Lintz, Linde, Hindle retain county seats

All three incumbents will advance to this fall’s General Election for a four-year term on the Custer County Commission after receiving the most votes in last night’s primary election.
Jim Lintz received the most votes of the seven Republican primary candidates, with 1,013. He was followed by Mike Linde at 989 and Craig Hindle at 854.
Others who ran included former commissioner Jesse Sorenson, who tied with Jeff Johnson for fourth with 687 votes, followed by Uly Johnson at 572 votes and Nicholaus Benton 297 votes.
Lintz, Linde and Hindle will now face Independent Kevin Rosse for three four-year terms on the commission.
In the race for the two-year term available, challenger Mike Busskohl defeated incumbent Travis Bies 1,158 to 801, meaning he will join the commission in January, as there is no Democratic General Election challenger.
In the race for the Custer School District Board of Education, incumbents Michelle Lehman and Heather Grace will return to the board after picking up 1,326 and 1,291 votes, respectively, compared to 914 for challenger Holly Johnson. The two will now serve another three-year term.
Marty Mechaley will remain sheriff of Custer County for another four years after easily defeating challenger Doug Kimball by a 1,583 to 530 vote.
In the race for a one-year term on the Elk Mountain School District Board of Education, Jason Bradeen defeated Kent Keidel by a 58 to 22 vote count.
In Hermosa, incumbent Bob King was reelected to another term despite resigning from his position as a town board member April 21. King remained on the ballot because his resignation was accepted by the board of trustees after election ballots had already been printed, and he ended up receiving the most votes with 62.
Also voted in was former town board member Linda Kramer, who received 55 votes. The third person on the ballot, Bobbie Klaski, received 51 votes.
King now has the option of serving another term or resigning again.
On the state level, Julie Frye-Mueller appears to have retained her seat as District 30 senator by the thinnest of margins, capturing 2,848 votes compared to Tim Goodwin’s 2,802. The closeness of the race likely means a recount is coming as the two seek a two-year term.
In the race for District 30 House of Representatives, Dennis Krull was the top vote-getter, with 2,535 votes. Also advancing to November’s General Election is incumbent Trish Ladner, who received 2,133 votes. Patrick Baumann finished third in the race with 2,038 votes, followed by Lisa Gennaro at 1,309 votes and JR Herrick at 660 votes. Ladner and Krull will face Democrat Bret Swanson on the November ballot.
Gov. Kristi Noem will advance to the November General Election after handily defeating challenger Steve Haugaard of Sioux Falls in the Republican primary by a 76 percent to 24 percent vote at press time. She will take on Democrat Jamie Smith of Sioux Falls in the General Election.
At the national level Dusty Johnson defeated challenger Taffy Howard of Rapid City (59 percent to 41 percent) in the Republican primary and will now serve another two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, while incumbent John Thune easily defeated his challengers in the Republican primary for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate. Thune captured 72 percent of the votes, compared to 20 percent for Bruce Whalen and 7 percent for Mark Mowry. Thune will be challenged Democrat Brian Bengs of Aberdeen this fall.
Finally, Amendment C failed in a vote of 67 percent against and 33 percent for, meaning the state constitution will not change and will not require a 60 percent or higher vote for any ballot measure that would require appropriations of $10 million or more over the first five fiscal years of the measure.

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