Vote SD - Races per District

Liberty Pilot - Vote South Dakota

Races per District

Those we recommend are in green.
Those we don't recommend are in red.
If still black or orange, we don't have enough information yet to make a recommendation, or there is only one candidate.

Election: 2024 Primary

Many of the races only have one candidate; we will not be discussing them, for the most part.

RaceCandidates
StatewideHouse
Dusty Johnson - Repulican
District
1 -- Brown, Day, Marshall, Roberts, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Michael H. Rohl-- 30% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
SD House
Logan Manhart-- In 2023, he spent a year in the Secretary of State's office working for Secretary of State Monae Johnson.
Christopher Reder
Dana L Pullfrey
-- Democrat
Stephen D. McCleerey
-- Democrat
Tamara J St. John-- 25% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
District
2 -- Brown, Clark, Hamlin, Spink, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Steve Kolbeck-- 40.9% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
SD House
David Kull
-- 33% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
John Sjaarda-- 95.2% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
Jake Schoenbeck-- son of Lee Schoenbeck; on an interview he mentioned that he has a more "modern view on things" than his father, which can be a scary thought when you check out Lee Schoenbeck's voting record.
District
3 -- Brown County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Carl E. Perry-- terrible voting record, including voting on 2021-SB3, to confine people in their homes if believed to have covid
57% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats; however, because of the candidate running against him, we recommend voting for Perry.
Katherine (Katie) Washnok
SD House
Al Novstrup-- terrible voting record, 57% Citizens for Liberty Score, including voting on 2021-SB3, to confine people in their homes if believed to have covid; previously registered Democrat.
Switching from Senate
Brandei Schaefbauer-- 66% SD Citizens for Liberty score,
Erin Rudner
-- Democrat
District
4 -- Brookings, Codington, Deuel, Grant, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Fred Deutsch-- poor voting record, including voting on 2021-SB3, to confine people in their homes if believed to have covid, but is the better candidate in this race
Switching from house
68% SD Citizens for Liberty score
Stephanie Sauder
-- 40% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty Scorecard
Switching from House
SD House
Kent Roe
Barbara Guenette
Dylan Jordan
Vanessa Namken
District
5 -- Codington County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Glen Vilhauer
Russell Ronke
-- Democrat
SD House
Byron Callies
-- 54% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Matt Roby
Amy D. Rambow
-- Democrat
Diane M.  Drake
-- Democrat
Josephine Garcia
District
6 -- Lincoln County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Ernie Otten
-- 57% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Switching from House
SD House
Aaron Aylward-- 95% conservative score on the Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Wendi Hogan
Garret M Campbell
Herman Otten
District
7 -- Brookings County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Tim Reed
-- 30% conservative score on the Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Patty Bacon
-- Democrat
SD House
Jeffrey Struwe
-- Bullet vote only for Struwe -- don't dilute the vote by voting for anyone else.
Cole Sartell
-- Democrat
Penny S Hauffe
-- Democrat
Mellissa Heermann-- 40% conservative score.
Roger DeGroot
-- 47% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
District
8 -- Lake, Miner, Moody, Sanborn, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Casey Crabtree
-- 40% conservative score on the Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Rick Weible-- Weible is a fighter for transparent elections, and has tirelessly put in his own time to travel the state showing evidence of fraud. Also, he has prepared for and spoken in front of many committees in Pierre.
SD House
Tim Reisch
-- 40.9% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Tim Walburg
Matt Wagner-- Strong conservative. Bullet vote for him -- don't dilute the vote by voting for anyone else in this house race.
District
9 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Mark Willadsen
-- Helped usher in Obamacare laws. Liberal legislator. 19% low scorecard.
Joy Hohn-- Vocal supporter of property rights. Commercial pilot.
SD House
Bethany Soye-- 90% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Daryl Christensen
Beverly Froslie Johnson
-- Democrat
Kristi Golden
Tesa Schwans-- Family of ranchers/farmers. Small business owner. Conservative Christian values
District
10 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Liz Larson
-- Democrat
21% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
SD House
Erin Healy
-- Democrat
23% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Kameron Nelson
-- Democrat
28% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Bobbi L Andera
District
11 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Steve Natz
-- Democrat
Chris Karr
-- 85% SD Citizens for Liberty score
SD House
Aaron Matson
-- Democrat
Bill Linsenmeyer
Brian K Mulder
-- 36.4% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
John C. Kunnari
Keri K Weems
-- According to Dakota War College, "Former State Representative Keri Weems, who was originally appointed by Governor Mike Rounds on January 14, 2003, to fill the vacancy of Mike Jaspers, and returned twice more to run to represent her district before declining another term of office"
Sonja Mentzer
-- Democrat
District
