John Thune

John Thune (born January 7, 1961 in Pierre, South Dakota) is a United States Senator (Republican) from South Dakota serving in his first term in the U.S. Senate.

Thune received a Bachelor's degree from Biola University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota (1984).

Prior to election to public office, he worked in the offices of then United States Senator James Abdnor and served in the Small Business Administration, as well as being an official in the South Dakota Republican Party.

In 1996, he won the first of 3 consecutive terms to the U.S. House of Representatives for South Dakota (at-large seat). Then, after an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002, he was elected to the other of South Dakota's Senate seats in 2004.

Committees

Thune serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee, the Armed Services Committee, the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, and the Small Business Committee.

Voting ratings

Organization	Rating	Date
AFL-CIO
American Civil Liberties Union
American Conservative Union
Americans for Democratic Action
Cato Institute
Christian Coalition
Human Rights Campaign
League of Conservation Voters
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NARAL
National Rifle Association
National Right to Life Committee
National Taxpayers Union
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sources: Links to the voting ratings guides of the above organizations together with brief descriptive information on the organizations themselves, may be found at: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Interest_group/Catalogs

2004 Election

In 2004, John Thune was elected to his first term as a U.S. Senator when he defeated incumbant Senator and Senate minority leader Tom Daschle in a very close race.

Candidate	Party	Vote total	Percentage
John Thune	Republican	197,848	50.58%
Tom Daschle	Democrat	193,340	49.42%

Source: 2004 Federal Election Results - final official tally

2010 Election

Primary election: June 8

Following the passing of the deadline for candidate filing for the June 8 primary election, it appears that Sen. John Thune will be unopposed as no Democrat filed for the office. It is still possible that he will have opposition in the November general election if a candidate files nominating petitions with sufficient signatures to make the ballot and does so by the early June deadline. Such a candidate would have to be listed as an independent candidate on the ballot

• See also: 2010 U.S. Congressional election