2016 South Dakota General Election Story (Senate)

A head to head comparison of the South Dakota 2016 General Election gives us an idea of the break down of the voters.

John Thune received 265.5k (71.8 %) votes, beating Jay Williams who gained 104.1k (28.2 %) by 161.4k votes in South Dakota.

Jay Williams won 3 counties out of the 66 counties that make up South Dakota. The record shows that John Thune won 63 counties.

During the 2016 general elections, over 370k total number of votes were cast. Jay Williams got 104,140 (104k) over John Thune 265,516 (266k). He won the popular vote by 104,140 (104k). His victory in the State of South Dakota (with 104,140 votes) represents 50.0% of his popular vote victory.

Top 15 Counties in General Elections

These 15 counties play an important role in these Primary elections. If a candidate, can get a sizable majority in the largest counties (Minnehaha, Pennington and Lincoln), it becomes very difficult to win majorities in the smaller counties without voter outreach and increased voter participation in them.

Top 15 Counties Comparison in General Elections

Minnehaha, Pennington and Lincoln, three of the larger counties voted in favor of John Thune, giving him a 61k vote advantage.