2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2022 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, electing the governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor Kristi Noem defeated Democratic nominee Jamie Smith to win a second term.^[1]

2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
Turnout	59.40%
Nominee Kristi Noem Jamie Smith Party Republican Democratic Running mate Larry Rhoden Jennifer Healy Keintz Popular vote 217,035 123,148 Percentage 61.98% 35.17%
County results Noem:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Smith:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%
Governor before election Kristi Noem Republican Elected Governor Kristi Noem Republican

Despite speculation about this race potentially being competitive, Noem improved on her 2018 performance by 11 percentage points and flipped 17 counties that had been won by Billie Sutton. She also received over 44,000 more raw votes than she did in the previous election, setting a record for the most votes received by a candidate for governor in South Dakota.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kristi Noem, incumbent governor^[2]
  • Running mate: Larry Rhoden, incumbent lieutenant governor^[3]

Eliminated in primary

Former state house speaker Steven Haugaard challenged Noem in the primary but lost.

• Steven Haugaard, state representative and former Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives^[4]

Declined

• Lora Hubbel, former state representative, former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party and the South Dakota Constitution Party, and candidate for governor in 2014 and 2018^[5] (running as an independent)
• Mark Mickelson, former Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives^[6]

Endorsements

Kristi Noem

U.S. executive branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[7]

U.S. representatives

• Dusty Johnson, U.S. representative from South Dakota's at-large congressional district (2019–present)^[8]

State officials

• Marty Jackley, former attorney general of South Dakota (2009–2019) and candidate for Governor of South Dakota in 2018^[9]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Steven Haugaard	Kristi Noem	Undecided
South Dakota State University[10][dead link]	May 2–15, 2022	– (LV)	± 3.0%	17%	61%	22%

Results

Results by county

  Noem

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Republican primary results^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kristi Noem (incumbent)	91,661	76.4
	Republican	Steven Haugaard	28,315	23.6
Total votes			119,976	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jamie Smith, Minority Leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives^[12]
  • Running mate: Jennifer Healy Keintz, state representative^[13]

Declined

• Dan Ahlers, former state representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020^[14]
• Remi Bald Eagle, former official for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and nominee for the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in 2020^[15]
• Kooper Caraway, president of the South Dakota Federation of Labor^[16]
• Troy Heinert, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate^[17]
• Steve Hildebrand, political strategist^[14]
• Mike Huether, former mayor of Sioux Falls^[14]
• Brendan Johnson, former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota and son of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson^[18]
• Peri Pourier, state representative^[15]
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, president of Augustana University and former U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district^[18]
• Randy Seiler, chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party, former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota, and nominee for attorney general in 2018^[19]
• Billie Sutton, former Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate and nominee for governor in 2018^[20]
• Bob Sutton, businessman^[14]

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

• Tracey Quint, coordinator^[21]
  • Running mate: Ashley Strand^[22]

Independents

Candidates

Withdrew

• Lora Hubbel, former state representative, former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party and the South Dakota Constitution Party, and candidate for governor in 2014 and 2018^[5] (running for State Senate)^[22]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[23]	Solid R	March 4, 2022
Inside Elections[24]	Solid R	March 4, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[25]	Safe R	January 26, 2022
Politico[26]	Likely R	October 3, 2022
RCP[27]	Likely R	September 25, 2022
Fox News[28]	Solid R	May 12, 2022
538[29]	Solid R	October 5, 2022
Elections Daily[30]	Safe R	November 7, 2022

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Kristi Noem (R)	Jamie Smith (D)	Other	Undecided
Emerson College[31]	October 19–21, 2022	1,500 (LV)	± 2.4%	56%	37%	3%[b]	4%
				57%	39%	4%[c]	–
South Dakota State University[32]	September 28 – October 10, 2022	565 (RV)	± 4.0%	45%	41%	–	14%

Post-primary endorsements

Kristi Noem (R)

U.S. representatives

• Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. representative from Hawaii's 2nd congressional district (2013–2021) (Independent)^[33]

Statewide officials

• Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia (2022–present)^[34]

Organizations

• NRA Political Victory Fund^[35][36]
• Susan B. Anthony List^[36]

Results

Swing by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +15-20%
•   Democratic — +10-15%
•   Democratic — +5-10%
•   Democratic — +0-5%
•   Republican — +0-5%
•   Republican — +5-10%
•   Republican — +10-15%
•   Republican — +15-20%
•   Republican — +20-25%
•   Republican — +25-30%
•   Republican — +>30%

Trend by county

Legend

•   Democratic — +15-20%
•   Democratic — +10-15%
•   Democratic — +5-10%
•   Democratic — +0-5%
•   Republican — +0-5%
•   Republican — +5-10%
•   Republican — +10-15%
•   Republican — +15-20%
•   Republican — +20-25%
•   Republican — +25-30%
•   Republican — +>30%

2022 South Dakota gubernatorial election^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kristi Noem (incumbent) Larry Rhoden (incumbent)	217,035	61.98%	+11.01%
	Democratic	Jamie Smith Jennifer Healy Keintz	123,148	35.17%	−12.43%
	Libertarian	Tracey Quint Ashley Strand	9,983	2.85%	+1.42%
Total votes			350,166	100.00%	N/A
Turnout			350,166	59.40%
Registered electors			597,073
	Republican hold

