John Randolph Thune | |||
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Senate Majority Whip From: January 3, 2019 – present | |||
Predecessor | John Cornyn | ||
Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
Senior U.S. Senator from South Dakota From: January 3, 2005 – present | |||
Predecessor | Tom Daschle | ||
Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
Former U.S. Representative from South Dakota's At-large Congressional District From: January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003 | |||
Predecessor | Tim Johnson | ||
Successor | Bill Janklow | ||
Information | |||
Party | Republican | ||
Spouse(s) | Kimberley Thune | ||
Religion | Evangelical |
John Randolph Thune (born January 7, 1961 in Murdo, South Dakota) is the senior United States Senator from South Dakota and a member of the Republican Party. Thune serves as Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference and is on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Armed Services Committee, and Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Thune received an undergraduate degree at Biola University and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota.
Thune went to Washington in 1985 when working for Senator Jim Abdnor. In 1989, at age 28, he became executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party. In 1991 Thune was appointed railroad director by Governor George Mickelson and in 1993 became Executive Director of the South Dakota Municipal League.
In 1996, Thune was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Lieutenant Governor Carole Hillard in the Republican primary, and won the general election 58%-37% over former Daschle aide Rick Weiland. Thune was chosen freshman class representative for the Republican leadership. He was reelected in 1998 by the largest margin of victory for any statewide office in South Dakota history.
After losing a race for the U.S. Senate by only a few hundred votes against an incumbent, Thune won the South Dakota senatorial race in 2004 by beating then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in a very close race.[1]
An establishmentarian, Thune in mid-September 2020 delayed a nomination vote on Nathan Simington, an anti-Big Tech adviser picked by President Trump for the FCC;[2] the senator had pushed instead for a nomination of Michael O'Reilly, who has voiced opposition to Trump's executive order targeting tech companies.
Thune is a shill for Faucism, criticizing Donald Trump's opposition towards Anthony Fauci in October 2020.[3]
John Thune has been mentioned as a possible candidate for President in 2012.[4]
Thune was an outspoken conservative and has voted with a majority of his Republican colleagues over ninety percent of the time during the Congress.[5]
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