Biography
On January 5, 2011, John Hoeven was sworn in as North Dakota’s 22nd U.S. Senator, following ten years of service as the state’s governor.
Senator Hoeven is bringing North Dakota's winning economic formula to the national stage, crafting policies that drive the economy forward, especially in the energy, agriculture, and defense sectors. His commitment to cutting red tape and building a business-friendly environment aims to boost job growth and economic activity, while tackling the nation’s debt and deficit. Senator Hoeven believes in a commonsense approach that promotes free enterprise, empowers innovation, and encourages investment—an approach that will not only strengthen the economy but also create sustainable jobs for future generations.
From his position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Hoeven is driving efforts to develop a thorough national energy plan, similar to the state’s EmPower North Dakota plan, to return the U.S. to energy dominance using both traditional and emerging energy resources. Senator Hoeven trusts such an approach will lead to jobs, economic growth and true energy security for America. The senator’s work includes serving as the leading advocate for approving the Dakota Access pipeline and advancing measures to eliminate outdated and unnecessary regulations that prolong the approval process for new energy projects and discourage investment and innovation.
Additionally, as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Hoeven plays a crucial role in developing and funding farm policies that provide our nation’s farmers and ranchers the tools and certainty they need to succeed. The senator has secured agriculture disaster assistance to help producers recover from challenging markets, natural disasters and other issues. At the same time, Senator Hoeven is working to pass a new farm bill that includes meaningful risk management tools for producers, keeping the farm in the farm bill.
Senator Hoeven is a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, where he is dedicated to strengthening our nation’s defense by promoting key military installations in North Dakota, including Minot Air Force Base, Grand Forks Air Force Base, Cavalier Air Force Station, National Guard facilities, and Grand Sky, a leading Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) hub. With his efforts, Minot, the nation’s only dual-nuclear base, is undergoing modernization, the Grand Forks region has become a crucial asset to U.S. defense, Cavalier’s 10th Space Warning Squadron enhances missile warning and space awareness, and North Dakota’s National Guard continues to play a vital part in both state and global security.
Prior to his election to the Senate, Senator Hoeven served as governor of North Dakota for a decade. Under his leadership, the state expanded and diversified its economy and gained thousands of new jobs. North Dakota regularly balanced its budget, set aside more strong reserves for the future, cut taxes, and invested in priorities like education, law enforcement and infrastructure. Beginning in 2002, then-Governor Hoeven initiated EmPower ND, a comprehensive energy plan for the state. Today, North Dakota stands as an energy powerhouse and one of the largest energy producing and exporting states in the nation. Currently, North Dakota produces more than one million barrels of oil a day and ranks as one of the top three largest oil-producing states in the country.
Senator Hoeven was born in Bismarck. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1979 and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University in 1981. He served as executive vice president of First Western Bank in Minot from 1986 to 1993, and served on many civic, community, and economic development groups. From 1993-2000, he served as president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota.
Senator Hoeven and his wife Mical (Mikey) live in Bismarck. They have two children, Marcela and Jack, and eight grandsons.