12 -- Lincoln, Minnehaha, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Arch Beal
-- 81% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
Clay Hoffman
-- Democrat
SD House
Amber Arlint
-- 36% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Erin Royer
-- Democrat
Greg Jamison
-- 38% conservative score.
JR Anderson
-- Democrat
Manny Steele-- Former legislator. 77.8% conservative score in 2020.
District
13 -- Lincoln, Minnehaha, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Sue Peterson
-- 66% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
Ali Rae Horsted
-- Democrat
SD House
Tony Vanhuizen
-- 42.9% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Penny BayBridge-- Fighter for election integrity
John Hughes
Brad Jankord-- Seems to be promoted by the establishment
District
14 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Larry P Zikmund
-- 50% SD Citizens for Liberty score
Sandra Henry
-- Democrat
SD House
Tony Kayser-- Vote only for him in the primary, please
Tyler Tordsen
-- 35% score on SD Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Taylor Rae Rehfeldt
-- Rehfeldt is a supporter of big government and giving up South Dakota sovereignty to other states via compacts and other agreements. She is a very poor representative of conservative values, and in fact received a 33% score from SD Citizens for Liberty.
B.J. Motley
-- Democrat
Keith Block
-- Democrat
District
15 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Brenda Lawrence
Jamie Smith
-- Democrat
SD House
Brad Lindwurm
-- Ambassador at Live Action;
Joni Tschetter
--
    Priorities:
  • SUPPORTING LIFE & FAMILY VALUES
  • JOBS & DEVELOPMENT
  • EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN
Erik Muckey
-- Democrat
Kadyn Wittman
-- Democrat
District
16 -- Lincoln, Union, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Eric Hohman
Kevin D Jensen-- 81% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
SD House
Brian J Burge
Karla J Lems-- Strong fighter for property rights. 95.3% score with SD Citizens for Liberty
Richard Vasgaard
Matthew Carl Ness
-- Democrat
District
17 -- Clay, Turner, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Jeffrey Church
Sydney Davis
-- 28.6% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
SD House
Bill Shorma-- 61% score with SD Citizens for Liberty. Evidently, Shorma voted against property rights by supporting SB201.
Carson Merkwan
-- (Successful Challenge - Decertified 04/12/2024)
Chris Kassin
Robin J. Shiro
Ray King
-- Democrat
District
18 -- Yankton County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Jean M Hunhoff
-- 55% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Lauren Nelson
Dennis Menke
-- Democrat
SD House
Julie Auch
-- Great defender of property rights. 85% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Mike Stevens
-- 38% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, lower than some Democrats.
John R Marquardt
Paul Harens
-- Democrat
Sarah Mechtenberg
-- Democrat
District
19 -- Bon Homme, Douglas, Hanson, Hutchinson, McCook, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Kyle Schoenfish
-- terrible voting record, including voting for 2021-SB3 to confine you to your house. 28% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats.
SD House
Jessica Bahmuller-- 70% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Drew Peterson
-- 33% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats.
Stephen Mettler
District
20 -- Aurora, Davison, Jerauld, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Paul Miskimins
Gary Steichen
-- Democrat
SD House
Ben Krohmer
-- 81% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Jeff Bathke
Don Schmidt
-- Democrat
John Schmidt
-- Democrat
District
21 -- Charles Mix, Gregory, Tripp, Aurora, Douglas, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Erin Tobin-- 40% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats.
Dan Andersson
-- Democrat
Mykala Voita
-- Priorities:
  • Pro-Life
  • Preserving Private Property Rights & Local control
  • Small Government
Put on 30x30 agenda public informational meetings and successfully brought a 30x30 resolution to the county commission, successfully brought 2A Sanctuary County Resolutions to Gregory County, and now has been pushing for election transparency by requesting hand counting elections in Gregory County.
SD House
Marty Overweg
-- 85.7% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Jim Halverson
Lee Qualm
District
22 -- Beadle, Kingsbury, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
David Wheeler
-- 40% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats
Jim A. Schmidt
-- Democrat
SD House
Kevin Van Diepen
Lana Greenfield
-- Only a 66.7% CFL score, but evidently better than the alternatives.
Terry Nebelsick
District
23 -- Campbell, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, McPherson, Potter, Spink, Walworth, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Mark Lapka
Stephen Ray Roseland
SD House
Spencer Gosch-- Previous legislator. Strong 90% SD Citizens for Liberty score
James D. Wangsness-- Terrible 31% score on SD Citizens for Liberty scorecard, lower than some Democrats.
Scott Moore
District
24 -- Hughes, Hyde, Stanley, Sully, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Jim Mehlhaff-- 57% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
SD House
Mike Weisgram
Will D.  Mortenson
-- 38% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats.
District
25 -- Minnehaha County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Tom Pischke-- 90.5% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Jordan Youngberg-- Quite the fundraiser... interesting donations from some of our "favorites".
SD House
