The relative absence of yard signs for either major party presidential contender in South Dakota isn't a surprise. A deep red state, there's little reason for national parties and campaigns to sink much money into the state.
A brief digest of polls underscores the situation.
In results released on Thursday, Emerson College Polling reports in October 2024 South Dakota Poll: Trump 62%, Harris 35%:
A new Emerson College Polling/KELO-TV/The Hill poll of South Dakota voters finds 62% support former president Donald Trump in 2024, while 35% support Vice President Kamala Harris. Voters were asked regardless of whom they support, who they expect to be president in 2025. Fifty-nine percent expect Trump to be president, and 39% expect Harris to be president.
“Despite Trump holding a 27-point lead over Harris in South Dakota, fewer voters, about a 20-point margin, expect Trump to win the presidency, suggesting some doubt among his supporters about the overall election outcome,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
President Joe Biden holds a 28% job approval among South Dakota voters, while 64% disapprove of his performance in the Oval Office. Governor Kristi Noem has a 52% job approval rating, while 40% disapprove of the job she is doing as governor.
In the US House election, 64% support incumbent Republican Dusty Johnson, while 28% support Democrat Sheryl Johnson.
The top issue for South Dakota voters is the economy at 42%, followed by abortion access (11%), housing affordability (8%), immigration (8%), healthcare (8%), education (8%), and threats to democracy (7%).
South Dakota has several issues on the ballot, including but not limited to abortion, establishing a top-two primary system, and legalized marijuana.
On South Dakota Constitutional Amendment G, an initiated amendment establishing a right to abortion in the state constitution in the first trimester, 45% plan to vote to adopt the amendment, white 48% plan to vote against it. Seven percent are undecided.
“Voters who support the abortion ballot initiative break for Harris over Trump, 65% to 31%, while voters who oppose the measure break for Trump, 90% to 7%,” Kimball noted.
On South Dakota Initiated Measure 29, an initiated measure legalizing the recreational use, possession, and distribution of marijuana, 45% plan to vote yes, to adopt the measure, and 50% plan to vote no. Five percent are undecided.
“The marijuana ballot initiative has the most support among voters under 30, at 68%, and most opposition among voters over 70, at 64%,” Kimball added. . . .
Read the rest at the link. Full Results here.
Much the same story emerges at South Dakota News Watch, which rounded out earlier polling on ballot measures (see related posts below) with Poll: Republicans Trump, Dusty Johnson hold sizable leads in South Dakota. Stu Whitney reports:
Nearly 6 in 10 South Dakotans plan to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch.
Trump holds a lead of 59% to 33% over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the survey, which was also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.
The other two statewide candidate races on South Dakota's Nov. 5 ballot are also lopsided in favor of Republicans, according to the survey, which was conducted Oct. 12-16 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. . . .
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen are well ahead in their re-election bids, with Johnson leading Democratic challenger Sheryl Johnson 61% to 24% and Fiegen polling at 50% in a three-candidate field. . . .
Read the rest at the News Watch.
I met Sheryl Johnson earlier this week and was happy that I'd voted for her, regardless of the prospects of her winning, as she was direct and honest, and able to disagree with civility with an area farmer who supports ethanol carbon pipelines. Refreshing.
Photo: Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump speaks at a South Dakota Republican Party event at the Monument in Rapid City, S.D., on Sept. 6, 2023. Trump has a lead of 59% to 33% over Vice President Kamala Harris in South Dakota for the 2024 election, according to a recent poll. (Photo: Rapid City Journal/via South Dakota News Watch).
Related posts
- South Dakota News Watch poll: Support slips for abortion, open primaries, grocery tax measures
- Cannabis on South Dakota ballot yet again with IM 29: if voters decriminalize marijuana, lawmakers would make the call on sales
- SD Amendment G: Supporters seek to restore abortion rights that opponents call extreme
- Referred Law 21 & carbon pipelines: A landowner bill of rights or an undermining of local control
- Initiated Measure 28: What supporters call tax relief, opponents call a budget problem
- Marketing opportunity for Big Stone County? South Dakota News Watch Poll: South Dakota voters oppose recreational marijuana measure
- South Dakota cannabis legalization ballot measure validated for November 5 election
- South Dakotans return dope to governor's office, defeat legal pot, preserve Pierre's red swamp
- Bummer! South Dakota News Watch poll shows referendum on recreational cannabis legalization in South Dakota could fail in November
- After court defeat, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws keeps working for adult cannabis
- SD Supreme Court strikes down legal cannabis; supporters vow to make the people rule
- Trial for SD abortion ballot measure in limbo as court staff ‘not aware’ of planned start date
- Coalition of 35 Christian clergy leaders endorse South Dakota reproductive-rights ballot measure
- Update on SD rights: Abortion ballot measure challenge on course for late September trial
- South Dakota secretary of state now a defendant in Life Defense Fund abortion rights case
- Abortion rights measure likely to appear on South Dakota ballot, but lawsuit could affect election results
- South Dakota State Supreme Court revives legal challenge to abortion-rights ballot measure
- South Dakota father is leading effort to restore abortion rights in the state
- South Dakota doctors form group to support state abortion-rights ballot measure
- Anti-abortion group appeals judge's ruling on abortion rights amendment to SD Supreme Cour
- Reproductive rights update: former South Dakota legislator establishes Republican group to support abortion-rights amendment
- What's up with the lawsuit against South Dakota’s abortion-rights ballot measure
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