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South
Dakota Senate
SOUTH
DAKOTA |
Nov. 3,
2020 U.S.
Senate
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Plurality: 132,245 votes (31.48 percentage points). SD Secretary of State
Notes: This was not a competitive race; Sen. Mike Rounds (R), 66, seeking a second term, defeated small business owner and former state legislator Dan Ahlers (D), 46, by a wide margin. Rounds was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014; previously he served two terms as governor, from 2003-2011, and was elected five times to the State Senate, where he served as Majority Leader. In the private sector he built an insurance and real estate business. In the June 2, 2020 Republican primary Rounds defeated state Rep. Scyller J. Borglum by 70,365 votes (75.23%) to 23,164 (24.77%). Ahlers announced his candidacy on Sept. 30, 2019. He was elected to the State House representing District 25 (Dell Rapids) in 2016 but defeated in 2018; earlier he served one term in the State Senate and a previous term in the State House. In the private sector he was owner of Video Plus (1999-2019) and Jabberwock Coffee House (2008-11) in Dell Rapids, a leader of the Chamber of Commerce and president of the Dell Rapids Community Fund. There were no face-to-face debates. A Dakota News Now debate scheduled for the South Dakota State Fair on Sept. 5 was cancelled after news that Rounds' wife had suffered a recurrence of cancer. Rounds also withdrew from the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary candidate forum scheduled for Oct. 12. Rounds and Ahlers participated in SDPB Radio's candidate forum, which consisted of back-to-back interviews, on Oct. 14 (>). According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the race was not competitive financially. The Rounds campaign spent $3.2 million during the cycle and finished with cash on hand of $1.7 million while the Ahlers campaign reported spending $253,114. Campaign Managers: Mike Rounds Key Advisor Jason Glodt Co-founder of GSG Strategies, a government relations, grassroots issue advocacy and campaign strategy firm based in Pierre; has worked on over 200 local, state and federal campaigns. Over 20 years of legal experience working in South Dakota; served as an Assistant Attorney General for Attorneys Generals Mark Barnett and Larry Long and Marty Jackley. Senior advisor, lobbyist, and lawyer for Governors Rounds and Daugaard. Executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, 2003-04. J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law; B.S. degree in political science from Black Hills State University. Dan Ahlers Aaron Matson (June 2020) Director of Charis Ministries in Sioux Falls from Sept. 2019. Recruiting manager for the U.S. Census Bureau, Feb.-June 2020. Pulpit supply for ELCA, Sept. 2012-June 2020. Communications director for the South Dakota Democratic Party, June 2016-Aug. 2019. Visitation pastor at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Watertown, Mar. 2014-June 2016. Pastor at Leganger Lutheran Church, 2008-Sept. 2012. Ph.D. in political science and government from The University of South Dakota, 2017; M.Div. from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Luther Seminary; B.A. in political science and government from Northern State University, 2004. |
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