John Henry Hoeven III (born March 13, 1957) is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. A member of the North Dakota Republican Party, he previously served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota from December 2000 to December 2010.

Prior to his election to the Governor's office, Hoeven served as the President of the nation's only state-owned bank, the Bank of North Dakota, from 1993 to 2000. Hoeven was elected to the U.S. Senate in the November 2, 2010 general election. He replaced junior Senator Byron L. Dorgan, who chose not to seek re-election. He was the longest-serving sitting Governor in the United States at the time of his resignation.

Immediately upon Hoeven's resignation as governor on December 7, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, who was the sitting lieutenant governor of North Dakota, automatically succeeded Hoeven as governor in accordance with the gubernatorial succession provisions of the Constitution of North Dakota.

Hoeven was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, the son of Patricia "Trish" (née Chapman) and John Henry "Jack" Hoeven, Jr. His ancestry includes Dutch, Swedish, and English. He attended Dartmouth College, where he belonged to the Alpha Chi Alpha Fraternity and graduated with honors. He then earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and was a banker in Minot, North Dakota prior to pursuing a political career. From 1993 to 2000, he was the president and CEO of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.

Hoeven is a village in the municipality of Halderberge in the Netherlands. The name Hoeven originated from the purchase of a certain amount of ground in 1282 by the abbey of Cistercienser of St. Bernard. This amount was equal to 100 "hoeven", a local measure of area in those days. A hoeve is approximately 12 bunder. A "bunder" equals the area of the average agricultural farm in the Netherlands.

Hoeven was a separate municipality until 1997 including the three villages of Bosschenhoofd, Hoeven and Kruisstraat. In 1997 the municipality of Hoeven became a part of Halderberge.

Though the village officially is named Hoeven, most civilians use and pronounce it as "Oeve" or "d'Oeve" as 'Hoeven' is pronounced in the local dialect, Brabants. Remarkable in the southern parts of the Netherlands, where they officially celebrate carnival, is that during this period all places change names during this seven-day celebration. In case of Hoeven it is known in this period as "Peejenland" which means "Land of the Carrots". Before the name may be changed the Mayor must hand the key of the village to the Prince of Carnival ("Prins Carnaval") and this way he gives the Prince the leadership of the village. At the end of Carnaval the Princess gives the key back to the Mayor and the village welcomes boards change back to the original.

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 United States election.

McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations.

He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily four times, most recently in 2010. While generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a "maverick" for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. After being investigated and largely exonerated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the Keating Five, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002. He is also known for his work towards restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990s, and for his belief that the war in Iraq should be fought to a successful conclusion. McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed spending that he considered to be pork barrel, and played a key role in alleviating a crisis over judicial nominations.

John Anthony Barrasso III (pronounced /bəˈrɑːsoʊ/; born July 21, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party. He was appointed to the Senate following Craig L. Thomas's death and won a special election in 2008 to fill the remaining four years of Thomas's term.

Barrasso was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1952, the son of Louise M. (née DeCisco) and John Anthony Barrasso, Jr. He is of Italian descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Central Catholic High School in Reading, PA. Barrasso began his college career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (where he became a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity) and transferred to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating with a bachelor of science degree in 1974. He also received his M.D. degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1978. He conducted his residency at Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut.

In addition to his private orthopedic practice, Barrasso was Chief of Staff of the Wyoming Medical Center, State President of the Wyoming Medical Society, President of the National Association of Physician Broadcasters, and a member of the American Medical Association Council of Ethics and Judicial Affairs.

Kevin Cramer (born January 21, 1961, in Rolette, North Dakota) is a North Dakota politician who in 2010 is serving as a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner.

Cramer was born in Rolette, North Dakota, the first of 5 children for Richard Cramer and his wife, Clarice. He graduated from Kindred High School, and received degrees from Concordia College, as well as the University of Mary. He was the Chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party from 1991 to 1993, and he served under Governor Ed Schafer as the State Tourism Director from 1993 to 1997, and as the state's Economic Development Director from 1997 to 2000. Cramer twice was the Republican challenger to incumbent Earl Pomeroy for North Dakota's At-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives; in 1996 and 1998. He was appointed to the Public Service Commission in 2003 by Governor John Hoeven after the resignation of Leo M. Reinbold. He was subsequently elected to the commission in 2004 by over 65 percent of the vote. He will face re-election in 2010. He is married to Kris, and has four children.