2002 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota

none February 2026 September 2023 2002 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota South Dakota presidential no 2000 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota 2000 2004 South Dakota's at-large congressional district special election July 2004 (special) November 5, 2002 File:William Janklow (South Dakota Governor).jpg 150x150px Bill Janklow Republican Party (United States) 180,023 53.47% File:Steph-h.jpg Stephanie Herseth Democratic Party (United States) 153,551 45.61% 2002 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota results map by county.svg 260px County resultsJanklow: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Herseth: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #0d056c >90%Tie: #cdafdcff 40–50% U.S. Representative John Thune Republican Party (United States) Bill Janklow Republican Party (United States) The 2002 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2002. Voters selected a representative for their single at-large district, who ran on a statewide ballot. Republican primary Candidates Timothy Amdahl, South Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction; former S.D. School and Public Lands Commissioner Roger Hunt, South Dakota state representative Bill Janklow, incumbent governor of South Dakota Larry Pressler, former U.S. senator Bert Tollefson Campaign With Thune opting to run for the Senate, a competitive race for the Republican nomination occurred. Among the five candidates pursuing the nomination, the most notable included former Senator Larry Pressler and Governor Bill Janklow, the latter of whom was personally recruited to run by President George W. Bush and his advisers.Holman Kwame 2002-11-04 Kwame Holman reports on the battle for control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as seen from South Dakota. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec02/south_dakota_11-4.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20021107140301/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec02/south_dakota_11-4.html 2002-11-07 pbs.org Results Republican primary resultsStatewide Primary Official Returns http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_electioninfo02_statewideprimaryofficialret.shtm sdsos.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20060216194544/http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_electioninfo02_statewideprimaryofficialret.shtm 2006-02-16 dead Bill Janklow Republican Party (United States) 60,575 54.93% Larry Pressler Republican Party (United States) 29,992 27.20% Tim Amdahl Republican Party (United States) 10,593 9.61% Roger Hunt Republican Party (United States) 7,799 7.07% Bert Tollefson Republican Party (United States) 1,311 1.19% 110,270 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates Dick Casey Stephanie Herseth, attorney Denny Pierson Rick Weiland, former aide to Senator Tom Daschle and nominee for this seat in 1996 Campaign Democrats made a stronger effort to win the seat than in the previous election cycles, with the popular Thune choosing to challenge incumbent Senator Tim Johnson rather than seek re-election. Democrats touted Stephanie Herseth, a law clerk and member of the prominent Herseth family (which includes several individuals who have been active in South Dakota politics, such as her grandfather Ralph Herseth, a former governor of South Dakota). Results Democratic primary results Stephanie Herseth Democratic Party (United States) 39,576 58.15 Rick Weiland Democratic Party (United States) 22,083 32.45 Dick Casey Democratic Party (United States) 4,732 6.95 Denny Pierson Democratic Party (United States) 1,671 2.46 68,062 100.00 General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball50 most competitive House races of 2002 http://www.centerforpolitics.org:80/crystalball/house-competitive.htm Sabato's Crystal Ball 6 November 2002 24 November 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20021106080608/http://www.centerforpolitics.org:80/crystalball/house-competitive.htm 6 November 2002Lean R November 4, 2002 New York Times2002 Senate, House and Governor Ratings https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/articles/elections.html The New York Times 14 October 2002 21 December 2023 Tossup October 14, 2002 Campaign Despite Janklow's high popularity as governor, the race was unexpectedly close. Herseth proved to be a skillful fundraiser and, as a result, was able to stay close to her opponent in campaign funds.http://edition.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/06/elec02.sd.01.hotrace/ CNN Outgoing governor wins South Dakota House seat, CNN projects November 6, 2002 The polls confirmed the closeness of the race, showing both of them consistently within single digits of each other throughout the election. Throughout the campaign, Janklow emphasized his experience and commitment to seeing that the United States was protected from terrorism, while Herseth emphasized the economic issues of South Dakota. A controversy occurred in regard to an attack ad created by the National Republican Congressional Committee which questioned Herseth's roots in South Dakota. It pointed to the fact that she had not registered to vote in her home state until the year before, and, prior to that, had voted in Maryland in 2000. Herseth accused the ad of being "both inaccurate and offensive." Though Russ Levsen, her spokesman, acknowledged that she had voted in Maryland and reregistered to vote in South Dakota in 2001, he countered that she had previously been registered in her home state at the age of eighteen and had voted in five elections between 1989 and 1998. The NRCC pulled the ad within forty-eight hours in response to the bipartisan criticisms of both candidates. The ad was subsequently replaced with one that promoted Janklow's credentials.October 14, 2002 South Dakota Candidate Gets Ad Removed Fox News Associated Press https://www.foxnews.com/story/south-dakota-candidate-gets-ad-removed live https://web.archive.org/web/20091029155907/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65580,00.html 2009-10-29 Though Republicans were unsuccessful in defeating Tim Johnson during the concurrent Senate election, they did succeed in defending South Dakota's U.S. House seat. Results South Dakota's at-large congressional district election, 2002Trandahl Jeff Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2002/2002Stat.htm clerk.house.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20080130195930/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2002/2002Stat.htm 2008-01-30 dead Republican Party (United States) Bill Janklow 180,023 53.47% Democratic Party (United States) Stephanie Herseth 153,551 45.61% Libertarian Party (United States) Terry Begay 3,117 0.93% 336,691 100.00% Republican Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Deuel (largest city: Clear Lake) Brookings (largest city: Brookings) Spink (largest city: Redfield) (became tied) Aurora (largest city: Plankinton) Brown (largest city: Aberdeen) Day (largest city: Webster) Roberts (largest city: Sisseton) Beadle (largest city: Huron) Bon Homme (largest city: Springfield) Clay (largest city: Vermillion) Jerauld (largest city: Wessington Springs) Buffalo (largest city: Fort Thompson) Mellette (largest city: White River) Bennett (largest city: Martin) Lyman (largest city: Lower Brule) Corson (largest city: McLaughlin) Dewey (largest city: North Eagle Butte) Sanborn (largest city: Woonsocket) (became tied) Ziebach (largest city: Dupree) Aftermath Herseth won the seat in a special election less than eighteen months later, after Janklow resigned in January 2004 following a conviction of vehicular manslaughter. References House South Dakota 2002