The 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 2, 2010, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of South Dakota. Republican incumbent John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.[1][2]

Background

Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. Despite his lack of seniority, Thune became chairman of the U.S. Republican Policy Committee in 2009.

Thune did not face any opposition whatsoever in his 2010 re-election. He won 100% of the votes cast in this senate race, just like John C. Stennis in the 1958 Mississippi senate race.[3] South Dakota State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem said "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate."[4] There were exactly 89,136 undervotes compared to the concurrent gubernatorial election.

General election

Candidates

  • John Thune, incumbent U.S. senator (2005–present)

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Cook Political Report[5] Solid R October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[6] Safe R October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[7] Safe R October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8] Safe R October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[9] Safe R October 26, 2010

Polling

Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date (s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 John
Thune (R)		 Generic
Democrat		 Other Undecided
Public Policy Polling[10] December 10–13, 2009 702 (LV) ± 3.7% 56% 33% – 11%
Public Policy Polling[11] January 5, 2010 702 (LV) ± 3.7% 56% 43% – 5%
Public Policy Polling[12] April 5, 2010 702 (LV) ± 3.7% 58% 34% – 5%
Public Policy Polling[13] June 5–8, 2010 702 (LV) ± 3.7% 54% 44% – 5%

Fundraising

Candidate (Party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand Debt
John Thune (R) $6,282,750 $2,988,648 $7,194,549 $0
Source: Federal Election Commission[14]

Results

Votes cast for John Thune in proportion to turnout by county. Counties in gray had more undervotes than votes cast for Thune.
  80–90%
  70–80%
  60–70%
  50–60%
  40–50%
  30–40%
2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Thune (incumbent) 227,947 100.00%
Total votes 227,947 100.00%
Republican hold
County Flips:
Republican
  Hold
  Flip

By county

Source[16]

John Thune
Republican
County Votes
Aurora926
Beadle4,897
Bennett728
Bon Homme1,965
Brookings7,721
Brown9,862
Brule1,525
Buffalo208
Butte2,975
Campbell642
Charles Mix2,518
Clark1,190
Clay2,756
Codington7,504
Corson577
Custer3,018
Davison5,480
Day1,673
Deuel1,427
Dewey943
Douglas1,360
Edmunds1,275
Fall River2,336
Faulk798
Grant2,538
Gregory1,549
Haakon890
Hamlin1,969
Hand1,393
Hanson1,323
Harding583
Hughes5,893
Hutchinson2,486
Hyde558
Jackson734
Jerauld759
Jones507
Kingsbury1,707
Lake3,700
Lawrence7,491
Lincoln13,642
Lyman1,012
Marshall1,186
McCook1,759
McPherson990
Meade7,360
Mellette543
Miner725
Minnehaha44,085
Moody1,822
Pennington27,928
Perkins1,088
Potter1,035
Roberts2,498
Sanborn854
Shannon854
Spink2,055
Stanley1,062
Sully600
Todd1,009
Tripp1,925
Turner2,778
Union4,522
Walworth1,745
Yankton6,063
Ziebach423

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

  1. ↑ "Republican Sen. John Thune unopposed by Democrats". KCAU-TV. April 1, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ "Kurt Evans drops out of SD race for US Senate". KCAU-TV. April 29, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  3. ↑ David M. Drucker (December 7, 2010). "Thune Quietly Gathers 2012 Advice". Roll Call. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ Brokaw, Chet (April 1, 2010). "S.D. Dems Skip Senate Race Against GOP's Thune". Yankton Press & Dakotan. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Senate". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  8. ↑ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ Public Policy Polling
  11. ↑ Public Policy Polling
  12. ↑ Public Policy Polling
  13. ↑ Public Policy Polling
  14. ↑ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for South Dakota". fec.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  15. ↑ Gant, Jason (April 2011). "2010 General and Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of South Dakota. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2026. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  16. ↑ "2010 South Dakota Official General Election Results: Statewide Candidates by County - November 2, 2010". South Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved November 16, 2024.

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Official campaign websites (archived)

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_Senate_election_in_South_Dakota