Richard Thomason wins At-Large C seat in Sioux Falls runoff election

Trevor J. Mitchell, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read

Richard Thomason will take the Sioux Falls City Council's At-Large C seat after defeating Jordan Deffenbaugh in Tuesday's runoff election.

Richard Thomason
Richard Thomason

Thomason, who served two years as a state representative for South Dakota's District 13 and currently works at Central Bank, got 6,160 votes.

Deffenbaugh, a community organizer, made a strong challenge — especially when comparing his fundraising and spending with Thomason's — but came away with only 5,562 votes.

More: Former city council candidate endorses Richard Thomason for At-Large C seat

He led Thomason in early and absentee voting, 712 votes to 577. And he increased his vote total between the two elections by 1,453, where Thomason added only 1,108 votes.

While Deffenbaugh could chip away at the healthy lead Thomason showed after the April 9 results, he was unable to fully overcome it — a goal that only became harder when Thomason was endorsed by Allison Renville, the At-Large C candidate who did not advance to the runoff.

In an interview after the race, Thomason said he was "very excited and very humbled" that Sioux Falls residents voted him in. He said he "intended on keeping their trust."

He added Deffenbaugh had called him following the results, and the two planned to sit down in the next few weeks to discuss some of his ideas. It was a close race and Deffenbaugh's message had clearly connected with people, Thomason said.

Deffenbaugh did not immediately return a phone call from the Argus Leader following the election results.

More: Mayor TenHaken says moving Sioux Falls elections to June could get more people to the polls

With 11,736 ballots cast, the runoff election saw a 7.89% turnout — barely higher than the 7.70% turnout that led Mayor Paul TenHaken to say there should be serious consideration toward moving municipal elections to align with the state's June primaries.

Thomason will be sworn into the position on May 21, alongside Northeast Councilor Miranda Basye, Southwest Councilor Ryan Spellerberg and Northwest Councilor Jennifer Sigette.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Richard Thomason wins At-Large C seat in Sioux Falls runoff election