John Hoeven

John Henry Hoeven III (born March 13, 1957) is the senior United States Senator from North Dakota. A member of the North Dakota Republican Party, he previously served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota from December 2000 to December 2010. Hoeven was elected to the U.S. Senate in the November 2, 2010 general election. He replaced junior Senator Byron L. Dorgan, who chose not to seek re-election.

Prior to his election to the Governor's office, Hoeven served as the President of the nation's only state-owned bank, the Bank of North Dakota, from 1993 to 2000.

Immediately upon Hoeven's resignation as governor on December 7, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, who was the sitting lieutenant governor of North Dakota, automatically succeeded Hoeven as governor in accordance with the gubernatorial succession provisions of the Constitution of North Dakota.

Early life
Hoeven was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, the son of Patricia "Trish" (née Chapman) and John Henry "Jack" Hoeven, Jr. His ancestry includes Dutch, Swedish, and English. He attended Dartmouth College, where he belonged to the Alpha Chi Alpha Fraternity and graduated with honors. He then earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and was a banker in Minot, North Dakota prior to pursuing a political career. From 1993 to 2000, he was the president and CEO of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.

2000
He sought the office of the Governor of North Dakota as a Republican in 2000, and he was elected, defeating Democrat Heidi Heitkamp by a margin of 55 to 45 percent.

2004
In 2004, when up for re-election, Hoeven faced Democratic challenger Joe Satrom. Hoeven won re-election by a wide margin of 71 to 28 percent.

2008
On September 25, 2007, Hoeven's deputy press secretary, Don Larson, announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from his job to manage the governor's re-election campaign. Another Hoeven staff member, Don Canton, said this was not a formal re-election announcement, but one would be coming later in the fall. On November 13, Governor Hoeven made his formal announcement and campaign kickoff with stops in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot. On November 4, 2008 Hoeven won a resounding victory carrying 74% of the vote over the Democratic opponent Tim Mathern with 24% of the vote. This is the first time in North Dakota's history that any governor has won three 4 year terms in office, though the record for serving is still maintained by Gov. Bill Guy who served 12 years.

Tenure
Hoeven's governorship included the expansion and diversification of the state's economy, which led to a 49.5 percent increase in the state's real gross domestic product. Beginning in 2000, he directed the development of a multi-resource energy program for the state with incentives in each energy sector, leading the state in becoming one of the largest energy producing and exporting states in the country. North Dakota has gained nearly 40,000 new jobs since he took office. The state's wages and personal incomes continue to grow faster than the national average. In the past few years, the state led the nation in export growth. In late 2006, the state's reserve rose past $600 million, and now is over $700 million.

As of December 2009, Hoeven was the most popular governor in the nation. His approval rating stood at 87 percent with only 10 percent disapproving. In 2007, Hoeven proposed a 34% increase in spending, effectively halving the state's $600 million surplus. In January 2007, Hoeven became the nation's most senior governor, having been inaugurated on December 15, 2000, as established by the North Dakota Constitution.

In 2004 John Hoeven served as a Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.

2010 election
On January 11, 2010, Hoeven announced he would run in the 2010 North Dakota Senate election for the seat being vacated by Senator Byron Dorgan. Hoeven beat Democratic challenger Tracy Potter 76.08% to 22.17%.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
 * Committee on Appropriations
 * Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Committee on Indian Affairs

Political positions
Hoeven has walked a conservative line as a politician on some issues and a moderate one on others including increasing education funding, ethics reform, compensation for teachers, as well as increased funding on infrastructure. He is pro-life and opposes abortion except for cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life. He opposes government funding for elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment. He also opposes same-sex marriage. The senator supports decreasing access to parole for offenders and supports second amendment rights. He opposes the Employee Free Choice Act. He believes that public health care should be provided only to the elderly and children, that drug control policy should be a state and not a federal issue, that alternative fuels are a long-term solution but that increased oil drilling is required in the short term, and that investment tax credits should be provided for farm investment. Hoeven has been a vocal advocate for the Keystone Pipeline, arguing that it has never leaked and that environmental risks have been exaggerated.

Hoeven briefly identified himself as a member of the Democratic-NPL Party before becoming active in the Republican Party as a District Chair and volunteer.

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