By Carleen Wild
Moody County Enterprise
Moody County voters sent a clear message in the June 2 Republican primary: their preferences didn’t always match those of the rest of the state.
Statewide, voters advanced Toby Doeden and Larry Rhoden to a gubernatorial runoff and sent Nick Buchholz and Carrie Sanderson to District 25 House seats, but Moody County voters overwhelmingly favored Jon Hansen for Governor and Bart Sample for House.
The election also continued a year of significant change on the Moody County Commission and decided a number of local races and ballot questions.
Statewide, incumbent U.S. Senator Mike Rounds easily secured renomination, defeating challenger Justin McNeal with 76 percent of the vote. Attorney General Marty Jackley won the Republican nomination for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House, defeating James Bialota with 79 percent of the vote.
The four-way race for governor saw Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden lead the statewide field with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Governor Larry Rhoden with 25 percent. Congressman Dusty Johnson finished third with 23 percent, while State Representative Jon Hansen received 21 percent. Because no candidate reached the required threshold, Doeden and Rhoden will advance to a Republican runoff election later this summer.
Moody County voters, however, made Hansen the clear local favorite, giving him 451 votes, or 47 percent of the vote — nearly as many as the other three candidates combined. Doeden finished second locally with 245 votes, followed by Rhoden with 133 and Johnson with 129.
A similar pattern was seen in the race for the District 25 House seat. Moody County voters favored Bart Sample, giving him 551 votes, or 38 percent of the local total. Carrie Sanderson and Nick Buchholz finished virtually tied locally with 455 and 454 votes, respectively.
While Sample carried Moody County, stronger support elsewhere will send Buchholz and Sanderson to the State House. District-wide, Buchholz led the field with 1,986 votes, followed by Sanderson with 1,922 and Sample with 1,819.
Locally, the Moody County Commission will continue to see significant turnover in the coming year. Tom Stenger, who was unopposed, will fill the seat being vacated by longtime Commissioner Jerry Doyle. Kendra Eng, appointed earlier this year to complete Carla Bruning’s term, was also unopposed and is expected to continue serving on the board.
Among the closest races of the night was the District 3 commission contest, where Garnet Paulsen narrowly defeated incumbent Dave Reker by seven votes. Doug Entringer, who was appointed earlier this year to replace Dan Miles, retained his seat after defeating challenger Lora Zwart.
With Doyle and Reker departing, and Miles and Bruning having already left the board earlier this year, four of the commission’s five seats will have changed hands during 2026.
Voters also selected Jordan Youngberg as Republican precinct committeeman for Precinct 5. In Precinct 4, Cynthia Anderson-Menning was elected Republican precinct committeewoman.
In Egan, Allen Loehr and Karlie Ten Eyck won seats on the city council. Loehr led the field with 46 votes, while Ten Eyck claimed the second seat by a single vote over Nancy Hansen, 28 to 27.
Voters in Ward Town elected Bryon Pals over Arlette Reeves as town trustee by a single vote, 11-10.
Voters in the Flandreau School District approved a measure reducing the size of the school board from seven members to five. The proposal passed with 69 percent support.
In school board races affecting portions of Moody County, Kelsey Bowman won election to the Brookings School Board. Mitchell Maher received overwhelming support in the Moody County portion of the Rutland School District board race.
Overall, 1,163 ballots were cast in Moody County, representing approximately 31 percent of the county’s 3,785 registered voters. The turnout closely mirrored statewide primary participation in 2022 and was substantially higher than the state’s historically low 2024 primary turnout. The election was also the first to include many local races that were moved to coincide with the June primary in an effort to encourage greater voter participation.