| Election Name: | 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota |
| Country: | South Dakota |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2004 United States Senate election in South Dakota |
| Previous Year: | 2004 |
| Next Election: | 2016 United States Senate election in South Dakota |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Election Date: | November 2, 2010 |
| Image1: | John Thune, official portrait, 111th Congress (cropped1).jpg |
| Nominee1: | John Thune |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 227,947 |
| Percentage1: | 100.00% |
| Map Size: | 260px |
| U.S. Senator | |
| Before Election: | John Thune |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | John Thune |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 2, 2010, along other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.[1] [2]
Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. Despite his lack of seniority, Thune became chairman of the U.S. Republican Policy Committee in 2009.
Thune did not face any opposition whatsoever in his 2010 re-election.[3] South Dakota State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem said "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate."[4] There were exactly 89,136 undervotes compared to the concurrent gubernatorial election.
| Source | Ranking | As of | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Political Report[5] | October 26, 2010 | ||
| Rothenberg[6] | October 22, 2010 | ||
| RealClearPolitics[7] | October 26, 2010 | ||
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[8] | October 21, 2010 | ||
| CQ Politics[9] | October 26, 2010 |
| Poll source | John Thune (R) | Generic Democrat | Other | Undecided | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Public Policy Polling[10] | December 10–13, 2009 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 56% | 33% | — | 11% | |
| Public Policy Polling[11] | January 5, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 56% | 43% | — | 5% | ||
| Public Policy Polling[12] | April 5, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 58% | 34% | — | 5% | ||
| Public Policy Polling[13] | June 5–8, 2010 | 702 | ± 3.7% | 54% | 44% | — | 5% |
| Candidate (Party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand | Debt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Thune (R) | $6,282,750 | $2,988,648 | $7,194,549 | $0 | |
| Source: Federal Election Commission[14] | |||||
Official campaign websites