The 2014 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

to represent the state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

, concurrently with the election of the Governor of South Dakota, as well as other elections to the

in other states and elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Johnson decided to retire instead of running for re-election to a fourth term in office. As a result, this was the first open seat election since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

. With Mike Rounds' election, Republicans held both of South Dakota's Senate seats for the first time since 1987 and gave South Dakota an all-GOP congressional delegation for the first time since 1963. Businessman Rick Weiland ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, while the Republicans picked former Governor of South Dakota

Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...

. Also running were two

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidates: former Republican U.S. Senator

Larry Pressler Larry Lee Pressler (born March 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1979) and United States Senate (1979–1997) as a Republican. He remained active in ...

, who served three terms in the Senate from 1979 to 1997, and former Republican state senator Gordon Howie.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Rick Weiland, businessman, former staffer for

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 a ...

, nominee for

South Dakota's at-large congressional district South Dakota's at-large congressional district is the sole congressional district for the state of South Dakota. Based on area, it is the fourth largest congressional district in the nation. The district is currently represented by Dusty Johns ...

(SD-AL) in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

and candidate for SD-AL in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Withdrew

* Kevin Artz, businessman * Henry Jo Sinkie, rancher and resort owner

Declined

Jason Frerichs Jason Elliott Frerichs (born November 24, 1984) is a former state senator and state representative from South Dakota. Early life and education Frerichs graduated from South Dakota State University in 2007, earning a B.S. in Agriculture Education. ...

, Minority Leader of the

South Dakota Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers L ...

(running for re-election) * Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. Representative *

Brendan Johnson Brendan Van Johnson (born June 24, 1975) is an American attorney who served as the 40th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota. He is the son of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson and currently is a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, a ...

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of South Dakota and son of incumbent senator Tim Johnson * Tim Johnson, incumbent U.S. Senator * Pat O'Brien, author, television anchor and radio host * Ron J. Volesky, attorney and former state senator

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Weiland faced no opposition in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Annette Bosworth, physician * Stace Nelson, state representative *

Jason Ravnsborg Jason Richard Ravnsborg (born April 12, 1976) is an American attorney and politician. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Se ...

, attorney * Larry Rhoden, Majority Whip of the

, former Governor of South Dakota

Declined

* Steve T. Kirby, former Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and candidate for governor in 2002 * William Napoli, former state senator *

Kristi Noem Kristi Lynn Noem (; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of South Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019 and a member ...

, U.S. Representative * Mark Venner, former state representative

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independents and Third Parties

Candidates

Declared

* Gordon Howie (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

), former Republican state senator and Republican candidate for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

(

), former Republican U.S. Senator

Disqualified

* Clayton Walker (

), small business consultant and Democratic candidate for state representative in 2010

Withdrew

* Kurt Evans (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

), teacher and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2002

General election

Campaign

Rounds was widely seen as the front runner throughout the campaign. However, he faced ongoing criticism on the election trail for his possible involvement with the State's ongoing EB-5 visa investigation, concerning the conflict of interest that Rounds' administration had when administering the EB-5 program. State officials misused funds to pay for their salaries, did not disclose that they owned companies which they gave contracts to, directed money towards companies that went bankrupt and arranged for loans from unknown sources from shell companies located in tax havens. In October 2014, Rounds admitted that he had approved a $1 million state loan to meat-packing company Northern Beef shortly after learning that Secretary of Tourism and State Development Richard Benda had agreed to join the company, with Benda then getting another $600,000 in loans that was ultimately used to pay his own salary. Benda committed suicide in October 2013, days before a possible indictment over embezzlement and grand theft charges. Columnist Jonathan Ellis of the ''

Argus Leader The ''Argus Leader'' is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Owned by Gannett, it was the state's largest newspaper by total circulation until 2021 when it was surpassed by the ''Rapid City Journal'', according to statistics from th ...

'' called Rounds' fundraising "anemic" compared to the amount of outside money coming into the state on Weiland's side, and criticized the entire Rounds campaign as "more suited for sheriff of Mayberry County than U.S. Senate."

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 29, 2014

Predictions

Polling

;With Herseth Sandlin ;With B. Johnson ;With T. Johnson ;With Weiland * * Internal polling for the Mike Rounds campaign * ^ Internal polling for the Rick Weiland campaign

Results

Maps

File:South Dakota Senate Election Results by County, 2014 (Howie).svg, Support for Howie by county:

References

External links

U.S. Senate elections in South_Dakota, 2014
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Mike Rounds for U.S. Senate

Rick Weiland for U.S. Senate

Larry Pressler for U.S. Senate

Gordon Howie for U.S. Senate
{{Use mdy dates, date=January 2018

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independents and Third Parties

Candidates

Declared

Disqualified

Withdrew

General election

Campaign

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Maps

See also

References

External links