How South Dakota has voted since 1960
South Dakota has 3 electoral votes in 2028. Since 1960 it has voted Democratic once and Republican 16 times. It has backed the national winner in 10 of 17 elections. Donald Trump carried it in 2024 by 29.2 points, 27.7 points more Republican than the nation. In 2024, 64.5% of its eligible voters cast a ballot, ranking 28th among the 50 states and DC (nationally, 64.3%). It has voted Republican in every election since 1968. Its closest result was in 1976, when Gerald Ford won it by 1.5 points.
- 1960Nixon+16.4
- 1964Johnson+11.2
- 1968Nixon+11.3
- 1972Nixon+8.6
- 1976Ford+1.5
- 1980Reagan+28.8
- 1984Reagan+26.5
- 1988Bush+6.3
- 1992Bush+3.5
- 1996Dole+3.5
- 2000Bush+22.7
- 2004Bush+21.5
- 2008McCain+8.4
- 2012Romney+18.0
- 2016Trump+29.8
- 2020Trump+26.2
- 2024Trump+29.2
Each box is one election: the winner in South Dakota and the margin in points. Darker boxes were won by 10 points or more, lighter by under 5.
Election night
8 p.m. ET
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Central); in western South Dakota (Mountain Time) they close at 9 p.m. ET.
Also closing at 8 p.m. ET: AL, CT, DE, DC, IL, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, NH, NJ, ND, OK, PA, RI, TN, TX.
Times from the 2024 general election; states rarely change them, and they will be confirmed for 2028.
2028 ratings
- Safe R Electoral Vote Map Sept. 27, 2026
In Congress
Senate
- John Thune (R) since 2005
- Mike Rounds (R) since 2015
House (at large)
- Dusty Johnson (R)
From Congress.gov, as of Sept. 28, 2026. Vacant seats are not listed.
Margin by election
South Dakota margin National popular vote
By county
Donald Trump won 61 of South Dakota's 66 counties in 2024; Kamala Harris won 5.
Loading the county map…
Largest counties, 2024
| County | Votes | Margin | Shift from 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnehaha County | 93,986 | R+12.7 | →R 3.2 |
| Pennington County | 56,580 | R+26.4 | →R 1.3 |
| Lincoln County | 36,393 | R+26.5 | →R 2.9 |
| Brown County | 17,043 | R+26.8 | →R 3.8 |
| Lawrence County | 15,409 | R+31.3 | →R 0.9 |
| Brookings County | 14,939 | R+17.4 | →R 4.4 |
| Meade County | 14,672 | R+50.9 | →R 2.7 |
| Codington County | 13,510 | R+40.8 | →R 1.9 |
| Yankton County | 10,832 | R+25.5 | →R 2.0 |
| Davison County | 9,177 | R+37.8 | →R 2.7 |
Biggest shifts from 2020 to 2024: toward the Republican, Corson County (9.9), Roberts County (9.6), Oglala Lakota County (8.6); toward the Democrat, Haakon County (1.1), Potter County (1.0), Douglas County (1.0) — in points of margin.
County returns from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (official state data), 2000–2024. Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, of all votes cast.
Results by year
| Year | Winner | Democrat | Republican | Other | Margin | Nation | Turnout | EV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Donald TrumpTrump | Harris 34.2%146,859 | Trump 63.4%272,081 | 2.3% | R+29.2 | R+1.5 | 64.5% | 3 |
| 2020 | Donald TrumpTrump lost | Biden 35.6%150,471 | Trump 61.8%261,043 | 2.6% | R+26.2 | D+4.5 | 65.6% | 3 |
| 2016 | Donald TrumpTrump | Clinton 31.7%117,458 | Trump 61.5%227,721 | Johnson 5.6% | R+29.8 | D+2.1 | 60.3% | 3 |
| 2012 | Mitt RomneyRomney lost | Obama 39.9%145,039 | Romney 57.9%210,610 | 2.2% | R+18.0 | D+3.9 | 60.2% | 3 |
| 2008 | John McCainMcCain lost | Obama 44.8%170,924 | McCain 53.2%203,054 | 2.1% | R+8.4 | D+7.3 | 65.6% | 3 |
| 2004 | George W. BushBush | Kerry 38.4%149,244 | Bush 59.9%232,584 | 1.7% | R+21.5 | R+2.5 | 69.9% | 3 |
| 2000 | George W. BushBush | Gore 37.6%118,804 | Bush 60.3%190,700 | 2.1% | R+22.7 | D+0.5 | 59.0% | 3 |
| 1996 | Bob DoleDole lost | Clinton 43.0%139,333 | Dole 46.5%150,543 | Perot 10.0% | R+3.5 | D+8.5 | 62.2% | 3 |
| 1992 | George H.W. BushBush lost | Clinton 37.1%124,888 | Bush 40.7%136,718 | Perot 21.8% | R+3.5 | D+5.6 | 66.7% | 3 |
| 1988 | George H.W. BushBush | Dukakis 46.5%145,560 | Bush 52.9%165,415 | 0.6% | R+6.3 | R+7.7 | 63.3% | 3 |
| 1984 | Ronald ReaganReagan | Mondale 36.5%116,113 | Reagan 63.0%200,267 | 0.5% | R+26.5 | R+18.2 | 64.3% | 3 |
| 1980 | Ronald ReaganReagan | Carter 31.7%103,855 | Reagan 60.5%198,343 | Anderson 6.5% | R+28.8 | R+9.7 | 67.7% | 4 |
| 1976 | Gerald FordFord lost | Carter 48.9%147,068 | Ford 50.4%151,505 | 0.7% | R+1.5 | D+2.1 | — | 4 |
| 1972 | Richard NixonNixon | McGovern 45.5% | Nixon 54.2% | 0.3% | R+8.6 | R+23.2 | — | 4 |
| 1968 | Richard NixonNixon | Humphrey 42.0% | Nixon 53.3% | 4.8% | R+11.3 | R+0.7 | — | 4 |
| 1964 | Lyndon B. JohnsonJohnson | Johnson 55.6% | Goldwater 44.4% | 0.0% | D+11.2 | D+22.6 | — | 4 |
| 1960 | Richard NixonNixon lost | Kennedy 41.8% | Nixon 58.2% | 0.0% | R+16.4 | D+0.2 | — | 4 |
Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, in percentage points; Nation is the same for the national popular vote. "Other" is everyone else combined, or the leading third-party candidate where one took 5% or more. Vote counts from 1976. Turnout is ballots cast as a share of eligible voters, from 1980 (UF Election Lab; the newest year is preliminary).
Electoral votes
Electoral votes change after each census, when House seats are reapportioned.
- 419601950 census
- 41964–19681960 census
- 41972–19801970 census
- 31984–19881980 census
- 31992–20001990 census
- 32004–20082000 census
- 32012–20202010 census
- 32024–20282020 census
- 32032–2040projected
Projected: South Dakota's share of House seats after the 2030 census if each state's population keeps changing at its pace since 2020, from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey population estimates (July 1, 2024). If the count were taken today it would have 3. An estimate, not a forecast.