John Thune
John Randolph Thune (/ˈθuːn/ THOON; 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. A member of the Republican Party, Thune served three terms as the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003.
This article is about the American politician. For the Norwegian politician, see John Thune (Norwegian politician).
John Thune
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Thune has worked in politics and civic organizations since completing his MBA degree. He is known for his defeat of sitting Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004. 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. He served as the Senate Republican Conference chair, the third-ranking position in the Senate, from 2012 to 2019.
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. In 2020, he was chosen as minority whip for the 117th Congress.
Early life, education, and early political career[edit]
Thune was born in Pierre, South Dakota, the son of Yvonne Patricia (née Bodine) and Harold Richard Thune.[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[4]
Thune was a star athlete in high school,[5] active in basketball, track, and football. He graduated from Jones County High School in 1979.[6] He played college basketball at Biola University in California, from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business.[7][8] Thune received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Dakota in 1984.[9]
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.[10]
In 1989, Thune moved to Pierre, where he served as executive director of the state Republican Party for two years.[11] 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.[11]
U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2003)[edit]
Elections[edit]
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."[12] 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%.[12] By relying on strong personal skills and the help of his old network of Abdnor friends, Thune won the primary, defeating Hillard 59%-41%.[13] In the general election, Thune defeated Democrat Rick Weiland, a long-serving aide to U.S. Senator Tom Daschle, 58%-37%.[14]
Thune won his subsequent races for U.S. House by wide margins. He was reelected in 1998 with 75% of the vote[15] and in 2000 with 73% of the vote.[16] In 2002, after briefly considering a run for governor, Thune set his sights on a run for the U.S. Senate.
Political positions[edit]
Agriculture[edit]
In March 2019, Thune was one of 38 senators to sign a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue warning that dairy farmers "have continued to face market instability and are struggling to survive the fourth year of sustained low prices" and urging his department to "strongly encourage these farmers to consider the Dairy Margin Coverage program."[57]
Drug policy[edit]
In December 2017, Thune was one of six senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer requesting their "help in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the 340B program", a rule mandating that drug companies give discounts to health-care organizations presently serving large numbers of low-income patients.[58]
Economy[edit]
In January 2019, Thune introduced legislation to repeal the estate tax, which applies to couples with estates above $22 million (it is estimated that approximately 1,700 families pay the tax annually).[59]
Energy[edit]
On March 6, 2014, Thune introduced the Reliable Home Heating Act (S. 2086; 113th Congress).[61] The bill would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to exempt motor carriers that transport home heating oil from numerous federal safety regulations if the governor of a state declares a state of emergency caused by a shortage of residential heating fuel.[62] The bill also would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to notify states if certain petroleum reserves fall below historical averages.[62][63]
Environment[edit]
In March 2019, Thune joined all Senate Republicans, three Democrats, and Angus King in voting against the Green New Deal resolution.[64] Arguing against its implementation, Thune said the resolution would "absolutely be devastating and disastrous" for the agriculture economy both in South Dakota and across the US.[65]
Facebook[edit]
In May 2016, Thune sent Facebook a letter requesting details on how it operates its Trending Topics feature.[66] This followed a Gizmodo article that cited anonymous sources (claiming to be former Facebook employees) who alleged a systemic anti-conservative political bias in how material is selected for display in the list.[67]
Some commentators criticized Thune's letter as an example of government overreach against a private company.[68][69] Facebook denied the bias allegations.[70] Thune thanked Facebook in a public statement.[71]
Foreign policy[edit]
In November 2006, Thune said he believed the US could win the Iraq War through stability. He elaborated, "It's making sure that Iraq can't be a staging ground for terrorist attacks against its neighbors in the region or, worse yet, against the United States." Thune also espoused the position that the Bush administration and a majority of members of Congress would grant military commanders the final decision on when to reduce U.S. military forces there.[72] In July 2008, Thune said that the Bush administration's moves in Iraq had been a "remarkable success", noting civilian casualties had been reduced by 80 percent, and charged Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama with failing "to acknowledge the basic fact of the success and result and progress and gains that have been made as a result of the surge."[73]
In December 2010, Thune was one of 26 senators who voted against the ratification of New START,[74] a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation obliging both countries to have no more than 1,550 strategic warheads and 700 launchers deployed during the next seven years, and providing for a continuation of on-site inspections that halted when START I expired the previous year. It was the first arms treaty with Russia in eight years.[75]
In November 2012, Thune and Chuck Grassley requested that United States Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner provide a review of the Chinese company Wanxiang Group's plan to acquire bankrupt battery maker A123, arguing that the transaction should be reviewed to ensure that U.S. military and taxpayer interests in A123 were protected.[76] In October 2018, Thune requested staff briefings about a Bloomberg report that the Chinese government had implanted malicious hardware into server motherboards, writing charges that "the U.S. hardware supply chain has been purposely tampered with by a foreign power [and] must be taken seriously."[77]
