Primary Outlook: Women Candidates in South Dakota

Kelly Dittmar

Gender Watch 2018From March to December 2018, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) partnered to offer Gender Watch 2018, which tracked, analyzed, and illuminated gender dynamics in the 2018 midterm elections. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Gender Watch 2018 furthered public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns. The blog below was written for Gender Watch 2018, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role U.S. elections.

 

Ahead of the South Dakota primary election on June 5, 2018, we outline the numbers and proportions of women who have filed as candidates for congressional and statewide office. The data below also provide points of historical comparison to give context to today’s presence and potential success of women candidates.

All data are provided from the Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. For a full list of the women candidates in SD primary races for congressional and statewide offices, see CAWP’s Election Watch page.

CONGRESS

Current: 1 of 3 members of the South Dakota congressional delegation (33.3%)
Filed: 1 (1R)
Percent of all Filed Congressional Candidates (D/R): 25% (1 of 4)

SENATE

Current: 0 of 2 senators (0%)

  • 2 (2R) women have served in the U.S. Senate from South Dakota, both filling vacancies created by death and serving less than one year. No woman has served in the U.S. Senate from South Dakota since 1939.

THERE IS NO U.S. SENATE RACE IN SOUTH DAKOTA THIS YEAR.

HOUSE

Current: 1 of 1 representatives (100%)

  • 2 (1D, 1R) women have held South Dakota’s at-large seat in the U.S. House, including current Representative Kristi Noem (R), who is not running for re-election to the U.S. House this year because she is running for governor.
    • Women have held South Dakota’s at-large U.S. House seat since 2004.

Filed: 1 (1R)

  • Current Secretary of State Shantel Krebs (R) is running for the open at-large seat in the U.S. House. She will face 1 male opponent in the primary.

Districts with Women Candidates: 1 of 1
Percent of all Filed House Candidates (D/R):  25% (1 of 4)
Percent of all Filed Democratic House Candidates:  0% (0 of 2)
Percent of all Filed Republican House Candidates: 50% (1 of 2)

Recent history: The number of women who filed for major party candidacy for the U.S. House in South Dakota in 2018 is not a record high. Between 2008 and 2018, the highest number of women filed House candidates has been 2 (1D, 1R).

GOVERNOR

Current: 0
No woman has served as governor of South Dakota.

Filed: 1 (1R)

  • Current U.S. Representative Kristi Noem is running for the open gubernatorial seat. She will compete against 1 man for the Republican nomination.
  • If successful on June 5, Noem would become the first Republican woman nominee for governor of South Dakota. If successful in November, Noem would become the first woman governor of South Dakota.

Percent of all Filed Gubernatorial Candidates (D/R):  33.3% (1 of 3)
Percent of all Filed Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates:  0% (0 of 1)
Percent of all Filed Republican Gubernatorial Candidates: 50% (1 of 2)

Recent history: Just one woman has been a major party nominee for governor of South Dakota: Susan Wismer (D) in 2014.

OTHER STATEWIDE ELECTED EXECUTIVE OFFICES

Current: 2 (2R) of 9 positions (excludes governor) (22.2%)

In South Dakota, political parties nominate state executive candidates at their conventions instead of holding a primary. The only office this does not apply to is governor. The Democratic Party state convention will be held from June 15 to June 16. The Republican Party state convention will be held from June 20 to June 23.[1]

[1] Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_Secretary_of_State_election,_2018

Kelly Dittmar headshot

Kelly Dittmar

Kelly Dittmar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers–Camden and Director of Research and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is the co-author of A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen’s Perspectives on Why Their Representation Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018) (with Kira Sanbonmatsu and Susan J. Carroll) and author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press, 2015).

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