• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- When South Dakota Democrats look at state Senate races this fall, they see the seat held by Sen. Chuck Jones of Flandreau as an opportunity to chip away at the Republican dominance of state government.
• Democrats currently hold just seven of the 35 seats in the Senate.
• Two races to watch in this battle are the 2nd and 8th Districts on the eastern side of the state, where challengers from the House --one Republican and one Democrat-- are trying to oust incumbents and move to the Senate.
• Democrats are targeting Jones, who was appointed to the District 8 seat by the Governor in 2013. He is being challenged by first-term House Democrat Rep. Scott Parsley from Madison. Republicans are looking to the Senate race in District 2, where Rep. Brock Greenfield also hopes to switch chambers. The Clark Republican will challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Chuck Welke.
• "It's no secret that it's going to be a focused-on race, probably by both parties," Jones said about his contest in District 8.
• These two races are competitive because they pit one incumbent against another. There are 35 legislative districts in South Dakota, and every district supplies one senator and two representatives to the Legislature. This means House members running for the Senate can compete on a level playing field with incumbents because the geography is the same as their House district boundaries.
• The June 3 primaries whittle down the competition to two candidates for House seats and one candidate for the Senate seat per party in each district.
• There are no primaries for the District 2 and 8 races, and the incumbents will face off at the general election on Nov. 4.
• Jones was appointed to replace Sen. Russell Olson. He has never run a campaign of his own, but he said he's been politically active and helped a little on other campaigns
• Challenger Parsley has more political experience, having run in two state elections. He lost a bid in 2008.

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