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1930 South Dakota gubernatorial election

1930 South Dakota gubernatorial election

← 1928 November 4, 1930 1932 →

Nominee Warren Green D. A. McCullough Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 107,643 93,954 Percentage 52.97% 46.23%

County results Green:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% McCullough:      40–50%      50–60%      >90%

Governor of South Dakota before election William J. Bulow Democratic Elected Governor of South Dakota Warren Green Republican

Elections in South Dakota
Federal government Presidential elections 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2004 2008 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2008 2016 2024 U.S. Senate elections 1889 1891 1894 1897 1901 1903 1903 sp 1907 1909 1913 1914 1918 1920 1924 1926 1930 1932 1936 1938 1938 sp 1942 1944 1948 1950 1954 1956 1960 1962 1966 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 2026 U.S. House elections 1889 1890 1891 AL sp 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 AL sp 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 AL sp 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State government General elections 2010 2014 2018 2020 2022 Gubernatorial elections 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Secretary of State elections 2022 Attorney General elections 2018 2022 Senate elections 2020 2022 House of Representatives elections 2020 2022
Ballot measures 2006 Amendment C 2008 Measure 9 Measure 10 2020 Amendment A Measure 26 2024 Amendment G
v t e

The 1930 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Democratic Governor William J. Bulow declined to run for re-election to a third term, instead opting to successfully run for the U.S. Senate. The Republican nomination was hard-fought and the primary was crowded; because no candidate received 35% of the vote, state law required that the nomination be decided at a state party convention. There, former State Senator Warren Green, the last-place finisher in the primary, defeated Secretary of State Gladys Pyle, the plurality winner. In the general election, Green faced D. A. McCullough, the state's Rural Credits Commissioner and the Democratic nominee. Despite Bulow's success in the preceding two elections, Green defeated McCullough by a decisive margin—even as Bulow himself was elected to the U.S. Senate.

• D. A. McCullough, State Rural Credits Commissioner^[1]
• Lorenzo E. Corey, State Representative from Charles Mix County^[2]

• Gladys Pyle, Secretary of State of South Dakota
• Carl Gunderson, former Governor of South Dakota^[4]
• Brooke Howell, State Senator from Brown County^[1]
• Carl O. Trygstad, State Senator from Brookings County^[5]
• Warren Green, former State Senator from Hamlin County, former member of the State Board of Charities and Corrections^[1]

Following Governor Bulow's decision to run for the U.S. Senate rather than seek re-election, a crowded Republican primary developed to succeed him. When the votes were cast, Secretary of State Gladys Pyle emerged as the narrow plurality winner, but because she received less than 35% of the vote, under state law, the primary winner would be decided by a state party convention.^[6]

Pyle, as the first-place finisher in the primary, was seen by some observers as a frontrunner heading into the convention. The Huronite argued, "If the [R]epublican state convention nominates Gladys Pyle for governor, she will be elected. . . . And she would make a most excellent governor."^[7] In an editorial, the Argus Leader urged the convention to nominate her: "The smart thing for the Republican Party to do at its convention in Pierre on May 20 is to nominate Miss Gladys Pyle for Governor."^[8] But this praise was frequently backhanded; though the Argus Leader endorsed her candidacy, it also noted that "[t]he convention promises to be a colorful affair with the added novelty a woman candidate" and that "Miss Pyle's great strength is that the women voted for her. In other words, it was another manifestation of the eternal battle of the sexes. Every husband knows about it."^[9]

At the convention, following twelve ballots, Green, the last-place finisher in the primary, was nominated over Pyle. Green was finally put over the edge as the consensus choice when Howell dropped out and urged his supporters to back Green. Pyle had led most of the twelve ballots, but was unable to win enough support to receive majority support.^[10] In defeat, however, Pyle was offered the vice-chairmanship of the state party, which she declined, noting that it would be impossible for her to continue her service as Secretary of State and serve in a party leadership role.^[11]