By county

County	Kristi Noem Republican		Jamie Smith Democratic		Tracey Quint Libertarian		Total votes
	%	#	%	#	%	#
Aurora	73.64%	894	23.39%	284	2.97%	36	1,214
Beadle	66.84%	3,901	29.40%	1,716	3.75%	219	5,836
Bennett	60.39%	619	35.90%	368	3.71%	38	1,025
Bon Homme	72.52%	1,858	25.37%	650	2.11%	54	2,562
Brookings	56.12%	6,974	41.01%	5,096	2.87%	357	12,427
Brown	60.56%	8,456	37.00%	5,167	2.44%	341	13,964
Brule	69.37%	1,463	27.93%	589	2.70%	57	2,109
Buffalo	36.27%	144	58.94%	234	4.79%	19	397
Butte	76.71%	3,211	19.66%	823	3.63%	152	4,186
Campbell	84.11%	561	13.94%	93	1.95%	13	667
Charles Mix	70.75%	2,187	27.47%	849	1.78%	55	3,091
Clark	76.44%	1,223	21.31%	341	2.25%	36	1,600
Clay	43.29%	2,054	54.39%	2,581	2.32%	110	4,745
Codington	67.87%	7,520	29.36%	3,253	2.77%	307	11,080
Corson	56.25%	522	40.84%	379	2.91%	27	928
Custer	71.56%	3,633	25.47%	1,293	2.97%	151	5,077
Davison	67.51%	4,887	30.10%	2,179	2.39%	173	7,239
Day	63.43%	1,599	34.75%	876	1.82%	46	2,521
Deuel	74.28%	1,479	23.00%	458	2.71%	54	1,991
Dewey	42.06%	662	54.76%	862	3.18%	50	1,574
Douglas	85.71%	1,272	12.67%	188	1.62%	24	1,484
Edmunds	77.66%	1,321	20.34%	346	2.00%	34	1,701
Fall River	73.04%	2,679	23.42%	859	3.54%	130	3,668
Faulk	80.73%	771	17.49%	167	1.78%	17	955
Grant	72.41%	2,328	25.82%	830	1.77%	57	3,215
Gregory	78.77%	1,618	19.13%	393	2.09%	43	2,054
Haakon	90.37%	892	8.31%	82	1.32%	13	987
Hamlin	77.58%	2,118	20.07%	548	2.34%	64	2,730
Hand	78.36%	1,177	19.31%	290	2.33%	35	1,502
Hanson	77.63%	1,267	20.59%	336	1.78%	29	1,632
Harding	93.35%	632	4.87%	33	1.77%	12	677
Hughes	61.38%	4,571	35.61%	2,652	3.01%	224	7,447
Hutchinson	78.99%	2,507	19.03%	604	1.98%	63	3,174
Hyde	80.00%	460	18.43%	106	1.57%	9	575
Jackson	67.79%	623	30.47%	280	1.74%	16	919
Jerauld	69.75%	604	27.48%	238	2.77%	24	866
Jones	83.69%	395	13.56%	64	2.75%	13	472
Kingsbury	70.25%	1,792	27.13%	692	2.63%	67	2,551
Lake	63.05%	3,131	34.64%	1,720	2.31%	115	4,966
Lawrence	63.27%	7,749	33.00%	4,041	3.72%	456	12,247
Lincoln	59.76%	16,828	38.09%	10,727	2.15%	606	28,161
Lyman	66.69%	879	30.73%	405	2.58	34	1,318
Marshall	59.42%	1,123	38.99%	737	1.59%	30	1,890
McCook	72.67%	1,851	24.54%	625	2.79%	71	2,547
McPherson	82.82%	911	15.18%	167	2.00%	22	1,100
Meade	71.46%	8,482	24.32%	2,887	4.22%	501	11,870
Mellette	61.27%	386	33.97%	214	4.76%	30	630
Miner	72.69%	732	24.63%	248	2.68%	27	1,007
Minnehaha	52.53%	39,234	44.69%	33,376	2.77%	2,072	74,682
Moody	62.97%	1,668	34.35%	910	2.68%	71	2,649
Oglala Lakota	8.91%	221	87.58%	2,172	3.51%	87	2,480
Pennington	60.78%	27,586	35.73%	16,215	3.49%	1,587	45,388
Perkins	83.24%	1,142	12.90%	177	3.86%	53	1,372
Potter	81.16%	892	17.02%	187	1.82%	20	1,099
Roberts	60.70%	2,164	36.89%	1,315	2.41%	86	3,565
Sanborn	75.40%	757	22.51%	226	2.09%	21	1,004
Spink	68.61%	1,832	28.65%	765	2.73%	73	2,670
Stanley	69.04%	999	28.13%	407	2.83%	41	1,447
Sully	75.76%	597	21.45%	169	2.79%	22	788
Todd	20.87%	402	74.97%	1,444	4.15%	80	1,926
Tripp	82.58%	1,873	16.05%	364	1.37%	31	2,268
Turner	73.32%	2,834	23.78%	919	2.90%	112	3,865
Union	70.07%	4,723	27.42%	1,848	2.51%	169	6,740
Walworth	76.62%	1,573	20.94%	430	2.44%	50	2,053
Yankton	58.89%	5,247	37.60%	3,350	3.51%	313	8,910
Ziebach	50.51%	345	44.51%	304	4.98%	34	683
Total	61.98%	217,035	35.17%	123,148	2.85%	9,983	350,166

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Bon Homme (largest city: Springfield)
• Brookings (largest city: Brookings)
• Brown (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Charles Mix (largest city: Lake Andes)
• Corson (largest city: McLaughlin)
• Day (largest city: Webster)
• Hughes (largest city: Pierre)
• Lake (largest city: Madison)
• Marshall (largest city: Britton)
• Mellette (largest city: White River)
• Miner (largest city: Howard)
• Minnehaha (largest city: Sioux Falls)
• Moody (largest city: Flandreau)
• Roberts (largest city: Sisseton)
• Spink (largest city: Redfield)
• Yankton (largest city: Yankton)
• Ziebach (largest city: Dupree)

See also

• 2022 South Dakota elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Quint (L) with 3%
3. Quint (L) with 4%