Analysis: Slaughterhouse vote marks improbable victory in Sioux Falls contest

Ballot question biggest upset in South Dakota's 2022 election

When business leaders in Sioux Falls launched a campaign this fall to defend the backers of a new pork processing facility, they appeared to be waging a hopeless battle.

Initial poll results at the end of the summer showed that voters were set to approve a ballot measure banning new slaughterhouses by upwards of 70 percent, a seemingly insurmountable number.

By the time Sioux Falls Open for Business got off the ground to fight the ballot measure, it was already deep into September, and internal polling showed 60 percent of voters ready to ban new slaughterhouses.

NEWS: Sioux Falls voters reject ban on new slaughterhouses