Poll: South Dakota gubernatorial race in dead heat

Republican Rep. Kristi Noem and Democrat challenger Billie Sutton are tied just two weeks before the South Dakota gubernatorial election, according to a poll released Wednesday.

{mosads} Each candidate had the support of 45 percent of likely voters, with 9 percent still undecided, according to the Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy poll commissioned by the Argus Leader and KELO TV.

The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election handicapper, shifted its prediction for the race from “likely Republican” to “toss up” earlier this month.

South Dakota last elected a Democratic governor in 1974, marking the longest continuous streak of Republican control in the country.

If Noem wins, she would be the first woman selected to be the state’s governor.

Independent and unaffiliated voters in the poll preferred Sutton 57 percent to 32 percent.

Sutton and Noem are set to appear in two debates before the midterms, on Thursday and on October 29.

Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy polled 500 likely voters for Argus Leader between Oct. 18 and 22. The margin of error for the sample is 4.5 points.