By John Gizzi Friday, 31 December 2021 03:23 PM
For more than a week, Republicans from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Washington, D.C., have been shaken by the talk that Sen. John Thune might not seek reelection in 2022.
The exit of three-termer Thune, No. 2 in the Senate Republican hierarchy behind Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, would make the odds better-than-even on Democrats winning his Senate seat.
"My first thought is that the Republican Party has no one ready to take on Stephanie Herseth Sandlin," a former top state GOP official who requested anonymity told Newsmax.
The official was referring to South Dakota's last Democratic U.S. representative. Having won a special election for the state's at-large House seat in 2004, Herseth (who later married Texas Democratic Rep. Max Sandlin) served until her defeat by Republican and current Gov. Kristi Noem in 2010.
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https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/thune-senate-mc-connell-herseth-sandlin-noem/2021/12/31/id/1050616/
