Posted: December 14th 2011
WASHINGTON — South Dakota Sen. John Thune has been elected to the No. 3 spot in the U.S. Senate’s Republican leadership.
Thune will become chairman of the Senate Republican Conference in late January. The conference communicates Republican priorities to the public.
Thune already was the highest ranking Senate Republican in South Dakota history, holding the No. 4 spot in the chamber’s GOP leadership as Policy Committee Chairman since 2009.
The highest ranking Republican senator from South Dakota previously was Chan Gurney, who held the No. 5 party leadership position in 1945-1946.
The highest ranking Democratic senator from South Dakota was Tom Daschle, the man Thune beat in 2004 to gain the Senate seat. Daschle was Senate majority leader in 2001 through 2003 and was minority leader in 1995-2001 and 2003-2004.
