The latest scientific survey of registered South Dakota voters offered insight into the leading contenders for governor and Congress, the favorability of the state's top politicians and other results.
South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota sponsored the biannual poll and published stories over the past few weeks on sdnewswatch.org. Below are links to those stories and a summary of each as well as the raw numbers gleaned from the poll that offer a glimpse into geographic and demographic differences.
Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, ranked as one of the least-biased and most-factual pollsters, conducted the poll of 500 registered voters from all parties and 502 Republican voters Oct. 16-20 using random selections from a telephone-matched state voter registration list that included both landline and cellphone numbers from across the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county. The margin for error is no more than plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Carson Walker
Julia Hellwege, University of South Dakota associate professor in political science and director of the Chiesman Center, said regularly surveying people's attitudes toward elected officials, candidates, current events and trust in institutions helps track the state and health of democracy.
"By understanding the public’s attitudes, we can hold government, and ourselves, accountable. This in turn allows us to share that information with the goal of promoting continued civic engagement, which requires both information and action," she said.
Besides co-sponsoring the poll, the Chiesman Center is asking South Dakotans to submit questions about how government works and which level of government they turn to with their concerns: school board, city council, county commission, tribal government or the state Legislature. Submit your questions on this form and they may be featured on an upcoming episode of "Civics Uncovered," season 3 of the Dakota Dialogues podcast.
Poll story summaries and links
Here are the latest poll summaries and links to the full stories:
- U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and Gov. Larry Rhoden are effectively tied atop the race for the Republican nomination for governor, while Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden and state Rep. Jon Hansen have surged in popularity over the past six months. Read the full story.
- If the 2026 primary election for U.S. House were held today, most South Dakota Republicans would support Attorney General Marty Jackley ahead of state Sen. Casey Crabtree and Piedmont businessman James Bialota. Read the full story.
- South Dakota's most prominent political leaders generally maintain high approval ratings among registered voters. However, Kristi Noem, former governor and current secretary of Homeland Security, has seen declines from a poll six months ago, and U.S. Sen. John Thune's ratings may reflect the challenges of balancing state interests and national priorities in his new role as majority leader. Read the full story.
- More than two-thirds of South Dakota voters surveyed approve of the new men's prison planned for Sioux Falls. Read the full story.
- Voter support for President Donald Trump's tariffs is uneven and largely split along political party lines, with most Republicans in approval. Read the full story.
- South Dakotans have a high degree of polarization between parties when it comes to their trust in government and public institutions, which includes state government, all three branches of the federal government, the media and higher education. Read the full story.
The raw numbers
Here are documents with details of the poll results, which can be downloaded by clicking the arrow:
This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact Carson Walker at carson.walker@sdnewswatch.org.
