Where Sioux Falls candidates stand on elections and how government runs

21 sourced statements in 10 races. Every candidate in each race is listed, including those with nothing on record. Nobody is scored or ranked.

U.S. Senate

Secretary of State

  • Heather Baxter (Republican)

    Public engagement: Baxter said she wants better communication between the Secretary of State’s office and county auditors, business owners and the public, and greater civic engagement and citizen oversight. (KOTA TV)

    Website access: Baxter said she wants to modernize the office website and simplify public access to it. (KOTA TV)

  • Tamara J. Lesnar (Libertarian)

    Voting access: She says she is committed to making voting locations easier to access and supports protecting voters’ rights. The campaign also calls for a statewide database of ballot initiatives and signatures. (Lesnar for South Dakota)

    Election tabulation: In 2026 coverage, Lesnar said she supports continuing to use voting tabulation machines and sees no compelling reason to eliminate them; she said widespread hand-counting would require more labor than local election offices can provide. (South Dakota Searchlight)

  • Terrence Davis (Democratic)

    Office responsiveness: Davis says his priorities include rebuilding trust through more timely responses to county auditors, the public and media, improving the Secretary of State’s website, and strengthening relationships with county auditors. (South Dakota Searchlight)

    Election tabulation: He favors using election technology alongside human oversight and does not support statewide hand-counting as the primary method. (South Dakota Searchlight)

    Voting rights: The party’s 2026 nominee announcement says Davis is running to serve with transparency, protect voting rights and ensure the systems supporting democracy work for everyone. (South Dakota Democratic Party)

State Auditor

State Treasurer

Commissioner of School and Public Lands

State Senate, District 16

House of Representatives, District 10 (two seats)

House of Representatives, District 13 (two seats)

House of Representatives, District 14 (two seats)

Minnehaha County Auditor

All issues · Everything on the Sioux Falls ballot