Question: Which Democratic Party politician from South Dakota was re-elected to the Senate in 1974 over a colonel in the United States Air Force who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War?
Context: The Battle of Ganjgal was a battle in the War in Afghanistan fought between American and Afghan forces and the Taliban in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009.  Complaints that the coalition casualties were avoidable and caused by a failure of the chain of command to provide fire support for the team triggered an official investigation and a series of reprimands to several US military officers.  Army Captain William D. Swenson and Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle.  Meyer is the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, and Swenson is the fifth living Soldier and first officer to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.  Two other Marines at the battle, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez and Capt. Ademola Fabayo, received the Navy Cross. Dorothy M. Kellogg (born July 26, 1920) was an American politician in the state of South Dakota.  She was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives and South Dakota State Senate.  She attended Watertown High School and graduated in 1938.  Kellogg is a former secretary at the South Dakota State Highway Department, accountant, Chairwoman of the Codington County Democratic Party, and a member of the South Dakota State Democratic Party Executive Board.  She is a United Methodist. George McGovern, a Democratic Party politician from South Dakota, was first elected to the United States House of Representatives to represent South Dakota's 1st congressional district in 1956.  He was re-elected in 1958, before making an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate in 1960 against Republican incumbent Karl Earl Mundt.  After serving in the John F. Kennedy administration as director of the Food for Peace program, McGovern ran again for the Senate and narrowly prevailed over appointed Senator Joseph H. Bottum.  In 1968, McGovern unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention and was re-elected to the Senate over former Governor of South Dakota Archie M. Gubbrud.  In 1972, McGovern was successful in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, but lost the election in a landslide to incumbent President Richard Nixon.  McGovern was re-elected to the Senate in 1974 over Vietnam War veteran Leo K. Thorsness, but lost re-election in 1980 to then-U.S. Representative James Abdnor.  McGovern made a final unsuccessful run for president in United States presidential election, 1984. Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton, USAF (November 16, 1918 – September 19, 2004) was a United States Air Force navigator and electronic warfare officer who was shot down over South Vietnam during the 1972 Easter Offensive.  He was aboard an EB-66 aircraft whose call sign was Bat 21.  As the ranking navigator/EWO on the aircraft, he was seated immediately behind the pilot, giving him the call sign "Bat 21 Bravo".  He survived for 11½ days behind enemy lines until he was retrieved in a daring ground operation.  His rescue was the longest and most costly search and rescue mission during the Vietnam War.  He received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart for his actions during this mission. Major General Richard Vernon Secord, Retired (born July 6, 1932), is a United States Air Force officer with a notable career in covert operations.  Early in his military service, he was a member of the first U. S. aviation detachment sent to the Vietnam War in August 1961, Operation Farm Gate.  Secord left Vietnam in 1965 to attend Air Command and Staff College.  Afterwards, he returned to Southeast Asia, being detailed to the Central Intelligence Agency for duty in the Secret War in Laos.  While in Laos, he was responsible for several notable military actions.  One was the Battle of Lima Site 85.  Another was the only successful prisoner of war rescue of the Vietnam War.  Both of these came about because of his responsibilities for overseeing the operations of the Royal Lao Air Force, Air America, and Raven FACs. Leo Keith Thorsness (February 14, 1932 – May 2, 2017) was a colonel in the United States Air Force who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War.  He was awarded the medal for an air engagement on April 19, 1967.  He was shot down two weeks later and spent six years in captivity in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war.  After his military service, Thorsness served one term in the Washington State Senate. Colonel Charles Barbin “Chuck” DeBellevue (born August 15, 1945) is a retired officer in the United States Air Force.  In 1972, DeBellevue became one of only five Americans to achieve flying ace status within the Vietnam War and the first Air Force weapon systems officer (WSO) to earn ace status.  He was credited with a total of six MiG kills, the most earned by any U.S. aviator during the Vietnam War and is a recipient of the Air Force Cross. George Everette "Bud" Day (24 February 1925 – 27 July 2013) was a United States Air Force colonel and pilot who served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, including five years and seven months as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  Day was a recipient of the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross.  s of 2016 , he is the only person to be awarded both medals. William Washington Howes served under Franklin Delano Roosevelt as Second and First Assistant Postmaster General from 1933 to 1940.  Howes brought airmail service to the Midwest.  The W W Howes Municipal Airport (now known as Huron Regional Airport) was named in his honor.  It is located in Huron, South Dakota.  (Source: Howes' grandson, Dr. Whiting Wicker) Previously, he was a member of the South Dakota Senate, Chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee.  In 1920, he ran for Governor of South Dakota, losing to William H. McMaster. Lima Site 85 (LS-85 alphanumeric code of the phonetic 1st letter used to conceal this covert operation) was a clandestine, military installation located in the Royal Kingdom of Laos guarded by the Hmong "Secret Army", the Central Intelligence Agency, and the United States Air Force used for Vietnam War covert operations against communist targets in ostensibly neutral Laos under attack by the Vietnam People's Army.  Initially created for a CIA command post to support a local stronghold, the site was expanded with a 1966 TACAN area excavated on the mountaintop where a 1967 command guidance radar was added for Commando Club bombing of northern areas of North Vietnam.  The site ended operations with the Battle of Lima Site 85 when most of the U.S. technicians on the mountaintop were killed, including CMSgt Richard Etchberger.  For his heroism and sacrifice, Etchberger received the Air Force Cross posthumously.  The operation remained classified, however, and the existence of the award was not publicly acknowledged until 1998.  After the declassification of LS 85 and a reevaluation of his actions, Etchberger was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2010.
Answer: George McGovern