In September 2016, Thune was one of 34 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of State John Kerry advocating that the United States use "all available tools to dissuade Russia from continuing its airstrikes in Syria" from an Iranian airbase near Hamadan and stating that the airstrikes violated "a legally binding Security Council Resolution" on Iran.[78]
In June 2017, Thune co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment,[79] for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against the Israeli government and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.[80]
In March 2018, Thune voted to table a resolution spearheaded by Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Mike Lee that would have required President Trump to withdraw American troops either in or influencing Yemen within the next 30 days unless they were combating Al-Qaeda.[81]
In May 2020, a group of Senate Republicans planned to introduce a privacy bill that would regulate the data COVID-19 contact-tracing apps collect. Senator Roger Wicker said the legislation would “hold businesses accountable to consumers if they use personal data to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.” The act would permit the creation of “platforms that could trace the virus and help flatten the curve and stop the spread—and maintaining privacy protections for U.S. citizens,” Thune said.[82]
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Thune said that the Ukrainian people could not sustain the war without military support from the U.S. and other countries. He called on European partners to make robust contributions to help Ukraine.[83]
Health care[edit]
Thune was part of the group of 13 senators drafting the Senate version of the American Health Care Act behind closed doors.[84][85][86][87]
In July 2017 Thune said that Republicans would continue trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act regardless of whether that month's effort collapsed: "We are going to vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when."[88]
Gun control[edit]
Thune is a strong advocate of gun rights, sponsoring legislation that would allow individuals with concealed carry permits to use such permits as a valid permit in other states.[89] He also voted against banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets.[90][91]
On October 3, 2017, Thune became the center of media attention for his response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas. "It sounds like [the shooter] used conversion kits and other things, you know, to make the weapons more lethal," he said. "We'll look at the facts when we get them all in here. I think a lot of us want to do everything we can to prevent tragedies like that from happening again. You know, it's an open society. And when somebody does what he wants to do it's going to be hard to prevent anything. But I think people are going to have to take steps in their own lives to take precautions. To protect themselves. And in situations like that, you know, try to stay safe. As somebody said, get small."[91][92]
Judiciary[edit]
In March 2016, about seven months before the next presidential election, Thune declared his opposition to considering President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, saying, "the next president should make this lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court" because the "American people deserve to have their voices heard on the nomination of the next Supreme Court justice".
In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Thune supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.[93]
Trade[edit]
In January 2018 Thune was one of 36 Republican senators to sign a letter to President Trump requesting he preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement by modernizing it for the economy of the 21st century.[94]
In July 2018, as the Trump administration pushed for aid for agricultural producers affected by retaliatory tariffs, Thune stated that the plan offered a "false and short-term" sense of security and cited the importance of fair and free trade for farmers in South Dakota.[95]
2020 presidential election results[edit]
In December 2020, Thune made national news when he said that he opposed any further efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. He argued that such efforts would "go down like a shot dog" in the Senate.[96][97] Then-President Donald Trump, who contended that the election results were illegitimate and that he had defeated Democratic nominee Joe Biden, responded by attacking Thune on Twitter,[98] and publicly called on South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to challenge him in a 2022 U.S. Senate primary.[99] Thune voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results.[100]
Presidential and vice-presidential speculation[edit]
Prior to the selection of Sarah Palin, Thune was mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Thune publicly played down the speculation.[101]
Significant speculation arose regarding a potential 2012 presidential bid by Thune.[102][103][104][105][106] He was encouraged to run by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,[107] and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who called him "a consensus builder."[108] One Wall Street Journal article stated that Thune had "name ID in the parts of the first caucus state of Iowa that get neighboring South Dakota media, a $6.9 million bank account he could use for a presidential run, and a national fundraising list of 100,000 names from his race against [former Senator Tom] Daschle."[109] DNC Executive Director Jennifer O'Malley Dillon publicly stated that "among a field of generally flawed (in one way or another) Republican presidential candidates, Thune was the one candidate that she feared.[110] According to multiple commentators, Thune's candidacy could be helped by his personal appearance.[111][112][113][114] On February 22, 2011, Thune announced he would not run in 2012.[115]
During the summer of 2012, the USA Today reported that Thune was on Mitt Romney's short list as a potential running mate, but Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan was selected instead.[116]
Despite some speculation, Thune declined to seek the White House in 2016, stating that his "window...might have closed in 2012."[117]
Personal life[edit]
Thune is an evangelical Christian.[119] He married Kimberley Weems of Doland, South Dakota in 1984.[106] The Thunes have two daughters and several grandchildren.[120]
Thune is physically active and has frequently competed in running events. A 2012 Runner's World Magazine feature called Thune "the fastest man in Congress since 2009."[121]
Thune is a fan of the bands Styx, Journey, Boston, and the Doobie Brothers.[122]