NASHVILLE (AP) — John Thune, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, is scheduled to be the featured speaker at a Rutherford County Republican Party event in November.

The South Dakota senator is considered a rising star within the GOP. He weighed a White House bid in the 2012 cycle, but instead decided to stay in the Senate to move up in his party's leadership.

Thune first won his Senate seat by defeating Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 and coasted to a second term without a Democratic opponent.

The event is scheduled for Nov. 9.