2004Flipped from DemocraticFinal results

2004 election for U.S. Senate in South Dakota

Name: 2004 election for U.S. Senate in South Dakota
Start: 2004-11-02
Location: South Dakota

U.S. Senate · South Dakota

John Thune (R) won with 50.6% of the vote, defeating Thomas Daschle (D) by 1.2 points, a seat Democrats won last time.

John ThuneRepublican · winner

50.6%197,848

49.4%193,340

391,188 votes

Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET

The seat over time

D − R margin in this seat's races around 2004

Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET

Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.

Thomas DaschleJohn Thune

$19.3M

Raised by the campaign

$16.3M

$20M

Spent by the campaign

$14.7M

$773.7K

Cash on hand

$1.6M

Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 2004.

Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 2004