The U.S. Senate Race in South Dakota is looking to be among the most contested in years. The deadline to file petitions to make the June primary has now passed. Five confirmed candidates are officially seeking the Republican nomination in the June Primary. All of those Republicans who declared for office have passed the first hurdle and turned in the proper number of signatures to the Secretary of State for verification.
The Republican candidates include Annette Bosworth, Stace Nelson, Jason Ravensborg, Larry Rhoden and Mike Rounds.
Dr. Robert Burns is a professor Emeritus of Political Science at SDSU. He says in South Dakota a primary candidate only needs 35% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
“So even with five in the race it is possible for one of the candidates to come out the victor without the necessity of a runoff most observers believe former governor Rounds will be able to reach that 35% threshold. But there is no certainty to that so there may very well be a runoff,” says Burns.
Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face off in November against Democrat Rick Weiland and Independent Candidate Larry Pressler. Burns says Republican candidates generally do well in elections in South Dakota. He says in a normal year a republican front runner like Mike Rounds could expect 60% of the vote in the general election. But Burns says the entry of Independent candidate Larry Pressler in this race makes this outcome much harder to predict.