John Thune

John Randolph Thune (born January 7, 1961) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005.

Thune is in his fourth Senate term and is the Senate minority whip, a post he has held since 2021.

He graduated from Jones County High School in 1979.

He played college basketball at Biola University in California, from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business.

Thune received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Dakota in 1984.

After completing his MBA, Thune became involved in politics.

He worked as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator James Abdnor from 1985 to 1987.

In 1989, Thune moved to Pierre, where he served as executive director of the state Republican Party for two years.

Thune was appointed Railroad Director of South Dakota by Governor George S. Mickelson, serving from 1991 to 1993.

From 1993 to 1996, he was executive director of the South Dakota Municipal League.

Thune began his political career in 1996 by entering the race for South Dakota's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Almanac of American Politics said that Thune "entered the 1996 race as very much an underdog."

His opponent in the Republican primary was sitting Lieutenant Governor Carole Hillard of Rapid City, who benefited from the support of the longtime South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow.

A May 1996 poll showed Hillard leading Thune by a margin of 69%-15%.

By relying on strong personal skills and the help of his old network of Abdnor friends, Thune won the primary, defeating Hillard 59%-41%.

In the general election, Thune defeated Democrat Rick Weiland, a long-serving aide to U.S. Senator Tom Daschle, 58%-37%.

Thune won his subsequent races for U.S. House by wide margins.

A member of the Republican Party, Thune served three terms as the U.S. representative for SD's at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003.

Thune has worked in politics and civic organizations since completing his MBA degree.

He was reelected in 1998 with 75% of the vote and in 2000 with 73% of the vote.

In 2002, after briefly considering a run for governor, Thune set his sights on a run for the U.S. Senate.

In 2002, Thune challenged incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson.

Thune lost by only 524 votes (0.15%).

One study concluded: "While the margin of victory [for Johnson] was a mere 524 votes, getting into that winning position required a number of important factors, including Native American turnout, the ability of Johnson and his allies to more effectively use the ground war to get their message out, Thune's ineffectiveness on the air and lack of experience in winning competitive elections, low voter turnout in key Republican counties, the drought, and finally the presence of Kurt Evans. Evans, a Libertarian candidate who withdrew from the race, endorsed Thune, but remained on the ballot and siphoned away more votes from Thune than Johnson. Evans received only 3,070 votes, but that ended up being six times greater than the margin of victory."

Despite the close results, Thune did not contest the election.

In early 2003, Daschle had unexpectedly decided not to run for president.

CNN reported that the "announcement surprised even some of his closest aides, one of whom told CNN plans were being made for Daschle to announce his candidacy Saturday in his hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota."

He is known for his defeat of sitting Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

In 2004 Thune challenged Tom Daschle, the United States Senate Minority Leader and leader of the Senate Democrats.

The 2004 U.S. Senate race in South Dakota was the most expensive Senate race that year, with a total of $30 million spent, and the most expensive race in South Dakota history.

In the U.S. Senate, Thune served as the Republican chief deputy whip from 2007 to 2009 and chaired the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009 to 2012.

The Senate Republican Conference selected Thune as majority whip for the 116th Congress; he succeeded Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who was term-limited in the position.

He served as the Senate Republican Conference chair, the third-ranking position in the Senate, from 2012 to 2019.

In 2020, he was chosen as minority whip for the 117th Congress.

Thune was born in Pierre, South Dakota, the son of Yvonne Patricia (née Bodine) and Harold Richard Thune.

Harold Thune was a fighter pilot in the Pacific theater during World War II who flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat; he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after shooting down four enemy planes.

Harold Thune flew his missions off the USS Intrepid.

Thune's paternal grandfather, Nicholas Thune, was an immigrant from Norway who partnered with his brother to start Thune Hardware stores in Mitchell and Murdo, South Dakota.

Thune's maternal grandfather was from Ontario, Canada, and his mother was born in Saskatchewan.

Thune was a star athlete in high school, active in basketball, track, and football.