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West River electees tout positive campaigning, mindsets after primaries
South DakotaGDELTGDELT event10% biasedWed, Jun 3, 2026, 12:00 AM
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West River electees tout positive campaigning, mindsets after primaries.West River there were upsets on primary election night, but incumbents ruled the day by-in-large.Now, new and returning lawmakers are sizing up the next steps.As races West River races get called, many of the biggest winners were Republican incumbents who have name recognition on their side.They come from a variety of backgrounds and fit into each corner of the party’s faction makeup.One such incumbent is Spearfish Senator Randy Deibert.He says while his primary race had its bumps, South Dakota voters respond negatively to attack-style campaigns.“The money that I had, I put to positive campaigning," Deibert said."I think that a lot of people in my district, District 31, really appreciate that you run a positive campaign.We don’t go on the ‘dark mode’ in our district.Dark money doesn’t do a lot of good in our district, and I appreciate that from our voters that live here and vote here.” With that in mind though, not every incumbent made it back to the statehouse.Bill Meirose of Meade County defeated John Carley, though that margin is within a recount window.Carley had battled tooth and nail on many contentious political issues like landowners’ rights, notably leaving Pierre just before a vote orbiting data centers.That move gave Carley’s faction the edge in killing the bill, and many saw it as an act of political gamesmanship.While Meirose didn’t address this incident specifically, he said faction-based political maneuvering isn’t effective in the long run.“I really think one of the big issues that needs to be addressed in Pierre is this tension that’s taking place within the capitol," Meirose said."We’re not working together, we’re working on our own agendas.Part of it is, how do we work through those things and develop those coalitions and bring people to the table and come up with a good solution?You know, I don’t see anybody as being an ‘evil person.’” While South Dakota is a deep red state, many legislative races in the Black Hills have Democratic challengers up for the November vote.Full primary race results are available on the Secretary of State's website.Results are not yet official.