South Dakota Senator John Thune will move into the No. 2 spot in Republican leadership when the 116th session of the United States Senate starts in January– making him the second most powerful Senator South Dakota has ever had in Washington, DC.
Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle served as the Majority Leader from June 2001-Jan. 2003. He then served as minority leader from 2003-2005. Thune defeated Daschle 51 percent to 49 percent in the 2004 Senate race.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been reelected to another term as the Republican leader. Thune ran unopposed for the majority whip position and will move up from his current spot as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, which oversees message coordination for the caucus.
Senate Democrats are keeping their team headed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois was re-elected as the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.
Only 18 people have held the Senate Republican whip position since 1915. Thune is now the highest ranking Republican senator in South Dakota history. U.S. Sen. Chan Gurney is the only other Republican senator from South Dakota to have served in his party’s leadership. Gurney served as conference secretary, a position that has since been eliminated, from 1945 to 1946.
In addition to serving in leadership as chairman of SRC, a position he’s held since 2011, Thune previously served as chief deputy whip, SRC vice chairman, and chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
Thune currently serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the Finance Committee, and he serves as chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
