MITCHELL — The Mitchell City Council is considering how elections should be conducted when more than two candidates run in an election.
The Mitchell City Council, during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 8, unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to establish run-off procedures for city elections. The ordinance seeks to have a run-off election when a candidate fails to receive more than 50% of votes in a race with three or more candidates.
As presented, only the two candidates with the highest vote counts will be included in the runoff unless a tie is involved. If adopted, a run-off election would be held three weeks after the first election. Mitchell city elections are typically held the first Tuesday in June. There was no election held in 2025. The city’s finance officer would be responsible to give public notice of the election.
City Attorney Justin Johnson noted the ordinance was almost verbatim what state statute required.
“We don’t have a lot of discretion to change how those runoff elections will be conducted,” Johnson said.
Mitchell City Council Vice President Tim Goldammer stated that the ordinance idea came from discussions he had about term limits, which he noted were to get more people to run. In June, voters approved term limits for Mitchell’s mayor and council with
Goldammer believes run-off elections could be a potential issue. The ordinance could reduce the risk of a potential candidate declining to run because they do not want to take votes away from a friend or neighbor, according to Goldammer.
“It’s something good to have,” he said.
Recent examples of three-way races in Mitchell elections include this year when now-council member Shaun Davis won 29 more votes than incumbent John Doescher for 38.33% of the votes in Ward No. 2, with candidate Jay Schreurs coming in third.
The 2024 city election had three total three-way races, with Ward No. 1 incumbent Dan Sabers receiving 48% of votes and candidate Sarah Deakins receiving 38%. Also in 2024, Ward No. 4 incumbent Jeff Smith received 52% of votes and candidate Don Everson received 39%. In 2024, now-Mitchell Mayor Jordan Hanson received 41% of the vote in a three way race, just one percent more than mayoral candidate Terry Sabers.
“At the end of the day, there could be no runoffs,” Goldammer said.
In South Dakota history, a run-off for governor has only happened once. The municipal ordinance is different than the 35% of total cast ballot rule for South Dakota U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor primaries. This year, a four-way election among Republican governor candidates resulted in a run-off election between Governor Larry Rhoden with 25.2% of cast ballots and candidate Toby Doeden, with 30.6%. In the run-off, Rhoden won with 71% of run-off ballots. A final election will be held in November between Rhoden and democratic candidate Dan Ahlers.
Council President Kevin McCardle motioned to approve the first reading of the ordinance, and Goldammer seconded.
Marshall Mitchell is a reporter with the Mitchell Republic covering local news and politics. He has over 15 years of experience working with leaders, authors, non-profits, and small businesses in publishing, marketing, and content creation. He moved to Mitchell in December 2024, and can’t wait to hear from you. Reach out to him at mmitchell@mitchellrepublic.com.