Former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds has won the Republican party nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson.
Rounds, widely considered the GOP front-runner from the start, easily won over four other candidates.
The 59-year-old insurance agency executive topped state Sen. Larry Rhoden, state Rep. Stace Nelson, attorney and Army Reserves Maj. Jason Ravnsborg and physician Annette Bosworth.
He needed 35 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff with the second-place finisher. With 80 percent of the vote counted he had 57 percent.
Rounds will face Democrat Rick Weiland, unopposed for his party's nomination, and two independent candidates in the Nov. 4 general election.
Weiland is a Sioux Falls businessman who once worked for former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle.
Former Republican Sen. Larry Pressler and former state lawmaker Gordon Howie are running without party affiliation.
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