The 2010 United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Voters selected a representative for their single at-large district, who runs on a statewide ballot. On June 8, 2010, the Republicans nominated Kristi Noem, Assistant Majority Leader of the South Dakota House of Representatives, and the Democrats nominated the incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. B. Thomas Marking ran as an Independent candidate. In the general election, Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin, winning 48.1 percent of the vote to 45.9 percent for Herseth Sandlin.
During the general election campaign, Republicans criticized Herseth Sandlin's voting record. They also criticized her lobbyist husband's clients list, noting that the companies had interests in legislation that would come before Congress. Noem pointed out that the National Association of Broadcasters paid Herseth Sandlin's husband, Max Sandlin, a lobbyist and former Congressman, $320,000 during the years 2008 and 2009 to lobby on their behalf, including a bill co-sponsored by Herseth Sandlin called the Local Radio Freedom Act. Herseth Sandlin responded that Noem's example was "laughable". The Rapid City Journal editorial board stated that Herseth Sandlin should not be laughing at a legitimate concern. Roll Call called the Republican effort an attempt "to stoke anti-Beltway emotions". Herseth Sandlin's campaign responded that she did not allow family members to lobby her or her staff. According to a Washington attorney, Herseth Sandlin's policy seemed compliant with House ethics rules tightened in 2007, though Republicans charged that Herseth Sandlin was violating the spirit of the conflict-of-interest rules. "The Sunlight Foundation, Public Citizen and other watchdog groups are highly critical of Herseth Sandlin and other Members whose relatives work in Congressional corridors," according to Roll Call. The groups have said the House ethics rules should be comparable to the Senate's and should ban all lobbying "under the Dome" by Member's relatives.
On October 24, 2010, Nate Silver of The New York Times FiveThirtyEight.com blog predicted that there was a 69.9% chance that Noem would defeat Sandlin.
The race saw each candidate spend over $1.75 million and was the first in Herseth Sandlin's career where she was outspent.
Funding from political parties and interest groups totaled $2,651,621 for the race, with 78% benefiting Noem. Groups supporting Herseth-Sandlin included the DCCC and CUNA. Noem was supported by the American Action Network, the NRCC, and the American Future Fund.
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