1980Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1980 election for South Dakota Legislative District 8
South Dakota State Senate · South Dakota
Leland Kleinsasser (R) won with 55.4% of the vote, defeating Gene W. Denison (D) by 10.8 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Leland KleinsasserRepublican · winner
55.4%5,068
Gene W. DenisonDemocrat
44.6%4,076
9,144 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET