Simplified: The Sioux Falls City Council needs to decide when the 2026 mayoral election will take place to align with a new state law, and, whatever they decide, it's possible more policy changes could follow.

Why it matters

  • State lawmakers passed a new law (House Bill 1130) this session that requires municipal and school elections to coincide with either the June primary elections or November general elections.
  • Previously, city elections were held in April as either standalone elections or in conjunction with the school board races. Now, under the new state law, the existing City Council has to decide when the 2026 city election will take place (which also means they're deciding how long Paul TenHaken will still be the mayor.)
  • As part of those discussions, councilors are also talking about changing the threshold needed to get elected to the City Council in an effort to limit the need for run-off elections. And, depending on when the new election date will be, they're also looking at adjusting the timeline for adopting the city budget.
"Legally, we have time (to decide when the 2026 election will be)," Council Chair Rich Merkouris said. "But I think practically speaking, we do want to make this decision as soon as possible to be fair to potential candidates."

Tell me more about the election options

Councilors on Tuesday discussed some of the pros and cons of each option.

For the June primary, the pros include a shorter ballot, giving municipal candidates more prominence, and – under the current timeline – newly elected candidates would have time to have a say in the annual budget discussions.

  • On the flip side, historically democrats and independents turn out less for primary elections because South Dakota – a traditionally "red" state – has fewer competitive races for those voters. Additionally, even though newly elected folks would technically have time to have a say in the budget, by the time they'd take office, it'd be pretty far along in the process and tough to get quickly up-to-speed.

For the November general election, the pros are that turnout is highest in these races, and it's an election date people are generally familiar with.

  • On the flip side, putting more stuff on what's usually an already pretty full ballot could mean local candidates have a hard time getting recognized. That also means the local candidates would be competing for attention (and needing to spend more money) alongside statewide and federal candidates with deeper coffers.

What other changes could happen?

Part of the discussion Tuesday afternoon focused on Sioux Falls' election runoff ordinance.

  • A little background: Up until 2017, City Council candidates were elected by plurality – meaning a person didn't have to get half the vote to win, they just had to get the most votes and at least a certain threshold (34% at the time) of the votes.

Now, a council candidate has to get a majority of the vote to win – which, in races that often have more than two candidates, well, the math ain't mathin' (as the kids say).

  • But, because a majority is needed, council elections now often result in run-offs – a second election held a few weeks later to decide a specific race.

With the changes to election dates, those run-off elections could get a little tricky, for example, if they run right before the July 4 holiday, as councilors noted.

The City Council could vote to change that ordinance back to a plurality vote and, if they wanted, could raise the threshold required to win above 34% in doing so.

"I think we should take a good hard look at choosing a number higher than 34%, so we can save the taxpayers that more than $100,000 investment (in run-off election expenses) when, in my view, maybe a run-off isn't necessary," Councilor David Barranco said.

What happens next?

Councilors Merkouris and Curt Soehl plan to bring an ordinance to the full council on Tuesday, June 17 that would change the election date to coincide with the June primary in 2026.

  • That said, Merkouris noted that this ordinance could be easily amended to move the city election to coincide with the November 2026 midterm election.