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Sunday, Jun 7, 2026

Did Larry Rhoden beat Toby Doeden in West River, South Dakota voting?

Michael Klinski, South Dakota News Watch
yes

Toby Doeden outperformed Larry Rhoden in both the western and eastern parts of the state in the June 2 South Dakota Republican gubernatorial primary.

Neither candidate secured 35% of the total vote in the field that included Jon Hansen and Dusty Johnson. Doeden and Rhoden will meet on July 28 for the right to challenge Democrat Dan Ahlers in November’s general election.

Rhoden, who is from Union Center in Meade County, is the only candidate from the western part of the state and has also been a rancher his entire life.

Doeden received 34% of the vote in West River and had Rhoden 32%, while Doeden earned 29% of the vote in East River to Rhoden’s 22%.

Of the 22 West River counties, Rhoden secured the most votes in 15 of them. Doeden won six, including Pennington, the second-largest county in the state. Hansen finished first in Gregory.

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