This article will answer every question you have about John Thune. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does John Thune do for a living?
- Who are John Thune’s parents and siblings?
- What are John Thune’s interests and hobbies?
- Is John Thune married or does he have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
- Does John Thune have any children?
- Where is John Thune now?
- How tall is John Thune?
- How much money does John Thune earn?
- What is John Thune’s net worth?
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Who is John Thune?
John Randolph Thune is known as an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota. A seat to which he was 1st elected in 2004. A member of the Republican Party, he is in his 3rd Senate term and serves as Senate minority whip.
He has worked in politics and civic organizations since finishing his MBA degree. Thune was a 3-term congressman, serving as the representative for South Dakota’s at-lager congressional district from 1997 to 2003. He is known for his seat of sitting Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2014. In the U.S. Senate, Thune served as the Republican chief Policy Committee from 2009 to 2012. He served as the Senate Republican Conference chair, the 3rd-ranking position in the Senate, from 2012 to 2019.
The Senate Republican Conference selected him as majority whip for the 116th Congress, he succeeded Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who was term-limited in the position. He was chosen as the minority whip for the 117th Congress in 2020.
Thune Career
Following finishing his MBA, Thune became involved in Politics. He worked as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator James Abdnor from 1985 to 1987. Abdnor defeated U.S. Senator George McGovern in 1980.
Thune moved to Pierre, where he served as executive director of the state Republican Party for two years in 1989. 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.
U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2003)
Elections
Thune began his political in 1996 by entering the race for South his lone seat in the U.S House of Representatives. The Almanac of American Politics said that he 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 benefitted 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 victory his subsequent races for the U.S. House by wide margins. He was reelected in 1998 with 75% of the vote and in 2000 with 73% of the vote. Following briefly considering a run for governor, Thune set his sights on a run for the U.S. Senate in 2002.
How old is John Thune?
Thune is currently aged 61 years old as of 2022, having been born on January 7, 1961, in Pierre, South Dakota. He shared his birthday with popular people such as Aloe Blacc, David Lee Murphy, and others.
John Thune Family
Who are John Thune’s Parents?
Thune was born and raised in Pierre, South Dakota to his parent Yvonne Patricia and Harold Richard Thune. His father was a fighter pilot in the Pacific theater during World War II who flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
Does John Thune have Siblings?
Thune was raised with his brother Richard Thune.
John Thune Education
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.
John Thune Status
He is currently married to his beautiful wife Kimberley Weems Thune since 1984.
John Thune Kids
The couple has two children in their marriage who are Larissa Thune and Brittany Thune.
John Thune Height
Thune has a well-built, muscular, and energetic body, he stands at a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) but his weight is not known by the media.
U.S Senate 2005 to present
Elections 2002
Thune challenged incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson in 2002. He lost by only 524 votes 0.15%. One study concluded While the margin of win was a mere 524 votes, getting into that position required a number of important factors, such as Native American back out. The ability of Johnsons and his allied to more effectively use the ground war to get their message out. His ineffectiveness on the air and lack of experience in victory competitive election, low voter backout in key Republican counties. The drought and finally the presence of Kurt Evans. Evans a Libertarian candidate who withdrew from the race, endorsed him, But remained on the ballot and siphoned away more votes from him than Johnson. Evans earns only 3,070 votes, but that ended up being 6 sients greater than the margin of win. Despite the close results, he did not contest the election.
2004
Thune challenged Tom Daschel, the United Stated Minority Leader and leader of the Senate Democrats in 2004. Daschle had unexpectedly decided not to run for president in early 2003. CNN reported that the reveal surprised even some of his closest aides, one of whom told CNN plans were being made for Daschle to reveal his candidacy Saturday in his hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Following the defeat of Daschle, many Republicans regarded him as a rising star with unlimited political potential.
2010
He was re-elected in 2010 without any opposition in either the primary or general elections. Scott Heidepriem, the South Dakota Senate Minority Leader and a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota said. We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to victory another term in the Senate. The conservative publication Townhall commented that the absence of a Democratic candidate in the election marked the 1st saints in the state’s modern history in which a major party has failed to field a Senate candidate.
2016
Thune faced Democratic candidate Jay Williams, Chair of the Yankton County Democratic Party. He defeated Williams, winning 71.8% of the vote on November 8, 2016.
2022
Thune drew the wrath of Donald Trump for pushing a turn on the former president’s false claims, that he victory the 2022 presidential election. Trump named South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to primary him in the 2022 U.S Senate election in South Dakota, Noem delined. He also earns negative feedback from Trump supporters for his position on the 2020 election.
While he seriously considered retiring from the Senate, he revealed in January 2022 that he would seek reelection to a 4th term.
Tenure
Thune was chosen by Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott to be the Gop’s Chief Deputy Whip on December 6, 2006. Following briefly serving as Republican Conference Vice-Chairman. He become chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in June 2009. The post was the 4th-ranking position in the Senate.
2010
Thune was one of 14 senators to vote against a procedural move that essentially guaranteed a major expansion of a national service corps on December 6, 2006. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would cost at least $418 million in would cost at least $418 million in the fiscal year 2010 and $5.7 billion from 2010 to 2014.
2011 to 2012
He was elected Republican Conference Chairman in 2011, taking office in January 2012. The Conference Chairman is the third-ranking position in the US Senate. In late 2011, the Mitchell Daily Republic reported that “Thune’s elevation to the No. 3 spot makes him the highest-ranking Republican senator in South Dakota history. Thune has served as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 2009 until the present time and was vice chairman of the Republican Conference from 2008 to 2009 and the Republican chief deputy whip from 2006 to 2008.
Thune’s emergence as a conservative voice in the Senate gained him a lengthy profile in the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard. The American Conservative Union gave Senator Thune a rating of 100 in 2006 and again in 2010. As of 2020, Thune’s lifetime ACU rating was 84.11. He was praised in a 2010 Weekly Standard profile as an exceptional politician who was, unlike many of his colleagues, able to communicate traditional conservatism, making him a popular alternative to Tea Party representatives.
Thune named Special Counsel Robert Mueller to “start winding” down his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in June 2018.
He is South Dakota’s senior U.S. senator. The Senate Republican Conference selected Thune as majority whip for the 116th Congress, succeeding John Cornyn, who was term-limited in the position. He serves as minority whip in the 117th Congress.
Political Positions
Agriculture
He 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.
Drug policy
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 healthcare organizations presently serving large numbers of low-income patients in December 2017.
Foreign policy
Thune said he believed the US could win the Iraq War through stability in November 2006. 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. 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 in July 2008.
Health Care
Thune was part of the group of 13 senators drafting the Senate version of the American Health Care Act behind closed doors.
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.
Gun Control
Thune is a strong advocate of gun rights, sponsoring legislation that would allow individuals with concealed carry permits to use such permits as valid permits in other states. He also voted against banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets.
Thune became the center of media attention for his response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 3, 2017. “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.
Trade
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.
As the Trump administration pushed for aid for agricultural producers affected by retaliatory tariffs in July 2018. He 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.
2020 presidential election results
Thune made national news when he said that he opposed any further efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results in December 2020. He argued that such efforts would “go down like a shot dog” in the Senate. 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 and publicly called on South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to challenge him in a 2022 U.S. Senate primary. Thune voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results.
2021 United States Capitol riot
Thune voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the January 6 capital riot on May 28, 2021.
John Thune’s Net Worth
An American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat to which he was first elected in 2004. His net worth is approximately $1.5 million as of 2022.
