South Dakota's at-large congressional district is the sole congressional district for the state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. Based on area, it is the fourth largest

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the nation. The district is currently represented by

Dusty Johnson Dustin Michael Johnson (born September 30, 1976) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district since 2018 United States House of Represent ...

History

The district was created when South Dakota achieved statehood on November 2, 1889, as one of two for the new state. Following the

1910 United States census The 1910 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 census ...

South Dakota gained a third seat. The third district was eliminated after the 1930 census. During the redistricting cycle after the

1980 census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was the first ce ...

, the second seat was eliminated, leaving the single at-large district that the state has had since.

Voter registration

Statewide election results

Election history

2004 special

Incumbent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Bill Janklow William John Janklow (September 13, 1939January 12, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who holds the record for the longest tenure as the governor of South Dakota: sixt ...

resigned the seat on January 20, 2004, after he was convicted of second-degree

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, triggering a special election. Democrat Stephanie Herseth was selected as the Democratic nominee for this special election and she defeated Republican Larry Diedrich with 51 percent of the vote in a close-fought election on June 1, 2004. Herseth's victory briefly gave the state its first all-Democratic congressional delegation since 1937.

2004 general

In the November general election, Herseth was elected to a full term with 53.4 percent of the vote, an increase of a few percentage points compared with the even closer June special elections. Herseth's vote margin in June was about 3,000 votes, but by November it had grown to over 29,000. Herseth thereby became the first woman in state history to win a full term in the U.S. Congress. Both elections were hard-fought and close compared to many House races in the rest of the United States, and the special election was watched closely by a national audience. The general election was also viewed as one of the most competitive in the country, but was overshadowed in the state by the highly competitive

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

race between Democrat

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who represented South Dakota in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he led the Senate Democratic Caucus during the ...

and Republican

John Thune John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. A Republican, Thune has been the Senate majority leader and Senate Republica ...

, which Thune narrowly won.

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

List of members representing the district

1889–1913: two seats

Two seats were created in 1889. In 1913, the two at-large seats were replaced by three districts. There were no at-large seats, therefore, until 1983.

1983–present: one seat

By 1983, the remaining two district seats were reduced to one at-large seat.

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

2004 campaign finance data
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At-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

At-large United States congressional districts Constituencies established in 1889 1889 establishments in South Dakota Constituencies disestablished in 1913 1913 disestablishments in South Dakota Constituencies established in 1983 1983 establishments in South Dakota John Thune