SIOUX FALLS, S.D.(SD News Watch)- Nearly 6 in 10 South Dakotans plan to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch.

Trump holds a lead of 59% to 33% over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the survey, which was also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.

The other two statewide candidate races on South Dakota’s Nov. 5 ballot are also lopsided in favor of Republicans, according to the survey, which was conducted Oct. 12-16 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Those interviewed were selected randomly from a telephone-matched state voter registration list that included both landline and cellphone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen are well ahead in their re-election bids, with Johnson leading Democratic challenger Sheryl Johnson 61% to 24% and Fiegen polling at 50% in a three-candidate field.

“In most Great Plains states, the Democratic Party ‘brand’ is toxic to 50% of the electorate and probably 50% of the independents,” said Michael Card, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. “Few seem to deviate from party registration, and these numbers reflect that.”

Trump’s 59% showing is up since a similar poll in May, which had him at 50% and President Joe Biden at 31%. Biden dropped out of the race July 21 and was replaced on the ticket with Harris, who chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Read the full story at www.sdnewswatch.org.