Biteler, Bowman win

BROOKINGS — Dave Biteler easily won the Republican primary for Brookings County Sheriff in the top race in the county on Tuesday night.
Biteler received 2,506 votes to Shawn Hostler’s 1,141 in the race for sheriff.

In the other local matchup — and the only one available to all voters, Kelsey Bowman won a seat on the school board, defeating Marcie Dierks 2,145 to 1,506.

In what was likely the theme of the night statewide, Biteler said he was pleased with the results, but ready to get right back to work. He now moves on to face independent candidate Manny Langsraat in the November general election.

“We can take eight hours off here and get some rest, and then tomorrow it’s go time again,” Biteler said. ”I was very humbled, very proud that Brookings County showed up to the polls and by their support and confidence in me. And yes, very, very happy.”

Hostler, who won a seat on the county commission and has six months left in his term, said he was disappointed in the results but proud of his run.

“Disappointed, you know, but I’m proud of the campaign we ran. We ran an honest campaign about the issues, and there weren’t any smears going out through our campaign. It’s just, well, we came up short, so it’s disappointing. It really is.”

The other theme of the night was poor turnout. The South Dakota State Legislature moved this election to coincide with the Republican primary, claiming it would get more people to the polls. That did not bear out in Brookings, where all told, 5470 ballots were cast out of 19,660 registered voters — a touch under 28 percent turnout.

3651 ballots were cast in the lone nonpartisan race — just 18 percent turnout.

Statewide, turnout was at 34.55 percent. That’s a far cry from the 64 percent that turned out last presidential election in South Dakota, a state that used to regularly see more than 60 percent turnout and rank in the top 10 nationwide.

Bowman will take a seat on the Brookings County School Board in July. She ran the previous time two seats were available, narrowly missing election then — and she attributed her success to campaign experience.

“You know, I think the first time around I learned that a campaign is a lot more about listening, and I think having those tough conversations over the last couple years and hearing from all sides of the aisle and different community members, I think that helped a lot. I just had a lot more conversations with a lot more diverse group of people.”

For Dierks, a first-time candidate, the timing of the race — and the turnout — seemed determinative.

“Once I saw the absentee voting come in, I was like, ‘Oh, she won,’” Dierks said.

Dierks said running for office was a good — and informative — experience and that she wanted to continue to work on connecting people locally in person rather than on social media.

“I’m glad I did it. I learned a lot. People genuinely care about each other and want what’s best for their kids. So going forward, how do we get as a community talk to one another in person and get on board with wanting something better for everybody?” Dierks said.

As the only non-partisan race on the ballot, Bowman is one of the few whose election season is now over.

“I just want to thank everyone for their support and believing in me, and I’m excited to get to work,” Bowman said.

In the four-way race for the Republican nomination for governor, current U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson carried Brookings County with 1,200 votes.

Toby Doeden of Aberdeen, who polls showed surging at the end of the race, collected 1,110 votes here. Jon Hansen had 906 votes, while sitting Governor Larry Rhoden got 878.
Statewide, however, Doeden’s surge got him to the top — and Rhoden’s strength West River delivered him the second spot, meaning Doeden and Rhoden advance to a statewide runoff and Johnson and Hansen are out. The runoff is tentatively scheduled for July 28.

In the primaries for federal office, Brookings County mirrored the state.
Mike Rounds beat Justin McNeal 3,058-941 here and across the state in the GOP primary for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.

Marty Jackley easily won the Republican nomination for the House seat now occupied by Johnson — 3,186 to 691 over James Bialota here and in a rout statewide as well.

Roger DeGroot and Mellissa Heermann both won re-election to state Rep. seats representing District 7.

DeGroot, Seth Hansen and Diana Page were chosen to be delegates to the state Republican convention. Wes Tschetter, Pat Powers and Linda Adams were chosen as committee persons for the state convention, as well.

Linehan is the Beacon’s managing editor and welcomes comments and story tips at BrookingsBeacon@gmail.com