VIEWPOINT | Majority of legislative seats not in doubt months ahead of election
Guest column by David Owen
(Editor’s note: David Owen, the president and CEO of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, agreed to share his analysis of legislative races in the upcoming election. Owen has been involved in legislative politics for decades.)
Nov. 5th: The (Not Really) General Election or;
Nov. 5th: The General Election is Not as General as You Think
Senate - 57 percent De facto Elected + 29 percent Heavily Favored = 86 percent Mostly Set
House – 44 percent De facto Elected + 30 percent Heavily Favored = 74 percent Mostly Set
Voting is how the people give consent to those that will govern them. Starting on Sept. 20 voting begins and the people will decide the make up of the next legislature, except for the races that have already been determined which is 57 percent of the Senate and 44 percent of the House of Representatives. Below you will find an analysis of the districts that have already determined who will serve and a look at the number of districts that have heavily favored incumbents running.
Looking at the Senate. South Dakota has 35 Legislative Districts and each district elects one Senator. The Senate has 35 members. This November, 18 of the 35 seats (51 percent) have no opponent facing the winner of the primary. Some had no primary opponent either. This means there are 17 districts (49 percent) that have contested elections.
In addition to the 18 races with no opponents, there are two races that have experienced incumbent members running against registered independents that have never elected anyone to office. This means there are 20 people (57 percent) that are de-facto or nearly de-facto elected.