Jon Hansen-- 85% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Les Heinemann
Brian Wirth
-- Democrat
District
26 -- Brule, Buffalo, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Todd, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Tamara Grove
Shawn Bordeaux
-- Democrat
SD House
Ron Frederick
Eric E. Emery
-- Democrat
Rebecca Reimer
District
27 -- Bennett, Haakon, Jackson, Pennington, Oglala Lakota, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Bruce Whalen-- Good conservative. Ran against Thune in 2022.
Red Dawn Foster
-- Democrat. More conservative than many Republicans. 60% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Anthony G Kathol
Gerald M Cournoyer Jr
-- Democrat
SD House
Liz May-- 84% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Elsie M Meeks
-- Democrat
District
28 -- Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Perkins, Ziebach, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Sam Marty-- Consistently in the 90s% on the CFL Scorecards when previously in the legislature.
Dean Schrempp
-- Democrat
Susan M. Peterson
SD House
Travis Ismay-- Ismay is a hard-working patriot. He is involved with the Concerned Citizens of Butte county, as well as fighting to keep marijuana illegal in South Dakota.
Jana Hunt
Ryan Maher-- 61% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Travis W Martin
Carl J. Petersen
-- Democrat
District
29 -- Meade, Pennington, Butte, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
John Carley-- A conservative businessman with strong convictions who is staunchly pro-life, pro-Constitution and pro-rule-of-law.
Kirk Chaffee
-- Chaffee Voted: against gun rights, for virtually all tax bill increases, for 2 of 3 bad anti- property eminent domain bills, against Noem to make SD first federal digital currency, against boy/girl on birth certificate, and to confine people to their homes with covid. Has a 47% CFL score aligned with democrats, and a 33% American Conservative Union score.
SD House
Kathy Rice-- A mother and conservative principled person. She believes in small government and responsible spending.
Gary Cammack
-- Cammack has a terrible voting record; check out the scorecard. He is definitely not a conservative. He voted for 2021-SB3 which gave power to non-elected bureaucrats at the Department of Health to confine citizens to their home if they believe they have Covid.
38.1% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Terri Jorgenson-- Christian. Said she was asked to run by the Rhodens and Meade Co. GOP (in a race where there were already two Republican candidates).
District
30 -- Custer, Fall River, Pennington, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Amber Hulse
Julie Frye-Mueller
-- 100% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Forrest Foster
Brett Swanson
-- Democrat
SD House
Stephen Saint
Trish Ladner
-- 71% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Matt Smith-- Smith is the host of "Straight Up with Matt Smith." He is a strong conservative.
Matthew Monfore-- Monfore is a pastor and patriot. He is a strong conservative.
Pat Baumann-- A grassroots advocate with steadfast principles. He is a strong conservative
Tim Goodwin
-- Goodwin is a former legislator. 59% score with SD Citizens for Liberty.
Susan Scheirbeck
-- Democrat
District
31 -- Lawrence County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Kate Crowley-Johnson
Randy Deibert
-- 38% score with SD Citizens for Liberty, worse than some Democrats
SD House
Scott Odenbach-- 86% SD Citizens for Liberty score.
Mark Mowry
Mary Fitzgerald
-- 57% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
District
32 -- Pennington County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Helene Duhamel
-- 28% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats, and one of the lowest scores of all.
SD House
Brook Kaufman
John Robert James-- James is a strong patriot, a member of SD Citizens for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty.
Nicole Uhre-Balk
-- Democrat
Steve Duffy
-- 33% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats. Also, he is Helene Duhamel's husband, and a registered Democrat until he decided to run for office here.
District
33 -- Meade, Pennington, Counties
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Curt Voight
-- Attends Rimrock church
Former school principle
David Johnson-- 35% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
SD House
Phil Jensen-- great voting record, 100% SD Citizens for Liberty score
Curt Massey-- 42% SD Citizens for Liberty score
District
34 -- Pennington County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Taffy Howard-- Excellent candidate -- has been in the legislature before, and has great conservative scores... Earlier Scorecards
Jason Green
Michael Calabrese
-- Democrat
SD House
Heather Baxter-- Baxter is a strong conservative, America first patriot.
Mike Derby
-- 28% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
Becky J Drury
-- 28% SD Citizens for Liberty score, worse than some Democrats
District
35 -- Pennington County
Race Candidates
SD Senate
Greg Blanc-- Pastor of Calvary Chapel Rapid City
Curtis Nupen
Michael A Walsh
-- Just moved from East river and was appointed to the senate. Has been voting with the Democrats the entire session.
SD House
Tony Randolph-- Excellent legislator. Voted correctly on many bills, especially the freedom robbing 2021-SB3 -- voted no. Randolph is a strong conservative and needs to be kept in the legislature. 100% Conservative score on Citizens for Liberty scorecard
Tina L Mulally-- A conservative with a strong voting record. 100% SD Citizens for Liberty score. One of the founders of the Freedom Caucus in SD.
Pat Cromwell
-- Democrat
Jason Lind
-- Democrat