The 2012 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the single U.S. Representative from South Dakota's At-large congressional district, comprising the entire state of South Dakota. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Primary results

Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Matt Varilek 21,759 71.9
Democratic Jeff Barth 8,494 28.1
Total votes 30,253 100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Kristi
Noem (R)		 Matt
Varilek (D)		 Undecided
Nielson Brothers Polling[5] October 31 – November 4, 2012 633 ± 3.90% 54% 41% 5%
Nielson Brothers Polling[6] October 28–31, 2012 671 ± 3.78% 50% 44% 5%
Nielson Brothers Polling[7] August 29 – September 6, 2012 509 ± 4.34% 51% 42% 7%
Nielson Brothers Polling[8] July 19–23, 2012 541 ± 4.21% 47% 46% 7%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Kristi
Noem (R)		 Stephanie
H. Sandlin (D)		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling[9] January 28–30, 2011 1,045 ± 3.0% 45% 46% 8%

Endorsements

Matt Varilek (D)

Organizations

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[11] Likely R November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[12] Safe R November 2, 2012
Roll Call[13] Safe R November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] Likely R November 5, 2012
NY Times[15] Safe R November 4, 2012
RCP[16] Safe R November 4, 2012
The Hill[17] Safe R November 4, 2012

Results

2012 South Dakota's at-large congressional district election[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Kristi Noem (incumbent) 207,640 57.45% +9.33%
Democratic Matt Varilek 153,789 42.55% −3.34%
Total votes 361,429 100.00% N/A
Republican hold

By county

County[18] Kristi Noem
Republican		 Matt Varilek
Democratic		 Margin Total
# % # % # %
Aurora 793 56.68% 606 43.32% 187 13.37% 1,399
Beadle 4,069 56.16% 3,177 43.84% 892 12.31% 7,246
Bennett 682 56.46% 526 43.54% 156 12.91% 1,208
Bon Homme 1,687 54.70% 1,397 45.30% 290 9.40% 3,084
Brookings 6,160 49.85% 6,197 50.15% -37 -0.30% 12,357
Brown 7,673 47.93% 8,335 52.07% -662 -4.14% 16,008
Brule 1,440 60.30% 948 39.70% 492 20.60% 2,388
Buffalo 181 28.41% 456 71.59% -275 -43.17% 637
Butte 3,100 74.00% 1,089 26.00% 2,011 48.01% 4,189
Campbell 597 76.54% 183 23.46% 414 53.08% 780
Charles Mix 2,219 58.83% 1,553 41.17% 666 17.66% 3,772
Clark 1,102 59.92% 737 40.08% 365 19.85% 1,839
Clay 2,163 41.69% 3,025 58.31% -862 -16.62% 5,188
Codington 6,754 58.57% 4,778 41.43% 1,976 17.13% 11,532
Corson 616 52.38% 560 47.62% 56 4.76% 1,176
Custer 3,068 68.41% 1,417 31.59% 1,651 36.81% 4,485
Davison 4,698 58.89% 3,279 41.11% 1,419 17.79% 7,977
Day 1,278 44.36% 1,603 55.64% -325 -11.28% 2,881
Deuel 1,254 57.87% 913 42.13% 341 15.74% 2,167
Dewey 719 38.43% 1,152 61.57% -433 -23.14% 1,871
Douglas 1,327 78.20% 370 21.80% 957 56.39% 1,697
Edmunds 1,167 60.56% 760 39.44% 407 21.12% 1,927
Fall River 2,370 67.77% 1,127 32.23% 1,243 35.54% 3,497
Faulk 728 65.06% 391 34.94% 337 30.12% 1,119
Grant 2,137 59.02% 1,484 40.98% 653 18.03% 3,621
Gregory 1,431 66.31% 727 33.69% 704 32.62% 2,158
Haakon 910 83.33% 182 16.67% 728 66.67% 1,092
Hamlin 1,871 67.11% 917 32.89% 954 34.22% 2,788
Hand 1,207 64.93% 652 35.07% 555 29.85% 1,859
Hanson 1,573 66.99% 775 33.01% 798 33.99% 2,348
Harding 642 87.70% 90 12.30% 552 75.41% 732
Hughes 5,040 61.99% 3,090 38.01% 1,950 23.99% 8,130
Hutchinson 2,391 69.40% 1,054 30.60% 1,337 38.81% 3,445
Hyde 502 69.05% 225 30.95% 277 38.10% 727
Jackson 674 61.89% 415 38.11% 259 23.78% 1,089
Jerauld 564 55.90% 445 44.10% 119 11.79% 1,009
Jones 479 77.89% 136 22.11% 343 55.77% 615
Kingsbury 1,458 56.29% 1,132 43.71% 326 12.59% 2,590
Lake 3,269 52.85% 2,916 47.15% 353 5.71% 6,185
Lawrence 7,075 62.73% 4,204 37.27% 2,871 25.45% 11,279
Lincoln 13,107 60.12% 8,696 39.88% 4,411 20.23% 21,803
Lyman 916 58.46% 651 41.54% 265 16.91% 1,567
Marshall 902 45.44% 1,083 54.56% -181 -9.12% 1,985
McCook 1,614 61.67% 1,003 38.33% 611 23.35% 2,617
McPherson 884 72.64% 333 27.36% 551 45.28% 1,217
Meade 7,692 71.75% 3,028 28.25% 4,664 43.51% 10,720
Mellette 411 53.45% 358 46.55% 53 6.89% 769
Miner 623 54.03% 530 45.97% 93 8.07% 1,153
Minnehaha 38,860 51.34% 36,827 48.66% 2,033 2.69% 75,687
Moody 1,549 50.97% 1,490 49.03% 59 1.94% 3,039
Pennington 28,418 64.68% 15,516 35.32% 12,902 29.37% 43,934
Perkins 1,197 76.44% 369 23.56% 828 52.87% 1,566
Potter 952 69.54% 417 30.46% 535 39.08% 1,369
Roberts 2,017 47.47% 2,232 52.53% -215 -5.06% 4,249
Sanborn 693 61.99% 425 38.01% 268 23.97% 1,118
Shannon 504 16.24% 2,599 83.76% -2,095 -67.52% 3,103
Spink 1,625 53.17% 1,431 46.83% 194 6.35% 3,056
Stanley 1,013 65.86% 525 34.14% 488 31.73% 1,538
Sully 596 73.22% 218 26.78% 378 46.44% 814
Todd 687 27.77% 1,787 72.23% -1,100 -44.46% 2,474
Tripp 1,887 69.45% 830 30.55% 1,057 38.90% 2,717
Turner 2,605 61.92% 1,602 38.08% 1,003 23.84% 4,207
Union 4,885 65.17% 2,611 34.83% 2,274 30.34% 7,496
Walworth 1,714 69.79% 742 30.21% 972 39.58% 2,456
Yankton 4,868 49.03% 5,060 50.97% -192 -1.93% 9,928
Ziebach 353 46.69% 403 53.31% -50 -6.61% 756
Totals207,64057.45%153,78942.55%53,85114.90%361,429

