1996Flipped from RepublicanFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1996 election for South Dakota Legislative District 1
South Dakota State Senate · South Dakota
Paul Symens (D) won with 50.8% of the vote, defeating Lee Schoenbeck (R) by 1.6 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Paul SymensDemocrat · winner
50.8%4,903
Lee SchoenbeckRepublican · incumbent
49.2%4,748
9,651 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 1996
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET