1988Final results
1988 election for South Dakota Legislative District 28
South Dakota State Senate · South Dakota
Gary Nelson (D) won with 42.2% of the vote, defeating Paul Valandra (Ind) by 1.9 points.
Gary NelsonDemocrat · winner
42.2%1,593
Paul ValandraIndependent
40.3%1,520
Harold L. WhitemanRepublican
17.5%661
3,774 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 1988
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET