by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
HURON –– On a night with headlines dominated by a nip-and-tuck gubernatorial race, multiple local races were decided by voters at the Huron Arena on Tuesday.
The first local race to be called came in at roughly 9:10 p.m. on Tuesday night. In the race for Beadle County Commissioner, district one, Tom Moeding won over Justin Lindquist.
Moeding secured a victory of four points by percentage, 52 percent to 48 percent, but the individual vote numbers were quite tight, as he tallied 198 votes to Lindquist’s 183.
With no Democrat opposition for the seat in the November election, Moeding has won the seat and will be sworn in at the first meeting of 2027.
The second “race” to be called was for Beadle County Commissioner, district three. Allen Greenfield held the seat until he resigned his position on May 1, but that was too late to remove him from the ballot. Challenger Jeff McGirr was able to secure 75 percent of the votes in the district to win the position. While his official seat is in a similar position to Moeding’s, the current spot for district one on the commission is vacant, and after canvassing the election on Thursday, June 4, the commission will appoint someone to complete Greenfield’s term through the end of the calendar year, which could be McGirr.
The Huron School Board race pitted incumbent Shelly Siemonsma against Sarah Meirose. Voters backed Siemonsma with nearly 60 percent of the vote to retain her position on the board.
The city commission race was very tight for the seat vacated by Bryan Smith. Former commissioner Drew Weinreis faced off against Josh Carr, and the race was close throughout the evening as precinct results came in.
Weinreis edged out Carr in the final vote, 815 to 775.
In statewide races, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds soundly defeated challenger Justin McNeal for his seat.
Rounds will face Democrat Julian Beaudion and Independent Brian Bengs in the November general election.
Also handily winning his primary race on the statewide ballot was current Attorney General Marty Jackley, who defeated James Bialota for U.S. House in the largest statewide margin of the evening.
Jackley will face Democrat Nicole Gronli and Independent Jack Pittman for the U.S. House seat currently occupied by Dusty Johnson.
Speaking of Johnson, he was among the four candidates for the closest race of the evening, vying against Larry Rhoden, Jon Hansen and Toby Doeden for the Republican nomination for South Dakota’s governor chair. In order to avoid a runoff, one of the four would need to pull in at least 35 percent of the votes. If none could reach that number, the top two in voting would head to a runoff vote on July 28.
At press time, Doeden led the four Republican candidates, but he was at 29 percent, with all four contenders reaching at least 20 percent. There potentially could be a recount in some counties, but it would be almost certain that the race will go to a runoff election on July 28, but which two candidates will participate is too close to call at press time.
The winner of the July 28 runoff election will face Democrat Dan Ahlers and Independent Terry Gleason on the November ballot.
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