The 2016 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of South Dakota, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held June 7.

Incumbent Republican Senator John Thune was considered a potential 2016 presidential candidate, but decided instead to run for a third term in office.

Republican primary Candidates Declared John Thune, incumbent U.S. Senator

Declined Gordon Howie, former state senator, candidate for governor in 2010 and Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 Stace Nelson, former state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014

Democratic primary Candidates Declared Jay Williams, Chair of the Yankton County Democratic Party, former Yankton School Board member and candidate for the State House in 2010 and 2014

Declined Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senator Cory Heidelberger, teacher and political activist (running for State Senate) Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. Representative Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls Bernie Hunhoff, state senator and candidate for governor in 1998 Sam Hurst, filmmaker and television news producer Brendan Johnson, former United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota Frank Kloucek, former state senator Phil Schreck, KSFY-TV senior meteorologist Billie Sutton, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate Rick Weiland, businessman, nominee for SD-AL in 1996 and candidate in 2002 and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2014

Constitution Party The Constitution Party nominated Kurt Evans for Senate depending on the resolution of a ballot-access legal action, however, the party's request to place a candidate on the ballot was not granted.

General election Debates Complete video of debate, October 13, 2016 Complete video of debate, October 23, 2016

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror JohnThune (R) JayWilliams (D) UndecidedSurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey November 1–7, 2016 459 ± 4.6% 65% 31% 4%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 31–November 6, 2016 435 ± 4.6% 64% 31% 5%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 28–November 3, 2016 393 ± 4.6% 66% 29% 5%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 27–November 2, 2016 345 ± 4.6% 67% 30% 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 26–November 1, 2016 281 ± 4.6% 65% 32% 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 25–31, 2016 298 ± 4.6% 67% 31% 2%Nielson Brothers PollingNielson Brothers Polling October 24–26, 2016 600 ± 4.0% 54% 35% 11%Remington Research GroupRemington Research Group October 19–21, 2016 1,115 ± 3.0% 57% 36% 7%Mason-DixonMason-Dixon October 18–20, 2016 400 ± 5.0% 65% 27% 8%

Predictions Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report November 2, 2016 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 7, 2016 Rothenberg Political Report November 3, 2016 Daily Kos November 8, 2016 Real Clear Politics November 7, 2016

Results

By county CountyJohn ThuneRepublicanJay WilliamsDemocraticMarginTotal#%#%#%Aurora1,07375.78%34324.22%73051.55%1,416Beadle5,04973.62%1,80926.38%3,24047.24%6,858Bennett75866.49%38233.51%37632.98%1,140Bon Homme2,25374.53%77025.47%1,48349.06%3,023Brookings8,81769.08%3,94730.92%4,87038.15%12,764Brown11,37170.35%4,79329.65%6,57840.70%16,164Brule1,74675.91%55424.09%1,19251.83%2,300Buffalo23247.44%25752.56%-25-5.11%489Butte3,54682.39%75817.61%2,78864.78%4,304Campbell74089.48%8710.52%65378.96%827Charles Mix2,48472.53%94127.47%1,54345.05%3,425Clark1,26975.67%40824.33%86151.34%1,677Clay2,92357.49%2,16142.51%76214.99%5,084Codington8,74074.43%3,00325.57%5,73748.85%11,743Corson68058.93%47441.07%20617.85%1,154Custer3,53074.99%1,17725.01%2,35349.99%4,707Davison6,01775.15%1,99024.85%4,02750.29%8,007Day1,81565.36%96234.64%85330.72%2,777Deuel1,56374.54%53425.46%1,02949.07%2,097Dewey86250.86%83349.14%291.71%1,695Douglas1,37785.79%22814.21%1,14971.59%1,605Edmunds1,51779.30%39620.70%1,12158.60%1,913Fall River2,67175.47%86824.53%1,80350.95%3,539Faulk92581.79%20618.21%71963.57%1,131Grant2,70575.24%89024.76%1,81550.49%3,595Gregory1,67179.69%42620.31%1,24559.37%2,097Haakon95691.92%848.08%87283.85%1,040Hamlin2,25380.78%53619.22%1,71761.56%2,789Hand1,51781.91%33518.09%1,18263.82%1,852Hanson1,51277.02%45122.98%1,06154.05%1,963Harding68490.24%749.76%61080.47%758Hughes6,33977.02%1,89122.98%4,44854.05%8,230Hutchinson2,77982.02%60917.98%2,17064.05%3,388Hyde56782.05%12417.95%44364.11%691Jackson77171.39%30928.61%46242.78%1,080Jerauld72073.39%26126.61%45946.79%981Jones49488.06%6711.94%42776.11%561Kingsbury1,89973.80%67426.20%1,22547.61%2,573Lake4,67769.72%2,03130.28%2,64639.45%6,708Lawrence8,56672.39%3,26727.61%5,29944.78%11,833Lincoln19,26476.12%6,04323.88%13,22152.24%25,307Lyman1,05173.55%37826.45%67347.10%1,429Marshall1,34168.07%62931.93%71236.14%1,970McCook2,02177.14%59922.86%1,42254.27%2,620McPherson1,00985.95%16514.05%84471.89%1,174Meade9,19879.66%2,34820.34%6,85059.33%11,546Mellette46467.44%22432.56%24034.88%688Miner80773.97%28426.03%52347.94%1,091Minnehaha52,49467.43%25,35932.57%27,13534.85%77,853Moody1,98367.15%97032.85%1,01334.30%2,953Oglala Lakota65522.81%2,21777.19%-1,562-54.39%2,872Pennington33,96772.00%13,20728.00%20,76044.01%47,174Perkins1,37485.61%23114.39%1,14371.21%1,605Potter1,08781.12%25318.88%83462.24%1,340Roberts2,55064.95%1,37635.05%1,17429.90%3,926Sanborn88978.46%24421.54%64556.93%1,133Spink2,17772.74%81627.26%1,36145.47%2,993Stanley1,25480.54%30319.46%95161.08%1,557Sully71884.07%13615.93%58268.15%854Todd72434.48%1,37665.52%-652-31.05%2,100Tripp2,13481.26%49218.74%1,64262.53%2,626Turner3,28979.06%87120.94%2,41858.13%4,160Union6,06077.17%1,79322.83%4,26754.34%7,853Walworth1,97580.38%48219.62%1,49360.77%2,457Yankton6,54267.93%3,08932.07%3,45335.85%9,631Ziebach42154.96%34545.04%769.92%766Totals265,51671.83%104,14028.17%161,37643.66%369,656

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Oglala Lakota (largest city: Pine Ridge) Todd (largest city: Mission) Buffalo (largest city: Fort Thompson)

References

External links Official campaign websites John Thune (R) for Senate Jay Williams (D) for Senate