STRAIGHT OUTTA PIERRE | Mayoral mayhem hits historic note, end of governor's race nears

Sharp, snappy and South Dakotan — an anonymous shot of insight with a twist of sarcasm

The closest race in South Dakota this year wasn’t for governor. It wasn’t for Congress.

It was for mayor of Sioux Falls.

Four votes.

After nearly two days of recounts, enough legal arguments to make everyone’s eyes glaze over, and more national attention than anyone expected for a municipal election, Christine Erickson officially became Sioux Falls’ next mayor.

Credit where it’s due. Jamie Smith had legitimate questions about an election decided by four votes. More than 150 absentee ballots arrived too late to be counted, some precincts temporarily ran out of ballots, and there were enough irregularities to justify taking a hard look at the process. In today’s political climate, it would have been easy to spend months fighting it out in court.