Sen. John Thune (R-SD) has added a touch of South Dakota to his new Senate office, hanging a bison head named Murdo in the front room of his majority leader suite.
Senate staff wheeled the taxidermy bull, on loan from the Limpert family of Slim Buttes Buffalo Ranch, into his new home shortly after Christmas as Thune settled into the office Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) occupied for 18 years as GOP leader.
The suite is larger and more lavish than Murdo’s old digs, with two working fireplaces and a view of the National Mall. He had been hanging in Thune’s Republican whip office since 2019.
Murdo will serve the same role as before, though, acting as a conversation piece for the lawmakers, dignitaries, and administration officials cycling through the office.
He shares the walls with portraits of Teddy Roosevelt and the two Bush presidents.
Thune has other nods to South Dakota in his suite, among them Lakota tribe artifacts and two more taxidermy animals, an antelope and pheasant.
But Murdo, named after Thune’s hometown, has a special place in the hearts of staffers, who adorn him with a Santa hat and red scarf each holiday season.
Murdo has also sparked a friendly rivalry on Capitol Hill. In 2023, he was named the largest bison head in a Senate office, beating out competition from senators including Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).
Murdo, provided by taxidermy artist Gary English of Rapid City, South Dakota, was a 10-year-old bull weighing around 2,000 pounds.
He was overwhelmingly chosen as “Murdo” in a public vote on Thune’s Twitter account after staff narrowed down the list of possible names to Newman (Thune is an avid Seinfeld fan), Monty Bison, and Doc Holliday.
Elsewhere in Thune’s office is a cherished photo of his grandfather and great-uncle, who helped build the railroads in South Dakota.
Thune went on to be railroad director of the state and eventually chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the country’s rail system.
In Thune’s personal office, he has a taxidermy bison named Tyson.
