Primary voters punish pipeline supporters in wave of defeats
Fourteen incumbents ousted amid grassroots revolt that could spell leadership changes
As results for South Dakota’s Republican state legislative races began to come in Tuesday evening, the night felt like it had the makings to include at least a few pivotal upsets.
In District 1, incumbent lawmaker Tamara St. John maintained a dwindling lead with her home county reporting fully, and down the road in Watertown, fellow House lawmaker Byron Callies appeared to be in the fight of his young political life.
Both candidates would go on to lose, and it would only be the beginning of a nightmarish night for the more moderate faction of the state’s Republican Party, including leadership from both the House and Senate.
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