Tuesday, June 3, is Primary Election Day in South Dakota, with local, legislative district and state races on the Republican ticket and an ongoing presidential campaign on the Democratic ticket to be decided.

Republican ballot

The Republican Primary ballot will decide races for Campbell County Commissioner in District 5, State Senate candidate for District 23 and the U.S. Senate candidate. There will also be four slates of delegates for presidential candidates, although U.S. Sen. John McCain has already secured enough delegates nationwide to wrap up the Republican nomination for president.

Campbell County District 5 generally includes the southwestern portion of Campbell County. The district starts a couple miles south of Pollock, goes east to the very west edge of Herreid, and then south to the Walworth County line. Incumbent commissioner Aldine Mittleider of Herreid is being challenged by Doug Salverson of Mound City.

Mittleider was appointed to the commission at a special county commission meeting on May 16, 2007, to fill the unexpired term of Arlene Odde of Pollock. Commission terms are four years, but this one will be for two years to complete the remaining years on the term to which Odde was elected in the 2006 general election.

Responses from the two candidates to a questionnaire from the Prairie Pioneer appear elsewhere in this issue.

There is no Democratic challenger for the position, but an individual could still file as an independent. The deadline to file as an independent is Tuesday, June 3.

Tom Hackl of Hoven and Corey Brown of Gettysburg are facing off in a battle for the state senate position on the Republican ballot. Hackl has been in the state House of Representatives for the past six years, and decided to try for the senate position when incumbent Sen. Jay Duenwald of Hoven decided he would not run for re-election.

Brown is from Gettysburg and graduated from Gettysburg High School. He served 10 years in the U.S. Navy prior to returning to Gettysburg. Currently, he is the economic development coordinator for the City of Gettysburg.

The winner will face Democrat Nick Nemec of Holabird in the general election. No independents have filed.

Three candidates are running for the chance to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson. They include Sam Kephart of Spearfish, Charles Gonyo of Trent and Joel Dykstra of Canton. No independents have filed.

Although Sen. McCain has the nomination for president wrapped up, his name, along with those of Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, as well as an uncommitted slate of delegates, will be on the ballot.

Democratic ballot

The only race on the Democratic ballot will be the presidential contest between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. Nationally, Sen. Obama leads Sen. Clinton by about 200 delegates.

South Dakota has a closed primary, which means that voters can only vote in the primary of the party in which they are registered. As an example, only voters who are registered as a Republican can vote in the Republican primary, and only those registered as Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Voters are reminded to bring a form of identification with them to the polls.