John Thune

John Randolph Thune (born January 7, 1961) is the senior United States Senator from South Dakota. A member of the Republican Party, he will be the Senate majority leader for the 119th Congress beginning in January 2025, succeeding Mitch McConnell in the Senate Republican Conference. From 2021, in the 117th and 118th Congress, he was the Senate minority whip. A senator since 2005, he became South Dakota's Senior senator with the retirement of Tim Johnson in 2015. Earlier in his career, Thune served as a United States Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district.

• I say to my colleague from New York that if someone who has a concealed carry permit... in the State of South Dakota that goes to New York and is in Central Park -- Central Park is a much safer place.
  • Comments in the US Senate, July 22, 2009.

• I can't believe someone this ignorant gets elected to the United States Senate.
  • Michael Bloomberg, July 22, 2009.