1996Final results
1996 election for South Dakota Legislative District 12
South Dakota State Senate · South Dakota
Keith Paisley (R) won with 61.0% of the vote, defeating John Claussen (D) by 22.1 points.
Keith PaisleyRepublican · winner · incumbent
61.0%5,531
John ClaussenDemocrat
39.0%3,530
9,061 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