Sim South Dakota: Race Lab Preview
Northern Plains News will debut a new election-analysis project this weekend that uses modeled simulations to track how South Dakota’s major 2026 races shift under different turnout and support conditions.
The project, called the NPN Race Lab, applies thousands of simulated elections to the governor’s race, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate contests, and key statewide ballot measures. Each run tests how the field changes as turnout rises or falls in different parts of the state.
NPN will publish the full launch article on Sunday, including a detailed breakdown of how the model works and what readers can expect as Election Day approaches.
The most significant thing affecting the outcome is whether republican voter suppression efforts are effective.,