Jonathan Ellis, Argus Leader, August 14, 2010, at the Sioux Empire Fair (2nd debate) Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Kristi Noem debate health care legislation, Megan Luther, Argus Leader, August 18, 2010, includes full video (1:15:31) at Dakotafest (3rd debate)