AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the South Dakota presidential and state primaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Dakota Republicans’ tug-of-war over their party identity continues in Tuesday’s election, with district-level primaries the main event.

South Dakota may be best known for Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s no-apologies approach to politics, earning her the favor of former President Donald Trump, but her brand hasn’t extended to the entire state party. Sen. John Thune, whose name is regularly tossed around as the next Republican Senate leader, won election to a fourth term in 2022 without an endorsement from Trump. When Sen. Mike Rounds said that Trump lost the 2020 election, the former president called him a “jerk.” Meanwhile, Rep. Dusty Johnson, the state’s lone representative in the U.S. House, is chair of the Main Street Caucus, whose members describe themselves as “pragmatic conservatives.”

On Tuesday, voters won’t get a chance to take a stand on Trump, who was convicted in New York of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actor. When nobody challenged him for the Republican nomination, the state removed the presidential race from the ballot, as is its standard procedure for uncontested races. But voters will have a chance to decide what a Republican majority in the state legislature looks like.

While there are just two Democratic primaries on the ballot — one for the presidential race, the other for a state Senate seat — the remaining 44 contested races are all Republican primaries. In the 34th District, Jason Green is running as a “voice of reason” against Taffy Howard, who waged a primary challenge from the right against Johnson in 2022. Republican State Rep. Trish Ladner is also running an ad as a “common sense voice,” as she faces a crowded primary that includes a conservative talk radio host who quoted former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on his campaign website.