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United States · Election results history · 1986 governors · South Dakota
Election 1986 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1986 South Dakota governor election

George S. Mickelson (Republican) beat R. Lars Herseth (Democrat) in South Dakota in 1986, 51.8% to 48.2%, a margin of 3.6 points and 10,645 votes.

The Republican hold continued from 1982, when William J. Janklow won.

Democrats led in 34 of the 66 counties as they stood then and Republicans in 32. The largest, Minnehaha, cast 48,380 votes and went to the Republican by 10.1 points. The closest was Gregory, where 8 votes separated the two parties.

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Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

Governor

CandidatePartyVotesShare
George S. Mickelson won Republican 152,543 51.8%
R. Lars Herseth Democratic 141,898 48.2%
Total294,441

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Minnehaha 21,752 45.0% 26,628 55.0% 48,380 R+10.1
Pennington 10,318 39.2% 16,013 60.8% 26,331 R+21.6
Brown 10,428 63.7% 5,936 36.3% 16,364 D+27.5
Brookings 3,697 39.3% 5,702 60.7% 9,399 R+21.3
Codington 4,582 51.1% 4,393 48.9% 8,975 D+2.1
Beadle 4,513 51.3% 4,278 48.7% 8,791 D+2.7
Lawrence 3,197 41.6% 4,480 58.4% 7,677 R+16.7
Davison 3,401 45.6% 4,059 54.4% 7,460 R+8.8
Yankton 3,418 47.5% 3,784 52.5% 7,202 R+5.1
Hughes 2,967 41.4% 4,203 58.6% 7,170 R+17.2
Meade 2,720 40.2% 4,045 59.8% 6,765 R+19.6
Lincoln 2,890 47.2% 3,231 52.8% 6,121 R+5.6
Lake 2,553 49.0% 2,655 51.0% 5,208 R+2.0
Clay 2,470 52.3% 2,251 47.7% 4,721 D+4.6
Charles Mix 2,389 52.9% 2,123 47.1% 4,512 D+5.9
Turner 1,761 40.8% 2,558 59.2% 4,319 R+18.5
Hutchinson 1,619 37.6% 2,690 62.4% 4,309 R+24.9
Union 2,537 59.4% 1,737 40.6% 4,274 D+18.7
Roberts 2,567 60.5% 1,673 39.5% 4,240 D+21.1
Spink 2,499 59.8% 1,677 40.2% 4,176 D+19.7
Grant 1,999 49.4% 2,049 50.6% 4,048 R+1.2
Day 2,453 63.5% 1,413 36.5% 3,866 D+26.9
Bon Homme 1,918 51.0% 1,840 49.0% 3,758 D+2.1
Tripp 1,469 42.6% 1,979 57.4% 3,448 R+14.8
Butte 1,090 32.3% 2,287 67.7% 3,377 R+35.4
Kingsbury 1,704 51.5% 1,604 48.5% 3,308 D+3.0
Fall River 1,273 40.2% 1,892 59.8% 3,165 R+19.6
Moody 1,618 54.0% 1,379 46.0% 2,997 D+8.0
Walworth 1,288 43.2% 1,694 56.8% 2,982 R+13.6
Custer 1,106 37.4% 1,854 62.6% 2,960 R+25.3
McCook 1,525 51.9% 1,414 48.1% 2,939 D+3.8
Gregory 1,361 49.9% 1,369 50.1% 2,730 R+0.3
Hand 1,453 54.5% 1,211 45.5% 2,664 D+9.1
Edmunds 1,521 58.3% 1,090 41.7% 2,611 D+16.5
Deuel 1,571 60.3% 1,033 39.7% 2,604 D+20.7
Marshall 1,686 65.1% 904 34.9% 2,590 D+30.2
Hamlin 1,378 53.3% 1,206 46.7% 2,584 D+6.7
Brule 1,386 54.7% 1,149 45.3% 2,535 D+9.3
Clark 1,315 52.4% 1,195 47.6% 2,510 D+4.8
Perkins 1,022 46.0% 1,202 54.0% 2,224 R+8.1
Douglas 799 38.6% 1,271 61.4% 2,070 R+22.8
Dewey 1,200 59.3% 825 40.7% 2,025 D+18.5
McPherson 766 40.0% 1,148 60.0% 1,914 R+20.0
Miner 1,066 56.3% 828 43.7% 1,894 D+12.6
Aurora 1,059 56.1% 829 43.9% 1,888 D+12.2
Potter 776 41.1% 1,112 58.9% 1,888 R+17.8
Todd 1,209 65.1% 647 34.9% 1,856 D+30.3
Lyman 847 49.6% 861 50.4% 1,708 R+0.8
Sanborn 862 51.0% 827 49.0% 1,689 D+2.1
Shannon 1,316 78.7% 356 21.3% 1,672 D+57.4
Corson 952 57.5% 704 42.5% 1,656 D+15.0
Faulk 990 59.9% 663 40.1% 1,653 D+19.8
Hanson 771 49.7% 780 50.3% 1,551 R+0.6
Jerauld 779 51.5% 735 48.5% 1,514 D+2.9
Bennett 624 43.0% 828 57.0% 1,452 R+14.0
Campbell 544 40.1% 812 59.9% 1,356 R+19.8
Haakon 473 35.3% 866 64.7% 1,339 R+29.4
Stanley 673 50.6% 656 49.4% 1,329 D+1.3
Jackson 586 48.6% 621 51.4% 1,207 R+2.9
Sully 542 48.0% 588 52.0% 1,130 R+4.1
Hyde 572 51.3% 543 48.7% 1,115 D+2.6
Mellette 509 52.0% 470 48.0% 979 D+4.0
Harding 295 32.7% 607 67.3% 902 R+34.6
Jones 339 40.5% 498 59.5% 837 R+19.0
Ziebach 411 53.0% 365 47.0% 776 D+5.9
Buffalo 524 70.1% 223 29.9% 747 D+40.3

