John Thune John Thune Junior Senator , South Dakota Term of office : 2005 –Present Political party : Republican Preceded by : Tom Daschle Succeeded by : Incumbent ( 2011 ) Born : January 7 , 1961 Pierre , South Dakota Spouse : Kimberley Thune Religion : Protestant John Randolph Thune ( born January 7 , 1961 ) is the junior U.S. Senator from the state of South Dakota . Early life and family Born in Pierre , South Dakota and raised in Murdo , South Dakota , Thune graduated from the Christian evangelical Biola University in 1983 , and received an MBA from the University of South Dakota in 1984 . Thune and his wife Kimberley have two daughters , Brittany and Larissa . Political career A member of the Republican Party , Thune worked as a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator James Abdnor . Under President Reagan , Thune worked at the Small Business Administration . From 1991 until 1993 , Thune was the Railroad Director of South Dakota under an appointment by Governor George S. Mickelson . In 1996 , Thune was elected to South Dakota 's seat in the United States House of Representatives ; he won reelection in 1998 and in 2000 was reelected with over 70% of the vote . Thune supported term limits and promised to serve no more than three terms in the House , a promise he kept . In 2002 , he challenged Senator Tim Johnson , but lost to Johnson by 524 votes or 0.15% . Ultimately , Thune decided not to pursue a recount . Instead , Thune ran for the Senate again two years later against Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle . The race was the most expensive in South Dakota history up to that point and was characterized by much mud-slinging , including John Thune’s asserting that Senator Daschle’s critique of the Iraq war “embolden [ s ] the enemy.” In this and previous elections , Thune ran on a social conservative platform , emphasizing his evangelical faith and supporting an amendment to the constitution specifically banning gay marriage . According to Newsweek ( July 26 , 2004 ) , he also does n't believe in evolution . On November 2 , 2004 , Thune narrowly defeated Daschle by 4 , 508 votes , winning 51% of the vote . Soon after arriving in the Senate , Thune was faced with the challenge of keeping Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City , South Dakota open after the Department of Defense announced plans to close the base as part of its 2005 round of base closures . The Pentagon announced that it planned to move all of Ellsworth 's B-1 bombers to Dyess Air Force Base in Texas . Ellsworth Air Force Base is one of South Dakota 's largest employers , and a critical component of the state 's economic well-being , making it necessary for the state 's political leaders to fight for its continued existence . Sen. Thune , along with Sen. Tim Johnson ( D ) , lobbyied Washington , specifically the Defense Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) Commission , to keep Ellsworth open . In their lobbying efforts , they argued that it made little sense to consolidate all of the nation 's B-1s in a single location due to the risk of a single attack or tornado taking out the fleet . Also , it was discovered that the Pentagon may have overlooked a lawsuit that possibly prevented B-1 pilots at Dyess from engaging in adequate training . Ultimately , the BRAC Commission voted 8-1 to reverse the Pentagon 's recommendation to close Ellsworth . In June 2006 , in line with several of his Republican colleagues , Thune reaffirmed his strong support to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same sex marriages . He is quoted on the matter , `` The federal marriage amendment debate simply is an opportunity for us to affirm our support for marriage ... It is an important debate to have in this country . `` In a 2005 interview with Christianity Today , Thune added another reason for the invasion of Iraq beyond WMDs or alleged terrorist connections : `` Liberating Iraq from decades of tyranny and dictatorship , bringing about political freedom , will create an atmosphere of where religious freedom will come to Iraq . And that opens the door , obviously , for the Christian faith there as well . `` 2008 Presidential election Although Thune has not announced any plans regarding the 2008 