Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota was elected Senate majority leader on Wednesday after the Republican Party gained control of the Senate last week.
Thune will replace Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down from party leadership after an 18-year term, making him the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.
“I am deeply honored to have the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” wrote Thune in a message on X. after the vote.
The election was a three-way race between Thune and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, both considered part of the Republican establishment, and Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a “MAGA” Republican and Trump loyalist. There were two rounds of secret voting, meaning the senators’ votes were not made public.
All three candidates pledged to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Trump remained neutral and did not endorse any specific candidate heading into Wednesday’s Senate leadership election. But the president-elect did demand on social media that any candidate seeking the Senate leadership position “agree to recess appointments” in the Senate as a way to expedite his nominees for top Cabinet positions. All three candidates agreed.
Now that Thune has been chosen as the new leader of the Senate, who is he?
Thune, 63, is the number two Republican in the upper chamber of Congress and currently serves as minority whip in the Senate, a position he has held since 2021. He previously stepped in for McConnell for a few weeks last year while he was on medical leave. .
Thune has served in the Senate since 2005 – when he defeated then-Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Tom Daschle – and is currently serving his fourth term in the Senate. An experienced lawmaker, he is also “a well-liked and respected communicator” among his Senate colleagues, according to the Associated Press.
Thune has previously been critical of Trump, calling his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election and his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol “inexcusable.” Over the past year, however, their relationship appears to have smoothed out, as Thune and Trump have spoken by phone and Thune has visited Trump in Florida.