Counties as they stood in 1986; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

South Dakota governor elections we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2022 Kristi Noem (R) R+26.8
2018 Kristi Noem (R) R+3.4
2014 Dennis Daugaard (R) R+45.0
2010 Dennis Daugaard (R) R+23.0
2006 Mike Rounds (R) R+25.6
2002 Mike Rounds (R) R+14.8
1998 William J. Janklow (R) R+31.2
1994 William J. Janklow (R) R+14.8
1990 George S. Mickelson (R) R+17.8
1986 George S. Mickelson (R) R+3.6
1982 William J. Janklow (R) R+41.7
1978 William J. Janklow (R) R+13.3
1974 Richard F. Kneip (D) D+7.2
1972 Richard F. Kneip (D) D+20.1
1970 Richard F. Kneip (D) D+9.7
1968 Frank Farrar (R) R+15.3
1966 Nils Boe (R) R+15.4
1964 Nils A. Boe (R) R+3.3
1962 Archie M. Gubbrud (R) R+12.2
1960 Archie M. Gubbrud (R) R+1.5
1958 Ralph Herseth (D) D+2.8
1956 Joe Foss (R) R+8.8
1954 Joe Foss (R) R+13.3
1952 Sigurd Anderson (R) R+40.3
1950 Sigurd Anderson (R) R+21.8
1948 George T. Mickelson (R) R+22.2
1946 George T. Mickelson (R) R+34.3
1944 Merrell Q. Sharpe (R) R+31.0
1942 Merrell Q. Sharpe (R) R+23.0
1940 Harlan J. Bushfield (R) R+10.3
1938 Harlan J. Bushfield (R) R+7.9
1936 Leslie Jensen (R) R+3.2
1934 Tom Berry (D) D+17.9
1932 Tom Berry (D) D+13.2
1930 Warren E. Green (R) R+6.7
1928 William J. Bulow (D) D+5.5
1926 William J. Bulow (D) D+7.1
1924 Carl Gunderson (R) R+31.0
1922 William H. McMaster (R) R+16.3
1920 William H. McMaster (R) R+39.0
1918 Peter Norbeck (R) R+34.6
1916 Peter Norbeck (R) R+17.3
1914 Frank M. Byrne (R) R+14.9
1912 Frank M. Byrne (R) R+2.8
1910 Robert S. Vessey (R) R+22.5
1908 Robert S. Vessey (R) R+15.9
1906 Coe I. Crawford (R) R+38.6
1904 Samuel H. Elrod (R) R+43.6
1902 Charles N. Herreid (R) R+36.0
1900 Charles N. Herreid (R) R+14.4
1898 Andrew E. Lee (other)
1896 Andrew E. Lee (other)
1894 Charles H. Sheldon (R) R+41.2
1892 Charles H. Sheldon (R) R+26.9
1890 Arthur C. Mellette (R) R+20.6
1889 Arthur C. Mellette (R) R+38.7