South Dakota Republicans Post Overwhelming Sweep, Now What?

With the election of Mike Rounds to U.S. Senate and the re-election of Representative Kristi Noem to the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night, it was a historic night for the Republican Party in South Dakota.

Rounds and Noem join U.S. Senator John Thune to form the state's first All-GOP Congressional delegation since 1963.

It was more than 50 years ago that Republicans Karl Mundt and Joseph Bottum represented the Rushmore State while fellow Republicans E.Y. Berry and Ben Reifel were South Dakota's representatives in the House.

Since 1983, South Dakota has been represented by only one member of the House.

South Dakota has not had an all Democratic Congressional delegation since 1938.  That year, Fred Hildebrandt and Theodore Werner served in the U.S. House, while William Bulow and Herbert Hitchcock were the state's U.S. Senators.  Hitchcock served for less than two years after being appointed to complete the term of Republican Peter Norbeck, who died in office in December of 1936.

While history buffs have plenty to go on after Tuesday's overwhelming Republican sweep in South Dakota, voters want to know if this All-GOP delegation will help to break through the current gridlock that exists in Washington, D.C.

I asked Senator John Thune about the election results and what to expect from a Republican controlled House and Senate for the first time in eight years:

The 114th U.S. Congress is sworn-in January 3rd in Washington, D.C.