South Dakota Sen. John Thune elected majority whip in U.S. Senate

Trevor J. Mitchell | Argus Leader

Show Caption Hide Caption Five things to know about Sen. John Thune The Murdo, South Dakota, native has now been elected majority whip of the U.S. Senate.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune has been elected majority whip of the U.S. Senate, becoming the second-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership.

Thune was nominated by the former whip, Texas Senator John Cornyn.

Thune had served as the Republican Conference Chairman, the third-ranking position, since 2011.

The responsibilities of a whip include counting heads and rounding up members for votes and quorum calls. The term "whip" is a reference to the member of a British hunting team who would ensure the dogs did not stray from the rest of the group.

Thune acknowledged that keeping the narrow Republican majority together on controversial votes can be a challenge.

"When you've got a conference that has people on different ends of the spectrum like Ted Cruz and Susan Collins, it creates challenges," he said, noting the differences between the conservative Texan Cruz and the moderate Collins, who is from Maine.

The 57-year-old Murdo native has worked closely with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on GOP priorities such as tax cuts and health care reform, putting him in position to take a greater leadership role.

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That leadership will be needed now that Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives, testing the ability of both parties to find some level of bipartisan agreement.

Thune's working relationship with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has grown over the years and might help in reaching across the aisle.

“We may have contentious elections,” Thune said following the 2016 presidential election. “But at the end of the day we accept the results and move forward for the common good.”

Thune's election to majority whip marks the highest point in Senate leadership reached by a South Dakota Republican.

Sen. Tom Daschle was majority leader for the Democrats from 2001 to 2003 and minority leader from 1995-2001 and 2003-2005.

Thune served as South Dakota's United States Representative from 1997-2003, and in 2004 successfully ran against Daschle for his Senate seat.

CORRECTION: The dates for Tom Daschle's minority and majority leadership tenure were incorrect in the original version of this story.