2010 South Dakota gubernatorial election

The 2010 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of South Dakota to a four-year term. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Rounds was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits.

2010 South Dakota gubernatorial election

← 2006 November 2, 2010 2014 →

Nominee Dennis Daugaard Scott Heidepriem Party Republican Democratic Running mate Matt Michels Ben Arndt Popular vote 195,024 122,010 Percentage 61.5% 38.5%

County results Daugaard:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Heidepreim:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%

Governor before election Mike Rounds Republican Elected Governor Dennis Daugaard Republican

Republican candidate Dennis Daugaard was elected, defeating Democratic candidate Scott Heidepriem.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Dennis Daugaard, Lieutenant Governor^[1][2]
• Gordon Howie, State Senator^[3]
• Dave Knudson, State Senate Majority Leader^[1][2]
• Ken Knuppe, rancher^[4]
• Scott Munsterman, former mayor of Brookings^[3]

Results

 

Primary results by county

Daugaard

•   60–70%
•   50–60%
•   40–50%
•   <40%

Munsterman

•   <40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

Howie

•   30–40%

Knuppe

•   <30%

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Daugaard	42,266	50.4
	Republican	Scott Munsterman	14,733	17.6
	Republican	Dave Knudson	13,217	15.8
	Republican	Gordon Howie	10,430	12.4
	Republican	Ken Knuppe	3,186	3.8
Total votes			83,832	100

Democratic primary

Candidate

• Scott Heidepriem, State Senate Minority Leader^[6]

Results

Heidepriem faced no opposition in the Democratic primary.

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report^[7]	Likely R	October 14, 2010
Rothenberg^[8]	Safe R	October 28, 2010
RealClearPolitics^[9]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[10]	Likely R	October 28, 2010
CQ Politics^[11]	Likely R	October 28, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Dennis Daugaard (R)	Scott Heidepriem (D)
Nielson Brothers Polling October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine	October 20–22, 2010	43%	40%
Rasmussen Reports	October 20, 2010	55%	36%
Rasmussen Reports	October 9, 2010	57%	37%
Rasmussen Reports	September 8, 2010	57%	28%
Rasmussen Reports	August 3, 2010	59%	27%
Rasmussen Reports	July 6, 2010	52%	35%
Rasmussen Reports	June 10, 2010	52%	36%
Rasmussen Reports	May 26, 2010	51%	36%
Rasmussen Reports	April 21, 2010	53%	33%
Rasmussen Reports	March 25, 2010	49%	32%
Rasmussen Reports	February 23, 2010	41%	32%
Public Policy Polling	December 10–13, 2009	42%	29%

Results

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dennis Daugaard	195,046	61.51%	-0.18%
	Democratic	Scott Heidepriem	122,037	38.49%	+2.36%
Majority			73,009	23.03%	-2.54%
Turnout			317,083
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Day (largest city: Webster)
• Roberts (largest city: Sisseton)
• Ziebach (largest city: Dupree)
• Corson (Largest city: McLaughlin)
• Dewey (Largest city: North Eagle Butte)

References

1. Brokaw, Chet (December 23, 2008). "Dave Knudson will run for governor". NewsOK. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
2. "Sen. Dave Knudson will run for governor". KXNet.com. December 23, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. Kevin Woster (January 7, 2010). "Howie outlines conservative agenda for governor's campaign". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
4. Drew Sandholm. "INTERVIEW: Ken Knuppe On Education"^{[permanent dead link]}, ABC News affiliate KSFY-TV. July 3, 2009.
5. "South Dakota Primary Results". Politico. June 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
6. Emily Caldei Heidepriem Fills Party's South Dakota Gov Gap August 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. July 28, 2009. Eye on 2010 Blog, CQPolitics.com
7. . Cook Political Report. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
8. "Governor Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
9. "2010 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
10. "THE CRYSTAL BALL'S FINAL CALLS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
11. . CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
12. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• at South Dakota Secretary of State
• Candidates for South Dakota State Offices at Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions for 2010 South Dakota Governor from Follow the Money
• South Dakota Governor 2010 from OurCampaigns.com
• graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: South Dakota Governor from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 South Dakota Governor – Daugaard vs. Heidepriem from Real Clear Politics
• from CQ Politics
• Race Profile in The New York Times

Official campaign websites (Archived)