2010Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
2010 election for South Dakota Legislative District 7
South Dakota State Senate · South Dakota
Larry Tidemann (R) won with 54.2% of the vote, defeating Pamela Merchant (D) by 8.3 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Larry TidemannRepublican · winner
54.2%4,289
Pamela MerchantDemocrat · incumbent
45.8%3,631
7,920 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 2010
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET