The Lake County Democrats conducted a straw poll on Madison's Main Street Friday. 48 hardy political souls tossed ballots in the giant mayo jar. Here's how they voted on the U.S. House, South Dakota Governor, District 8 State Senate, and District 8 State House races:
| Candidate | number | % |
| U.S. House | ||
| Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D) | 33 | 79% |
| Kristi Noem (R) | 8 | 19% |
| B. Thomas Marking (I) | 1 | 2% |
| S.D. Governor | ||
| Scott Heidepriem (D) | 28 | 67% |
| Dennis Daugaard (R) | 14 | 33% |
| District 8 Senate | ||
| Clark Schmidtke, Jr. (I) | 19 | 48% |
| Russell Olson (R) | 21 | 53% |
| District 8 House | ||
| Mitch Fargen (D) | 32 | 74% |
| Gerald Lange (D) | 27 | 63% |
| Patricia Stricherz (R) | 3 | 7% |
| Jason Bjorklund (I) | 10 | 23% |
The participants in the poll identified their political affiliation thus:
| Party | number | % |
| Democrat | 23 | 48% |
| Republican | 10 | 21% |
| None | 10 | 21% |
| Independent | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 2 | 4% |
