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 Kristi Noem, incumbent U.S. representative
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Matt Varilek, staffer for Senator Tim Johnson
Eliminated in primary Jeff Barth, Minnehaha County commissioner
Declined Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. representative
Primary results
General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror KristiNoem (R) MattVarilek (D) UndecidedNielson Brothers Polling October 31 – November 4, 2012 633 ± 3.90% 54% 41% 5%Nielson Brothers Polling October 28–31, 2012 671 ± 3.78% 50% 44% 5%Nielson Brothers Polling August 29 – September 6, 2012 509 ± 4.34% 51% 42% 7%Nielson Brothers Polling July 19–23, 2012 541 ± 4.21% 47% 46% 7%
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror KristiNoem (R) StephanieH. Sandlin (D) UndecidedPublic Policy Polling January 28–30, 2011 1,045 ± 3.0% 45% 46% 8%
Endorsements
Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report November 5, 2012 Rothenberg November 2, 2012 Roll Call, November 4, 2012 Sabato's Crystal BallCrystal Ball , November 5, 2012 NY TimesHouse Race Ratings, The New York Times, November 4, 2012RCP, November 4, 2012The Hill November 4, 2012
Results
By county CountyKristi NoemRepublicanMatt VarilekDemocraticMarginTotal#%#%#%Aurora79356.68%60643.32%18713.37%1,399Beadle4,06956.16%3,17743.84%89212.31%7,246Bennett68256.46%52643.54%15612.91%1,208Bon Homme1,68754.70%1,39745.30%2909.40%3,084Brookings6,16049.85%6,19750.15%-37-0.30%12,357Brown7,67347.93%8,33552.07%-662-4.14%16,008Brule1,44060.30%94839.70%49220.60%2,388Buffalo18128.41%45671.59%-275-43.17%637Butte3,10074.00%1,08926.00%2,01148.01%4,189Campbell59776.54%18323.46%41453.08%780Charles Mix2,21958.83%1,55341.17%66617.66%3,772Clark1,10259.92%73740.08%36519.85%1,839Clay2,16341.69%3,02558.31%-862-16.62%5,188Codington6,75458.57%4,77841.43%1,97617.13%11,532Corson61652.38%56047.62%564.76%1,176Custer3,06868.41%1,41731.59%1,65136.81%4,485Davison4,69858.89%3,27941.11%1,41917.79%7,977Day1,27844.36%1,60355.64%-325-11.28%2,881Deuel1,25457.87%91342.13%34115.74%2,167Dewey71938.43%1,15261.57%-433-23.14%1,871Douglas1,32778.20%37021.80%95756.39%1,697Edmunds1,16760.56%76039.44%40721.12%1,927Fall River2,37067.77%1,12732.23%1,24335.54%3,497Faulk72865.06%39134.94%33730.12%1,119Grant2,13759.02%1,48440.98%65318.03%3,621Gregory1,43166.31%72733.69%70432.62%2,158Haakon91083.33%18216.67%72866.67%1,092Hamlin1,87167.11%91732.89%95434.22%2,788Hand1,20764.93%65235.07%55529.85%1,859Hanson1,57366.99%77533.01%79833.99%2,348Harding64287.70%9012.30%55275.41%732Hughes5,04061.99%3,09038.01%1,95023.99%8,130Hutchinson2,39169.40%1,05430.60%1,33738.81%3,445Hyde50269.05%22530.95%27738.10%727Jackson67461.89%41538.11%25923.78%1,089Jerauld56455.90%44544.10%11911.79%1,009Jones47977.89%13622.11%34355.77%615Kingsbury1,45856.29%1,13243.71%32612.59%2,590Lake3,26952.85%2,91647.15%3535.71%6,185Lawrence7,07562.73%4,20437.27%2,87125.45%11,279Lincoln13,10760.12%8,69639.88%4,41120.23%21,803Lyman91658.46%65141.54%26516.91%1,567Marshall90245.44%1,08354.56%-181-9.12%1,985McCook1,61461.67%1,00338.33%61123.35%2,617McPherson88472.64%33327.36%55145.28%1,217Meade7,69271.75%3,02828.25%4,66443.51%10,720Mellette41153.45%35846.55%536.89%769Miner62354.03%53045.97%938.07%1,153Minnehaha38,86051.34%36,82748.66%2,0332.69%75,687Moody1,54950.97%1,49049.03%591.94%3,039Pennington28,41864.68%15,51635.32%12,90229.37%43,934Perkins1,19776.44%36923.56%82852.87%1,566Potter95269.54%41730.46%53539.08%1,369Roberts2,01747.47%2,23252.53%-215-5.06%4,249Sanborn69361.99%42538.01%26823.97%1,118Shannon50416.24%2,59983.76%-2,095-67.52%3,103Spink1,62553.17%1,43146.83%1946.35%3,056Stanley1,01365.86%52534.14%48831.73%1,538Sully59673.22%21826.78%37846.44%814Todd68727.77%1,78772.23%-1,100-44.46%2,474Tripp1,88769.45%83030.55%1,05738.90%2,717Turner2,60561.92%1,60238.08%1,00323.84%4,207Union4,88565.17%2,61134.83%2,27430.34%7,496Walworth1,71469.79%74230.21%97239.58%2,456Yankton4,86849.03%5,06050.97%-192-1.93%9,928Ziebach35346.69%40353.31%-50-6.61%756Totals207,64057.45%153,78942.55%53,85114.90%361,429
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Aurora (largest city: Plankinton) Beadle (largest city: Huron) Bennett (largest city: Martin) Bon Homme (largest city: Springfield) Brule (largest city: Chamberlain) Clark (largest city: Clark) 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) Mellette (largest city: White River) Miner (largest city: Howard) Minnehaha (largest city: Sioux Falls) Moody (largest city: Flandreau) Sanborn (largest city: Woonsocket) Spink (largest city: Redfield)
References
External links Elections from the South Dakota Secretary of State United States House of Representatives elections in South Dakota, 2012 at Ballotpedia South Dakota - At-Large from OurCampaigns.com Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets Outside spending at the Sunlight Foundation
Official campaign websites (archived) Kristi Noem campaign website Matt Varilek campaign website