James Abdnor

Infobox Senator |name=James Abdnor
nationality=American


jr/sr=United States Senator
state=South Dakota
party=Republican
term_start=January 3, 1981
term_end=January 3, 1987
preceded=George McGovern
succeeded=Tom Daschle
date of birth=birth date and age|1923|02|13
place of birth=Kennebec, South Dakota
dead=alive
date of death=
place of death=
spouse=
religion=

James Abdnor (b. February 13 1923, Kennebec, South Dakota) is a politician from the state of South Dakota. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1945 where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He served in the United States Army during World War II and from 1957 to 1969 was a member of the South Dakota Senate.

He was the Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota in 1969 to 1971, and unsuccessfully sought the nomination for House of Representatives in 1970. In 1972 he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican.

In 1980, he ran against George McGovern for the United States Senate. Abdnor claimed McGovern was out of touch with the state and he defeated McGovern by a large margin. In 1986, after winning a bruising re-election primary campaign against then Governor Bill Janklow, Abdnor lost his Senate seat to Tom Daschle. He served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration from 1987 to 1989, and served in an advisory capacity for John Thune's successful campaign against Daschle in 2004.

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