Tim Begalka

PIERRE - Factors such as voter registration, issues and personality can contribute to the outcome of an election, but having more money was a common denominator for more than two-thirds of the winning candidates Tuesday in contested races for seats in the...

Many things such as voter registration, issues and personality can contribute to the outcome of an election. But having more money was a common denominator for more than two-thirds of the winning candidates Tuesday in contested races for seats in the...

Most incumbents rolled to victories Tuesday in their re-election bids for the South Dakota Legislature. But a very big name in Democratic politics lost, Democrats gained at least two seats in the Senate, Republicans gained two seats in the House of...

PIERRE — Politicians hoping to win high office down the road have long spread money to other campaigns along the way in the hope of engendering good will. The latest is former Gov. Mike Rounds. The "Peter Norbeck" political action committee that...

PIERRE — With the hires of a new deputy and a new state elections supervisor, South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant moved forward this week on changing key personnel in an office that has made important gains in digital technology for...

 PIERRE  — November is still four months away, yet nearly one-third of the 35 men and women who will be members of the South Dakota Senate for the new term starting in 2013 are already elected.  Those 11 don’t have opponents in the November...

 PIERRE — Speculation deepened Friday as director of operations Pat Powers resigned from Secretary of State Jason Gant's staff.  Sen. Stan Adelstein, R-Rapid City, has requested an official investigation into a variety of political and business...

PIERRE — Conservatives exerted greater rule over the roost Tuesday in Republican primary elections for seats in the Legislature, overcoming the endorsements made in some cases by Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard.  The most obvious message was...

PIERRE — The post-election analysis of Republican legislative primaries this spring lumped many races into a mainstream vs. tea partybattle.  Some people are appalled that moderate Republicans lost on June 5, while others are appalled that...

 PIERRE — At age 74, Rep. Roger Hunt is leaving the Legislature in the same quiet way that he generally operated as a legislator.  Hunt, a Republican from Brandon, was speaker of the House in 1999-2000. He didn’t seek re-election that fall...

 PIERRE — The candidate filing deadline arrived Tuesday evening for the June 5 primary elections, and voters in many parts of South Dakota will be in for some wild rides in contests for the Legislature.  Secretary of State Jason Gant can still...

There are pluses and minuses to the term limits that South Dakota voters placed on the Legislature through the 1992 constitutional amendment. We’re seeing again this election year that term limits don’t necessarily force a legislator to leave...