Mike Rounds leads South Dakota's U.S. Senate race with 60.5% to Brian L Bengs's 39.5%, a 21.0-point margin (unofficial results, 100% of precincts reporting)
What's new Mike Rounds (REP) leads South Dakota's U.S. Senate race with 184,589 votes (60.5%) against 120,513 (39.5%) for Brian L Bengs (IND) in the count of the Nov. 3 vote: unofficial results, 100% of precincts reporting (671/671 precincts; the state's final flag is not set).
Why it matters Mike Rounds (Republican) received 184,589 votes (60.5%) in South Dakota's U.S. Senate race, against 120,513 votes (39.5%) for Brian L Bengs (IND), in unofficial results, 100% of precincts reporting (election_results #4444 and #5074).
The state certifies its results later; in this count the gap is 21 percentage points, or 64,076 votes.
PostNewz holds no poll average for these two candidates in this race, so this story gives no poll comparison.
On Kalshi, a prediction market, “Will Republicans win the Senate race in South Dakota? | Mike Rounds” traded at a 95¢ mid before election day; the market settled yes (a market signal, not the official count); “Will Brian Bengss win the Senate race in South Dakota?” traded at a 5.5¢ mid before election day; the market settled no (a market signal, not the official count).
Records: election_results #4444 and #5074, election_polls #51151, market_snapshots #338746, #338770.
Room for disagreement
A vote count says who won and by how much; it does not say why voters chose as they did, and a poll average measures intentions before the vote, not the result.
About the data
Every figure in this story is read from PostNewz's election_results, election_polls, election_market_links and market_snapshots tables (24 rows read Nov 10, 4:31 PM UTC): Official count for South Dakota's U.S. Senate race: Mike Rounds 184,589 votes (election_results #4444), Brian L Bengs 120,513 (election_results #5074); unofficial results, 100% of precincts reporting (671/671), state final flag not set, election_results #5074, as of 11/6/2026 7:57:57 PM (state time) (state election office electionresults.sd.gov, https://electionresults.sd.gov/resultsCSV.aspx?text=All&type=SWR&map=CTY); poll average election_polls #51151 (2 polls, computed 2026-11-07T12:36:05.333Z); Kalshi rows before election day: market_snapshots #338746, market_snapshots #338770. Written by code from those rows (pnjour2-pnj-v31, US race result story; no model prose); neutrality check passed. All dates and times are UTC.