WASHINGTON – Sen. John Thune raised nearly $840,000 in the second quarter and has almost $11 million in the bank as he prepares to run for a third term.

The South Dakota Republican has not officially announced whether he will run again for the Senate, but his campaign is expecting that he will. At the end of June, Thune had $10.96 million in the bank, according to his required disclosure to the Federal Election Commission. More than half the money raised from Apr. 1 to June 30 was donated by political action committees.

“He’s preparing for another run and getting a lot of support,” said Joshua Shields, campaign manager for John Thune for U.S. Senate. “Campaigns can be very expensive. We feel very good with where the fundraising is and has been going.”

Thune has risen to become third in GOP leadership in the Senate. In January, he also assumed the top post on the powerful Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which oversees railroads, product safety and communications.

Bob Burns, a retired political science professor from South Dakota State University, said with a sizable cash hoard and the absence of a formidable Democratic challenger, Thune appears to have the money to fund “a very, very high-level campaign in South Dakota but have plenty left over for him to support other candidates in South Dakota” or outside the state.

“He appears to be quite safe in his next election bid with the war chest he has,” Burns said.

Incumbents and challengers running for office in South Dakota benefit from the low cost of advertising in the state.

Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., raised $295,500 in the second quarter and has $1.2 million to spend, her FEC filing showed.

Former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is widely mentioned as the biggest potential Democratic challenger to Noem or Thune, but political analysts are doubtful she will run. Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin when she was elected to the House in 2010.

“It would take more than $1.2 million to run the kind of race to ward (Herseth Sandlin) off,” Burns said.