Playing the cards of a moderate bipartisan Democrat, South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin dealt herself two more years in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday with another overpowering win over another Republican challenger.

With about 80 percent of the vote in Tuesday night, the incumbent Democrat was beating Rapid City businessman Chris Lien 68 percent to 32 percent. The margin was only slightly closer than her runaway 69 percent to 29 percent win over Republican Bruce Whalen in 2006, when there also was a third-party candidate in the race.

Democratic supporters said the margins were a tribute to Herseth Sandlin's ability to reach across party lines and attract moderate Republicans and Independents, a crucial attribute in a state where Republicans still dominate in voter registration rolls.

"She's got a lot of common sense, and it shows in the way she represents South Dakota," Rapid City lawyer Jim Leach said. "Most South Dakotans are more interested in results than they are in partisan politics. She is a representative of South Dakota, not a representative of Democrats or Republicans."

Herseth Sandlin called her win "a great victory" but also said she will continue with the kind of bipartisan congressional work that South Dakota voters expect.

"I bring a healthy dose of South Dakota common sense to Congress, of wanting to move forward rather than have stalemates," she said. "I think, clearly, that Republicans and Independents are trusting me more, and I'm overcoming some of the skepticism that perhaps some voters had of me when I was first running."

Herseth Sandlin lost her first congressional race to formidable Republican Gov. Bill Janklow in 2002. But she came back in a competitive campaign to beat Republican Larry Diedrich in a special election in June 2004 for the seat after Janklow was convicted of vehicular manslaughter. She beat Diedrich again in the fall for her first full House term.

Herseth Sandlin praised Lien for having the courage to take on a demanding statewide campaign and run it cleanly.

"I appreciate the kind of campaign he ran, and that the tone stayed positive and focused on the issues," she said.

Lien said Tuesday night that it was the only kind of campaign he knew how to run.

"I was hoping to have a campaign that tried to differentiate on the issues, one on one, across the state," he said. "It was tough. But I feel very proud of the campaign we ran, and more importantly, I feel very proud of the people who were a part of it."

Pennington County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Thom said Lien should feel proud.

"I thought he clearly ran a campaign like the man he is," Thom said. "He's a good man, a man of character. He took on a difficult challenge and did everything that he could."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com.

Title: 2008 Election Wrap Date: November 5th, 2008 The 2008 election proved to be a historic event. Here's a wrap up of key races in the U.S., the state and western South Dakota. VIEW PRESENTATION »