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

  1. 1 2 Luther, Megan (July 16, 2011). "Rep. Noem gears up for re-election campaign". Argus Leader. Retrieved July 20, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ Hayworth, Bret (December 2, 2011). "Politically Speaking: Varilek enters race for South Dakota congressional seat". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ Montgomery, David (January 22, 2012). "Herseth Sandlin won't run for House seat". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved August 21, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ↑ "Statewide Races". Secretary of State of South Dakota. June 25, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Nielson Brothers Polling" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "McGovern, Noem have leads in newly released poll results | The Daily Republic | Mitchell, South Dakota". November 5, 2012. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Poll: Noem opens lead of nine points | The Daily Republic | Mitchell, South Dakota". September 26, 2012. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Final July Survey Candidates and Issues | PDF". Scribd.
  9. ↑ "Public Policy Polling" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "RED TO BLUE 2012". DCCC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ "The Cook Political Report — Charts – 2012 House Competitive Races". Cookpolitical.com. November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ "House Ratings". Rothenbergpoliticalreport.com. November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  13. ↑ , as of November 4, 2012
  14. ↑ Crystal Ball Archived April 20, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, as of November 5, 2012
  15. ↑ House Race Ratings, The New York Times, as of November 4, 2012
  16. ↑ , as of November 4, 2012
  17. ↑ "House Ratings". The Hill. November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  18. 1 2 Gant, Jason (January 2013). "2012 General and Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of South Dakota. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2025. Retrieved May 10, 2026.

Official campaign websites (Archived)


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_United_States_House_of_Representatives_election_in_South_Dakota