Rapid City Council Races Decided; Ward 4 Results Complicated by Withdrawn Candidate

Unofficial results from the South Dakota Secretary of State, June 2, 2026

Rapid City voters settled all five ward alderman races Tuesday in a primary that saw turnout vary widely across the city, with Ward 2 recording the lowest total of any ward at 1,427 votes — less than half the 3,313 cast in Ward 3.

Statewide, 171,729 ballots were cast out of 497,046 registered voters, a turnout rate of roughly 34 percent.

Rapid City Council Primary Results

Ward 1 Josh Biberdorf defeated Murray Lee 71 to 29 percent, with 2,651 total votes cast.
Ward 2: Incumbent Lindsey Seachris defeated Christopher Vanderhoof 54 to 46 percent, with 1,427 total votes cast across all five precincts.
Ward 3: Kevin Maher defeated Andrea Schaefer 58 to 42 percent, with 3,313 total votes cast.
Ward 4: John Roberts defeated Valeriah Big Eagle 52 to 44 percent, with 1,672 total votes cast. A third candidate, Ardin Jay Cychosz, received 65 votes despite having withdrawn from the race after ballots had already been printed. Roberts’ margin of victory was 68 votes.
Ward 5: Laura Armstrong defeated Patrick Roseland 56 to 44 percent, with 2,818 total votes cast.

Gubernatorial Runoff

At the statewide level, the Republican gubernatorial primary ended with no candidate clearing the 35 percent threshold required to avoid a runoff. Toby Doeden led with 31 percent, followed by Larry Rhoden at 25 percent, Dusty Johnson at 23 percent, and Jon Hansen at 21 percent. A runoff is scheduled for July 28.