The 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 2, 2010 along other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.
Background
Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. In spite of his lack of seniority, Thune rose to the position of chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the United States Senate.
No members of the South Dakota Democratic Party (or any other party) filed to challenge Thune. Scott Heidepriem, the South Dakota Senate Minority Leader and a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota, said, "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate." There were approximately 90,000 undervotes compared to the concurrent gubernatorial election.
General election
Candidate
John Thune, incumbent U.S. Senator
Predictions
Polling
Fundraising
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Beadle (Largest city: Huron) Bon Homme (Largest city: Springfield) Brown (Largest city: Aberdeen) Brule (Largest city: Chamberlain) Charles Mix (Largest city: Wagner) Corson (Largest city: McLaughlin) Deuel (Largest city: Clear Lake) Grant (Largest city: Milbank) Jerauld (Largest city: Wessington Springs) Kingsbury (Largest city: De Smet) Lake (Largest city: Madison) Miner (Largest city: Howard) Minnehaha (Largest city: Sioux Falls) Moody (Largest city: Flandreau) Sanborn (Largest city: Woonsocket) Brookings (largest city: Brookings) Aurora (largest city: Plankinton) Bennett (largest city: Martin) Clark (largest city: Clark) Edmunds (largest city: Ipswich) Faulk (largest city: Faulkton) Hand (largest city: Miller) Jackson (largest city: Kadoka) Lyman (largest city: Lower Brule) Spink (largest city: Redfield) Yankton (largest city: Yankton) Day (Largest city: Webster) Roberts (Largest city: Sisseton) Ziebach (Largest city: Dupree) Marshall (largest city: Britton) Oglala Lakota (largest city: Pine Ridge) Todd (largest city: Mission) Buffalo (largest city: Fort Thompson) Mellette (Largest city: White River) Clay (Largest city: Vermillion) Dewey (Largest city: North Eagle Butte)
References
External links
South Dakota Elections and Voter Registration from the Secretary of State
U.S. Congress candidates for South Dakota at Project Vote Smart
South Dakota U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
2010 South Dakota Senate General Election graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com