John Hoeven

John Hoeven (born March 13, 1957, Bismarck, North Dakota, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and began representing North Dakota in that body the following year. He previously served as governor of the state (2000–10).

After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1979), Hoeven attended Northwestern University, where he earned a master’s degree (1981) in business administration. He then returned to his home state of North Dakota and pursued a career in banking, becoming executive vice president of First Western Bank in Minot in 1986. During that time Hoeven married Mical (“Mikey”) Laird, and the couple later had two children. In 1993 he became president and chief executive officer of the Bank of North Dakota, overseeing a period of marked growth in the bank’s holdings.

In 2000 Hoeven sought elective office for the first time, running for governor. He defeated his Democratic opponent, Heidi Heitkamp, by a 10-point margin. Hoeven was reelected in 2004 and 2008. During his time in office, he promoted North Dakota as a hub of energy development and export, overseeing a period of notable economic growth.

In 2010 Hoeven ran for the U.S. Senate, and his popularity as governor contributed to a landslide victory in which he received 76 percent of the vote. After taking office in 2011, Hoeven supported moderate to conservative issues, generally voting with the Republican leadership on most key matters and opposing the Democratic Party and the administration of Pres. Barack Obama on numerous points, notably on the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010). Hoeven showed particular interest in agricultural and energy issues, and he sponsored legislation to encourage the development of all available energy sources. He was a strong proponent of the Keystone XL project, a controversial pipeline that would route Canadian shale oil to ports in the United States for export to markets in Asia and Europe.