Petition results for 2026 election

Hill City will see contested races in each ward and for mayor. According to the Pennington County Auditor’s Office, Tana Nichols, the incumbent mayor of Hill City, will  run against a familiar name, Kathy Skorzewski, who was previously mayor of the town until 2023.

Ward I will see incumbent Justin Thiry face off against Cheryl Honour. In Ward II incumbent Dennis Siebert will oppose John Johnson.

Hill City voters will also have a say in committeemen positions as Rob Timm and Andrew Schock run against one another. Committeewomen positions in Hill City will be between Danica Allmer and Sara Heil. In Keystone, the committeeman and committeewoman positions are uncontested and will be filled by Tim and Marcia Goodwin.

The Hill City School District Board of Education race is uncontested with  Dr. Melissa Holcomb set to take over the seat being vacated by Todd Grabow.

At the county level, two Republicans, Mike Mueller and Zachary Bush, are running against each other in the June Republican primary for District 1 county commissioner. 

There is also a contested race for county auditor between incumbent Sabrina Green and challenger Tina Mulally. 

Sheriff Brian Mueller will continue to be the Pennington County Sheriff as he is not facing any challengers for his position. Neither is Register of Deeds Audra Casteel.

There will be Republican primaries for all the District 30 positions this year as well. 

Julie Frye-Mueller will be vying for the seat of  incumbent Sen. Amber Hulse. Tim Goodwin, Trish Ladner and Stephen Saint will run against one another in the June primary  for the two vacant District 30 House of Representative seats. The two winners will face Democrat Brett Swanson in the general November election. It is unclear yet if any candidate will have opposition from an independent in November as nominating petitions for Independents are not due until April 28. 

There is a crowded field at the state level for all positions. Candidates are continuing to trickle in as mailed petitions are filed.

For South Dakota governor, Republican Larry Rhoden’s seat is up for a four-year term. Rhoden filed a petition, as did Republicans Dusty Johnson, Toby Doeden and Jon Hansen. Democrat Dan Ahlers also filed a petition for governor.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson’s seat is up for a two-year term. Republicans Marty Jackley and James Bialota, Jr., filed petitions, as did Democrat Nicole “Nikki” Gronli.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds’ seat is up for a six-year term. Rounds is opposed by Republican Justin McNeal. Julian Beaudion filed as a Democratic candidate.

Petitions mailed by March 31 will still qualify. The filing deadline for independent candidates is April 28.

The primary election is Tuesday, June 2.