Presidential Election , he is considered something of a rising star in the Republican party , and some have mentioned him as a potential candidate for the Republican nomination . His young age also offers him the possibility of running in a later Presidential election . However , when asked in 2005 on the Sean Hannity Radio Show whether he planned to run in 2008 , Thune replied that he was currently committed to serving the people of South Dakota , neither a confirmation or denial of Presidential ambitions . Controversies Several controversies have surrounded Sen. Thune , including his lobbying activity on behalf of big beef importers before running for the Senate and the role controversial figure Jeff Gannon played in his 2004 election. [ citation needed ] In June of 2006 it was reported that Thune had told the National Press Club that Republicans running for re-election to distance themselves from President Bush . He is quoted as saying `` If I were running in the state this year , you obviously do n't embrace the president and his agenda , `` . Thune 's comments drew a round of criticism from conservative pundits who felt that this amounted to desertion of the President . External links Official Site Congressional biography 1996 CNN biography Sen. Thune on the Issues Campaign Finance Information Another Campaign Finance Site Voting record maintained by the Washington Post Preceded by : Tim Johnson United States Representative for South Dakota 1997 – 2003 Succeeded by : Bill Janklow Preceded by : Tom Daschle United States Senator ( Class 3 ) from South Dakota 2005 – Succeeded by : Incumbent South Dakota 's current delegation to the United States Congress Senators : Tim Johnson ( D ) , John Thune ( R ) Representative ( s ) : Stephanie Herseth ( D ) Other delegations : AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY •• AS DC GU PR VI Current United States Senators This box :   view • talk • edit AL : Shelby ( R ) , Sessions ( R ) AK : Stevens ( R ) , Murkowski ( R ) AZ : McCain ( R ) , Kyl ( R ) AR : Lincoln ( D ) , Pryor ( D ) CA : Feinstein ( D ) , Boxer ( D ) CO : Allard ( R ) , Salazar ( D ) CT : Dodd ( D ) , Lieberman ( D ) DE : Biden ( D ) , Carper ( D ) FL : Nelson ( D ) , Martinez ( R ) GA : Chambliss ( R ) , Isakson ( R ) HI : Inouye ( D ) , Akaka ( D ) ID : Craig ( R ) , Crapo ( R ) IL : Durbin ( D ) , Obama ( D ) IN : Lugar ( R ) , Bayh ( D ) IA : Grassley ( R ) , Harkin ( D ) KS : Brownback ( R ) , Roberts ( R ) KY : McConnell ( R ) , Bunning ( R ) LA : Landrieu ( D ) , Vitter ( R ) ME : Snowe ( R ) , Collins ( R ) MD : Sarbanes ( D ) , Mikulski ( D ) MA : Kennedy ( D ) , Kerry ( D ) MI : Levin ( D ) , Stabenow ( D ) MN : Dayton ( D ) , Coleman ( R ) MS : Cochran ( R ) , Lott ( R ) MO : Bond ( R ) , Talent ( R ) MT : Baucus ( D ) , Burns ( R ) NE : Hagel ( R ) , Nelson ( D ) NV : Reid ( D ) , Ensign ( R ) NH : Gregg ( R ) , Sununu ( R ) NJ : Lautenberg ( D ) , Menendez ( D ) NM : Domenici ( R ) , Bingaman ( D ) NY : Schumer ( D ) , Clinton ( D ) NC : Dole ( R ) , Burr ( R ) ND : Conrad ( D ) , Dorgan ( D ) OH : DeWine ( R ) , Voinovich ( R ) OK : Inhofe ( R ) , Coburn ( R ) OR : Wyden ( D ) , Smith ( R ) PA : Specter ( R ) , Santorum ( R ) RI : Reed ( D ) , Chafee ( R ) SC : Graham ( R ) , DeMint ( R ) SD : Johnson ( D ) , Thune ( R ) TN : Frist ( R ) , Alexander ( R ) TX : Hutchison ( R ) , Cornyn ( R ) UT : Hatch ( R ) , Bennett ( R ) VT : Leahy ( D ) , Jeffords ( I ) VA : Warner ( R ) , Allen ( R ) WA : Murray ( D ) , Cantwell ( D ) WV : Byrd ( D ) , Rockefeller ( D ) WI : Kohl ( D ) , Feingold ( D ) WY : Thomas ( R ) , Enzi ( R ) Republican | Democrat | Independent Categories : Articles with unsourced statements | 1961 births | American conservatives | Living people | Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota | United States Senators from South Dakota In other languages : Français | Norsk ( bokmål ) | Polski | Русский | Svenska John Thune american John Thune official photo.jpg Junior Senator , South Dakota Republican 2005 –Present Tom Daschle Incumbent ( 2011 ) January 7 , 1961 Pierre , South Dakota alive Kimberley Thune Protestant United States Representative for South Dakota Tim Johnson Bill Janklow 1997 – 2003 Tom Daschle United States Senator ( Class 3 ) from South Dakota 2005 – Incumbent 