New poll shows Doeden overtaking Johnson in governor race, though within margin of error

A new poll shows Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden overtaking U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson in the race for the Republican nomination for governor of South Dakota, but the gap between the two is within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll commissioned by KELO-TV and conducted by Emerson College Polling in Boston shows Doeden at 26%, Johnson at 23%, Gov. Larry Rhoden at 19% and state House Speaker Jon Hansen at 16%, with 15% of respondents undecided. The poll’s margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.

The poll was conducted May 18-19. Emerson surveyed 452 registered Republicans in the state, including 432 who said they were either very or somewhat likely to vote.

March results from the same source were Johnson 28%, Doeden 18%, Rhoden 17%, Hansen 14% and 23% undecided.

Separately, South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy commissioned polls by Mason-Dixon Polling. Those results in April showed Johnson with 34% support, Hansen at 18%, and Rhoden and Doeden each at 17%, with 14% undecided.

In October, those same groups released results of Johnson 28%, Rhoden 27%, Doeden 15% and Hanson 10%, with 21% undecided.

The winner of the race needs 35% support in the June 2 primary election to advance to a Nov. 3 general election contest against presumptive Democratic nominee Dan Ahlers. If no Republican receives 35% support in the primary, the top two will advance to a runoff eight weeks later on July 28.