Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Minority Whip, said Saturday he plans to run for a fourth term in the Senate, tamping down retirement speculation and setting himself up to potentially succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell as the Republican leader. “I’m asking South Dakotans for the opportunity to continue serving them in the U.S. Senate,” Thune, the second-highest ranking Republican, said in a statement announcing the decision. The New York Times reported last month that Thune had considered retiring in part due to the Republican Party’s submission to Donald Trump, who has long expressed his ire with Thune’s kinship with McConnell. “He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!” Trump said after Thune derided Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.