John Randolph Thune (/ˈθuːn/ THOON; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, since 2005.

[2][3] 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.

[12] Thune began his political career in 1996 by entering the race for South Dakota's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

[13] By relying on strong personal skills and the help of his old network of Abdnor friends, Thune won the primary, defeating Hillard 59%–41%.

[18] One study concluded: "While the margin of victory [for Johnson] was a mere 524 votes, getting into that winning position required a number of important factors, including Native American turnout, the ability of Johnson and his allies to more effectively use the ground war to get their message out, Thune's ineffectiveness on the air and lack of experience in winning competitive elections, low voter turnout in key Republican counties, the drought, and finally the presence of Kurt Evans.

"[23] Daschle's critics charged the Democrat with using filibusters to block confirmation of several of Bush's nominees to the federal judiciary and of being out of step with South Dakota voters on other political and social issues: "The GOP had targeted Daschle, the Senate minority leader, claiming he had been the chief obstruction to President Bush on such issues as tax cuts, judicial nominees and the war in Iraq.

[26] Daschle's loss was the first ousting of an incumbent floor leader since 1952, when Arizona Senator Ernest McFarland lost to Barry Goldwater.

[28] South Dakota native Tom Brokaw commented that Thune "ran a very strong campaign" to win the 2004 race.

[37] Thune "drew the wrath of Donald Trump for pushing back on the former president's false claims" that he won the 2020 presidential election.

[46] In March 2009, Thune was one of 14 senators to vote against a procedural move that essentially guaranteed a major expansion of a national service corps.

[52] Thune 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.

[53] In June 2018, Thune called on Special Counsel Robert Mueller to "start winding" down his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

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.

"[62][better source needed] 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.

[66] 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.

[67] The bill also would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to notify states if certain petroleum reserves fall below historical averages.

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."

[77] 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.

"[78] In December 2010, Thune was one of 26 senators who voted against the ratification of New START,[79] 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.

[85] 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.

[86] 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".

Thune said 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.

[95][96] On October 3, 2017, Thune became the center of media attention for saying in 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.

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.

[98] 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.

[99] In July 2018, as the Trump administration pushed for aid for agricultural producers affected by retaliatory tariffs, Thune said the plan offered a "false and short-term" sense of security and cited the importance of fair and free trade for South Dakota's farmers.

[101][102] 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,[103] and publicly called on South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to challenge him in a 2022 U.S. Senate primary.

[105] Before the selection of Sarah Palin, Thune was mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick for Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

[120] 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.