PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Tallying the votes a second time didn’t switch any outcome from South Dakota’s June 7 primary elections for the Legislature.
The state Board of Canvassers met Thursday to consider recounts in three legislative races. Recounts are allowed by state law for contests where results are within 2%. The numbers changed in some, but the overall results didn’t.
In House District 12, covering part of the Sioux Falls area, Representative Greg Jamison still came out as the top vote-getter on the Republican side. He gained one vote in the recount, finishing with 1,198.
Taking the second Republican nomination in House 12 was Amber Arlint. She lost one vote in the recount, finishing at 938. That kept her ahead of Kerry Loudenslager, who gained one vote, finishing with 929. Cole Heisey remained at 721 and Gary Schuster at 492.
Jamison and Arlint now face Democrats Erin Royer and Kristin Hayward in the fall general election.
In House District 29, covering most of Meade County, the two incumbents won the Republican nominations in the recount — and therefore the seats, because they don’t have any November opponents.
Placing first was Representative Kirk Chaffee of Whitewood. He lost two votes in the recount and finished at 2,352.
Taking second for the other House 29 seat was Gary Cammack of Union Center, currently the Senate Republican leader. He ran for a House seat because he couldn’t seek a fifth consecutive election to the Senate under South Dakota’s legislative term limit.
Cammack lost one vote in the recount and finished with 2,103. Kathy Rice of Black Hawk meanwhile gained one vote but she still came up short at 2,076.
In Senate District 30, which covers Custer and Fall River counties and parts of Pennington County, Senator Julie Frye-Mueller of Rapid City finished first in the recount, just as she did after the first tally.
In the recount, Frye-Mueller lost 24 votes in Fall River and gained one in Pennington to finish with a three-county total of 2,826. Her challenger, Representative Tim Goodwin of Rapid City, wasn’t able to overtake her. Goodwin lost 12 votes in Fall River and finished at 2,791.
Frye-Mueller won the Senate seat because she has no November opponent.
