John Thune
Republican
· SD Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Majority Leader · Senate Committee on Commerce (Chair) · and Broadband (Chair) · and the Internet (Chair) · Senate Committee on Agriculture · and Forestry · Risk Management · and Trade · and Natural Resources · Natural Resources · and Biotechnology · Local Food Systems · and Food Safety and Security · and Food Safety · Agricultural Research · and Specialty Crops · and Transportation · and Innovation · Product Safety · and Data Security · and Data Privacy · and Consumer Protection · and Safety · and Ports · Senate Committee on Finance · and Global Competitiveness · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Influence Score
93.9
Most exposed
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
12.0
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.8
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$206,392
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$2,952
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
5.9
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
1.7
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
14.3
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
9.6
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
9.3
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.5
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$5,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $74.18M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $148K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 71.2 | Highly exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 71.2 | Highly exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 52.7 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 93.9 | Most exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$79,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Share from this one network
1.1%
Amount from this network
$46,100
Total from all networks
$4,229,316
Networks contributing
706
— ◊ —
Who funds Thune
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$3,249,712
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
1.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Extra weight for leadership role
1.75×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
24
Money that arrived near votes
$86K
Distinct donors
36
Distinct employers
20
Share of their total fundraising
1.37%
Biggest clusters of timed money
BLACKSTONE
$7K
HAMILTON POINT INVESTMENTS
$7K
JANE STREET
$7K
KKR
$7K
MORGAN STANLEY
$7K
ROUTE ONE INVESTMENT
$7K
ROUTE ONE INVESTMENT
$7K
FIRST DAKOTA NATIONAL BANK
$6K
BLACKSTONE
$5K
DELTA AIRLINES
$3K
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$194K
SANFORD HEALTH
$68K
DAVITA
$56K
HOMEMAKER
$44K
HOMEMAKER
$40K
MARQUIS MANAGEMENT
$40K
CAPITAL
$38K
KKR
$34K
DELTA AIR LINES
$33K
GOLDMAN SACHS
$30K
NEXTERA ENERGY
$28K
BLACKSTONE
$25K
FOX
$24K
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
$23K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$22K
COMCAST
$22K
BLACKSTONE
$21K
BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK
$20K
BGR
$20K
HERZOG CONTRACTING
$20K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against John Thune comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
AMERICAN ENERGY ACTION FUND
$204K
REALLY AMERICAN PAC
$3K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$2K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$862
SOUTH DAKOTAN FOR POLITICAL INTEGRITY
$56
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
125 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $4.56M to John Thune across 154 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$4.56M
Shared contributors
125
Contributions
154
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 117 | 140 | $541K |
| 2024 | 7 | 8 | $4.01M |
| 2026 | 3 | 6 | $1K |
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John Thune ranks among the most exposed members of this Congress — the top tier on the index. The markers run across several of the twelve categories for the same funding network: contributions, outside spending, lobbying inside the policy areas this member regulates, vote alignment, and contribution timing among them. The score measures financial exposure in the public record; it is not a finding of intent or wrongdoing.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required