Noem up by 4 points in reelection bid: survey

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has a 4-point lead over her Democratic challenger, state Rep. Jamie Smith, according to a new poll. 

The South Dakota State University survey found that 45 percent of all respondents said they’ll vote for Noem in November, while 41 percent offered their support for Smith. 

Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they remain unsure of which candidate to vote for in the state’s gubernatorial election. 

Roughly half of male respondents — 52 percent — said they’ll support Noem, while 36 percent said they will cast their votes for Smith, according to the poll. 

As for female voters, 48 percent of those surveyed said they’ll support Smith, while 39 percent said they plan to cast their votes for Noem.

Along party lines, 80 percent of Republican respondents said they’ll cast their votes for the incumbent governor next month, while 7 percent of those surveyed said they’ll support Smith. 

Approximately 9 in 10 Democrats surveyed — 91 percent — said they’ll cast their votes for Smith in next month’s gubernatorial race, while 3 percent said they will vote for Noem. 

The new South Dakota State University poll was conducted from Sept. 28-Oct. 10 with a total of 565 respondents. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percentage points.