Moody County election officials anticipated high turnout, but the 74% voter participation in the 2024 General Election still came as a welcome surprise.
Before polls opened on Tuesday, 1,018 eligible voters had already cast ballots either absentee or in-person, marking an early turnout of 23%, according to County Auditor Tawny Heinemann. The strong turnout matched high interest in both local and national races across South Dakota, where about 70% of registered voters cast ballots statewide, deciding on the presidency, 105 legislative seats, several statewide offices, and seven ballot measures.
In the presidential race, former President Donald Trump won the majority of votes in South Dakota, continuing the state’s alignment with the GOP. In the House of Representatives race, incumbent Dusty Johnson, a Republican, successfully defended his seat, keeping his place as South Dakota’s lone representative in Congress. Johnson, however, is being discussed as a likely candidate for Governor. The next gubernatorial election is in 2026.
Kristie Fiegen will return to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner’s offfice. Moody County voters went along with state voters. She had 2142 votes compared to 821 from Forrest Wilson (D) and A. Gideon Oakes (L) who gained 115 votes.
Locally, Les Heinemann (1898) and Jon Hansen (1619) were elected to the District 25 State House. There was not a Democratic candidate on the ballot and both will be sent to Pierre
Tom Pischke with 2083 votes will return from District 25 as State Senator defeating democrat Brian Wirth who had 962 votes in Moody County.
The statewide ballot results for several key constitutional amendments and measures included:
● Constitutional Amendment E, which sought to update gender references in the state constitution, was rejected by a wide margin. (Moody County: Yes 1183, No 1992)
● Constitutional Amendment F, which would impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients, passed by a 12% margin. (Moody County: Yes 1651, No 1514)
● Constitutional Amendment G, proposing a constitutional right to abortion, was rejected by a majority of voters. The South Dakota measure would have barred restrictions on terminating a pregnancy during its first 12 weeks. (Moody County: Yes 1192, No 2015)
● Constitutional Amendment H, which aimed to establish top-two primary elections in the state, overwhelmingly did not pass. (Moody County: Yes 1021, No 2093)
● Initiated Measure 28, which proposed prohibiting taxes on items sold for human consumption, was defeated by a 69% to 31% margin. (Moody County: Yes 958, No 2214)
● Initiated Measure 29, which would have legalized recreational marijuana, was also rejected. (Moody County: Yes 1327, No 1886)
● Referred Law 21, which focused on regulating pipeline companies and establishing a landowner bill of rights, failed by an 18% margin. Opponents, of which there are many that have been very vocal on this issue across the county, as well as its supporters, are watching for the controversial issue to be taken up again in the next legislative session. (Moody County: Yes 811, No 2341)
