World enews: Failed South Dakota House candidate arrested on rape charge following election loss

A state House candidate in South Dakota was arrested on a rape charge just days after losing his race against the incumbent candidate — his mother.

Bud Marty May, 37, was arrested in Box Elder, S.D., around 4 a.m. Sunday and charged with second-degree rape, court filings said. The criminal complaint alleges May used “force, coercion, or threats of immediate and great bodily injury” against the victim.

Referring to law enforcement reports during a court hearing in the case Tuesday, the judge said officers found the victim hiding behind a bar, and she alleged May had raped her, the Argus Leader reported.

May’s attorney, Matt Kinney, declined comment, saying he has not yet been provided any police reports or statements in this case.

On Election Day, May, a Republican, came in fourth in a four-person race for two District 27 House seats. One of the two winners was May’s mother, incumbent Republican state Rep. Liz May.

A Republican candidate for state Senate in neighboring District 26 was arrested as well in the days before the election. The candidate, Joel Koskan, was charged with child abuse on Nov. 3, court records show.

The Mitchell Republic reported that a plea agreement has been submitted to the judge overseeing the case. The agreement, which the news outlet reported would spare Koskan jail time for pleading guilty to the charge while requiring him to undergo therapy, pay fines and stay away from the alleged victim, was entered onto the court docket on Nov. 7, the day before the election. Koskan lost the state Senate race by about 1,000 of the nearly 6,000 votes cast.

Koskan’s lawyer, Clint Sargent, declined comment on the allegations.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.