Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) was elected by his Republican colleagues on Nov. 13 to be Senate Majority Chief, succeeding Senate GOP chief Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Beneath are six issues to know concerning the subsequent chief of the Senate and Senate GOP convention.
1. Basketball Impressed His Political Profession
In a video posted to the social media platform X in March, Thune, 63, recollects entering into politics due to his highschool basketball days.
He performed as a freshman on the varsity group at Jones County Excessive Faculty in Murdo, South Dakota.
After a basketball recreation in 1976, he was at a division retailer when somebody tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him that he had missed one of many six free throws he tried. The particular person was Rep. Jim Abdnor (R-S.D.).
“He type of began following my sports activities profession. I began paying extra consideration to politics. And after I obtained out of grad college, I get a name from his workplace,” Thune mentioned. “And by then he’s within the Senate and providing me a job out right here, so my spouse and I had been like ‘Eh, we’ll do that for a yr or two.’”
He ended up working with Abdnor for 4 1/2 years.
2. Has Served within the Senate for Almost 2 Many years
Thune has been within the Senate since 2005 after upsetting Senate Minority Chief Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) within the 2004 election. Thune received by a margin of 1.16 %. The senator ran unopposed in 2010, profitable reelection with 100% of the vote. When Thune was up for reelection in 2016, he prevailed with greater than 70 % of help, and received by the same margin in 2022.
Along with serving as Senate minority whip, Thune has served as chair of the Senate Republican Coverage Committee, which units the agenda for the convention, the chair of the Senate Republican Convention, and the Senate majority whip.
Between 2015 and 2019, he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Thune has a historical past of being crucial of President-elect Donald Trump.
“What former President Trump did to undermine religion in our election system and disrupt the peaceable switch of energy is inexcusable,” he mentioned in 2021, referring to Trump’s challenges of the 2020 election outcomes and suggesting Trump performed a job within the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol.
3. Misplaced First Senate Race by 524 Votes
Thune ran for Senate in 2002 however misplaced to incumbent Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) by simply 524 votes.
After Johnson died in October, Thune issued an announcement.
“Recognized for his tenacity and work ethic, Tim was a steadfast chief who devoted his life to serving the individuals of South Dakota with integrity and compassion,” he mentioned in an Oct. 9 assertion. “He fought tirelessly for rural America and leaves a legacy that may have an enduring impression for years to come back.”
4. Supported Tim Scott for President
In a December 2022 interview with The Washington Put up, when requested if he would help Trump had been he to develop into the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, Thune mentioned he hoped there can be “different choices.”
Thune initially endorsed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) within the 2024 GOP presidential major.
A number of months after Scott dropped out the next November, Thune endorsed Trump.
5. Lengthy Historical past in Politics
Thune started his decades-long profession in Washington, D.C., as a staffer for then-Sen. Jim Abdnor (R-S.D.) earlier than he joined the Small Enterprise Administration throughout former President Ronald Reagan’s administration.
Thune then grew to become govt director of the South Dakota Republican Celebration in 1989 when he returned to the Mount Rushmore State after working for Abdnor.
Thune ran towards then-Lieutenant Gov. Carole Hillard within the Republican major for South Dakota’s lone U.S. Home seat in 1996. After trailing Hillard considerably in polling, Thune received the first by a margin of 18 %, earlier than defeating his Democratic challenger 58–37 %.
“I received’t neglect that the tax {dollars} you pay to the federal government isn’t their cash. It’s your cash. Regardless of how exhausting it tries, authorities can by no means be an alternative to private initiative, and it might probably by no means take the place of the household,” Thune mentioned on election night time in 1996.
He was reelected to South Dakota’s at-large congressional district in 1998 and 2000, with greater than 70 % of the whole vote every time.