Seven recounts possible in South Dakota legislative races, but only one candidate considering

The results from seven state legislative races were close enough to trigger possible recounts after Tuesday’s primary election in South Dakota.

Six of the candidates entitled to ask for a recount don’t intend to, though, and one is undecided.

Under South Dakota law, losing candidates can request a recount if the number of votes separating them from the winner does not exceed 2% of the total number of votes cast for all candidates in their race.

Rep. Kent Roe of Hayti, who’ll lose his seat after coming in third in his rural Watertown-area race, told South Dakota Searchlight that a recount would likely be “a waste of time for everyone.” The top two vote-getters were former Rep. Fred Deutsch of Florence and Milbank newcomer Ryan Kohl.

Kohl beat Roe by 131 votes in the Republican primary for the district’s two seats in the state House of Representatives.

Deutsch lost a 2024 state Senate primary to Sen. Stephanie Sauder in a race close enough for a recount. There was a 64 vote margin, and Deutsch asked for a recount. 

Not much changed. 

Republican voters once again opt to oust incumbents from South Dakota Legislature

“I think the recount in six different counties with six different committees changed maybe two or three votes total,” Deutsch wrote in a Wednesday text message to South Dakota Searchlight. “I learned from that experience that the machines are highly accurate.”

Tim Begalka, a Clear Lake Republican and former lawmaker who lost by 105 votes to Sauder in their Senate primary, told Searchlight the margin of Sauder’s victory was too large to justify a recount.

“It wasn’t close enough, and I am so busy that I don’t have the time,” Begalka said.

Rep. Tony Kayser may go through the petitioning process to pursue a recount, but told Searchlight in a brief phone call that he’s yet to decide. He lost by 52 votes to the man he’d ousted in the 2024 primary, Tyler Tordsen, who came in second in their Sioux Falls-area Republican primary.

The closest margin in a legislative primary came in a four-way race for two Rapid City-area seats in the House of Representatives.

In that race, longtime legislator Phil Jensen came in first by around 300 votes. Rep. Curt Massie took second, earning five more votes in the Secretary of State’s unofficial vote tally than former Adjutant General of the South Dakota National Guard Jeff Marlette.

Marlette said he’d have pursued a recount if he’d been that close to Jensen, but called Massie a solid lawmaker.

“I was really targeting Phil. I applaud anyone who runs for public office, but I don’t think he’s an overly effective legislator,” Marlette said.

The four-way race for the Republican nomination for governor was close, but not close enough for a recount. U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson had 2,454 fewer votes than Gov. Larry Rhoden, who will face Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden in a July 28 runoff election.

The deadline to request a recount is June 12.