Why Mayor TenHaken now knows his last day in office

Simplified: Sioux Falls will know its new mayor next June, after the Sioux Falls City Council approved the date Tuesday evening, but it'll be up to voters to figure out how city elections are handled in future years.

Why it matters

• Sioux Falls City Councilors on Tuesday voted 7-1 to set the 2026 city election to coincide with the June primary. This change comes after a state law requiring cities to line up municipal elections with either the June primary or November general elections.
• At the same meeting, councilors also voted not to lower the threshold needed to win a City Council seat. The 6-2 vote means council candidates will need to get more than 50% of the vote in order to win, the policy that's been in place since 2017.
• Tuesday's meeting was a who's who of former city government officials – with several former mayors and councilors speaking their views on what it should take to earn a seat on the council. Ultimately, the voices favoring majority rule over plurality (i.e. winning an election with 34% of the vote), won out over those saying plurality would save the city money in preventing run-off elections.

"When you consider the millions and millions and millions of dollars that Sioux Falls city government spends ... the cost of a potential runoff city election are like a fly on an elephant’s butt," former Mayor Mike Huether told councilors.

Tell me more about the change in election date

The change was prompted by a new law requiring both city and school board elections to take place in either June or November in an effort to increase voter turnout.

That meant Sioux Falls has to change up its election schedule. Previously, the city elections were held in April (and often in conjunction with Sioux Falls School District races). But that's no longer an option moving forward.

Tell me more about the majority/plurality debate

Prior to 2017, city councilors were elected by plurality for more than two decades, a point that several folks brought up including former City Councilor Greg Neitzert, who spoke in favor of changing back to a plurality system.

"(The majority requirement) assumes that if you do not hold majority views in society, you do not deserve a seat at the table or a voice in the debate," Neitzert said.

But, as councilors noted before voting down the switch to plurality, the job of being a city councilor has gotten more complex as the city grows.

• Councilor Rich Merkouris also noted the majority requirement as a way to ensure single-issue candidates aren't elected.

"I want to elect people that have to go out and get a majority of support that show they can compromise and work for the common good," Merkouris said. "It means listening to various voices and trying to build coalitions."

What happens next?

A long-term change to city elections will require a change in the city charter, the governing document for Sioux Falls.

• That means it'll ultimately be up to the voters to decide if we stick with the June date moving forward or move the municipal election to November alongside bigger statewide and national races.

Councilor Soehl also suggested that Tuesday's debate indicates the city leaders should "take another look" at the city's form of government overall – given the increasing workload city councilors are taking on as the city grows.

"Is this the form of city government for the next 30 years?" Soehl said. "Whether or not the mayor sits on the council has always been on the forefront of discussion."