John Thune
Republican
· SD Senate · 117th 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
71.2
Highly 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
0.9
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$206,392
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
2.4
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
0.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.5
/ 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
13.3
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
0.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
6.4
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.4
/ 12
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
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Who funds Thune
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$2,515,730
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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%
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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
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$3.60M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$3.45M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.32M
EY
$3.00M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.63M
CHARTER
$2.51M
HARRIS
$2.32M
GENERAL MOTORS
$2.24M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.16M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$2.01M
BNSF RAILWAY
$2.00M
DELTA AIR LINES
$1.91M
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE
$1.89M
ELI LILLY AND
$1.80M
UP RAILROAD
$1.70M
THE ANTHEM COMPANIES
$1.52M
UNITED AIRLINES
$1.51M
ELI LILLY AND
$1.50M
CHARTER
$1.41M
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
$102K
REALLY AMERICAN PAC
$3K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$2K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$861
SOUTH DAKOTAN FOR POLITICAL INTEGRITY
$55
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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's file shows clear influence markers across multiple categories for the top funding network, placing them in the upper range of this Congress. The pattern runs above what coincidence would produce, and the methodology page documents what each category requires.
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