In monitoring results as they come in, one thing that’s apparent (absent Sioux Falls, which lingers out there and will probably until tomorrow) is that Republican candidates seem to be over-performing in comparison to conventional wisdom.
- Michael Rohl – who is just under 800 ahead at this point, with 19 precincts to go – seems to be on track to oust Susan Wismer on a theme that “a Senate Seat is a terrible thing to waste.” If Rohl can accomplish the feat, this would be a pickup for Republicans.
- District 17, which was formerly a split district – appears to be on track with a strong showing from both Republican candidates with just 3 precincts to go to put both Sydney Davis AND Richard Vasgaard in office – another pickup of a seat not currently held by the GOP.
- Jean Hunhoff is literally running away with the District 18 Senate seat (currently 71 – 29 with 2 precincts left), another pickup of a Senate seat currently held by Democrats.
- Races in 26 (Koskan) & 27 (Schomp) & May all show encouraging signs, but have too few votes in to call.
Signs seem to be pointing to a tremendous night for the SDGOP, and give signs of encouragement if the trends hold true in Minnehaha County when the votes eventually are tallied.
Stay tuned.
By my count (pending any automatic recounts) is going to be really lonely for Democrats in the legislature in 2021-22…especially in the senate. House 64Rs 6Ds. Senate 34Rs 1D. I bet I know who the minority senate leader is going to be. The house democrats can caucus in a phone booth and the senate democrat can caucus on a skateboard!