MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) — The gold-leafed ceilings and crystal chandeliers of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort are a long way from the small town of Murdo, South Dakota, where Sen. John Thune grew up. But that’s where the senator found himself this spring as he launched a bid to become the next Senate Republican leader.
Even before Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he would end the longest leadership tenure in Senate history, Thune, 63, had approached the contest with the same quiet intensity — fueled by an aversion to losing — he learned on the basketball court and track of Murdo’s high school.
