Your Vote, Your Whole City: What "At-Large" Actually Means
An At-Large City Councilor represents the whole city and all residents can vote for them, regardless of district.
There's a question I get a lot on the campaign trail: "What does At-Large actually mean?"
It's a fair question. And the answer matters more than most people realize.
It's Not a District. It's the Whole Map.
Sioux Falls elects most of its council members by district — specific seats for specific parts of town. At-Large is different. Sioux Falls has three At-Large seats, labeled A, B, and C. I'm running for At-Large A. Either way, At-Large means the same thing: the seat represents every neighborhood, every ZIP code, every corner of this city.
And here's what that means for you: if you're a registered voter in Sioux Falls, you have a vote in this race. You don't have to live in a specific district. You don't have to check a map. This seat belongs to all of us.
That's not just a technical distinction. It changes how you think about the job.
When the Southeast Grows, the Northwest Feels It.
Sioux Falls is growing fast — and most of that growth is pushing south and east. New subdivisions. New schools. New roads.
That's good news. Growth means people want to be here. But every major infrastructure decision in a fast-growing corridor sends ripples across the whole city. When the budget allocates capital to one part of town, that's a conversation about tradeoffs that touch every neighborhood. When road crews are tied up on a new arterial in one quadrant, that's bandwidth not available for fixing a dangerous intersection somewhere else.
A district council member does important work — they're an advocate for their community. But At-Large means you can't only think about one corner. You have to hold the whole map.
A Bowl of Pho and a New Conversation
This week, I got a call from Santos — a hairdresser who moved to Sioux Falls from New York City about two years ago. He's talented, he's got a fresh perspective on his craft, and he wants to build something here in one of our core neighborhoods.
He found his way to my parents' restaurant looking for a bowl of pho that reminded him of home. My mom — who has been known to hand every single customer a card with my campaign information on it, bless her heart — gave him my number and told him to call me.
So he did.
When we talked, Santos wasn't lacking drive or vision. What he was missing was a network. He didn't know which spaces were available, who to talk to, or how the permitting process worked. He didn't have a community yet that knew how to navigate City Hall. He'd built a business before — just not here.
That's not a Santos problem. That's a Sioux Falls problem.
And here's what gave me hope: my dad — who once walked into this city as a refugee with no network, no safety net, and no roadmap — sat down with Santos and started sharing what he knew. Two men. Different backgrounds. Different industries. Different journeys to the same city. Figuring it out together over a bowl of soup.
That's the Sioux Falls I believe in.
But we shouldn't have to rely on chance encounters at a restaurant to connect people to opportunity. That's what city government is for.
Opportunity Shouldn't Have a ZIP Code.
Too often, which family gets city investment — better sidewalks, safer crossings, park upgrades, small business support — comes down to where they live and whether their street has a loud enough voice at City Hall.
The At-Large seats are supposed to fix that. They’re supposed to be the seats that ask: are we building a city that works for all of us, or just some of us?
I've spent years working across every part of this city — hosting community events, mentoring business owners, serving on boards, showing up in rooms that don't always overlap. What I've learned is that the challenges families face — affordability, safety, access, opportunity — don't respect district lines.
Neither should the people we elect to solve them.
If you believe opportunity shouldn't depend on your ZIP code — that responsible growth in one corner should lift the whole city, not just the corner — I'd be honored to earn your vote for At-Large A on June 2nd.
It's always been our city, and now is our moment.
Let's rise together. ☀️
— Vince Danh
Candidate, Sioux Falls City Council At-Large A | June 2nd, 2026