John Thune

John Thune

John Randolph Thune is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from South Dakota. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for South Dakota’s at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003. Thune was selected by the Senate Republican Conference to become the Majority Whip for the 116th Congress.

About John Thune in brief

Summary John ThuneJohn Randolph Thune is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from South Dakota. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for South Dakota’s at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003. Thune was selected by the Senate Republican Conference to become the Majority Whip for the 116th Congress, succeeding Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who was term limited in the position. He has worked in politics and civic organizations since completing his MBA graduate degree. He was a star athlete in high school, active in basketball, track, and football. He played college basketball at Biola University in California, from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business. He worked as a legislative aide for U. S. Senator James Abdnor from 1985 to 1987. In 1996 Thune decided to make his first foray into electoral politics by entering the race for South. Dakota’s lone seat in the House of Representatives. In 2002 Thune challenged incumbent Democratic U. s. Senator Tim Johnson. Despite the close results, Thune did not challenge Tom Daschle, the Senate Minority Leader and United States Senate leader of the United States. He is also the current dean of South Dakota’s congressional delegation, serving as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in June 2009, and Republican Conference Chairman in 2011, the third-ranking position in the Senate. He won his subsequent races for U  S. House by wide margins. In 2000 he was reelected in 1998 with 75% of the vote and in 2000 with 73%.

In 2002, after briefly considering a run for governor,. Thune set his sights on a run in 2002. He lost by only 524 votes. One study concluded that getting into that winning position required a number of important factors, including Native turnout, the ability of American allies to more effectively use the ground war to get their message out, and low voter turnout in key Republican counties. In 2004 Thune challenges the Senate minority leader and ended up being up six times the margin of victory that he ended up winning that election by. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down four enemy planes in the Hellcat. His maternal grandfather was from Ontario, Canada, and his mother was born in Saskatchewan. His paternal grandfather, Nicholas Thune, was an immigrant from Norway who partnered with his brother Matt to start Thune Hardware stores in Mitchell and Murdo, South Dakota, in the 1950s. He flew numerous missions for the Navy from an aircraft carrier. His brother, Richard, is an English teacher at Rowland High School in California. His father, Harold, flew his missions off the USS Intrepid. His mother, Yvonne Patricia and Harold Richard Thune were both born in South Dakota and moved to California in the early 1960s. The Thune family has three children, all of whom are active members of the South Dakota Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. He served as a member of the S.D. Chamber of Commerce from 1987 to 1991.