When John Kline retired from the Marines, he and his wife, Vicky, settled in Lakeville, Minn., where Kline worked as a leadership consultant and managed the family farm with his father-in-law. He also began volunteering as a member of Lakeville's Environmental Affairs Committee.

Kline has served as an adult leader in the Boy Scouts and he is a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Burnsville. He is a member of Trout Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited. He supports veterans' issues and is a member of the Marine Corps League, the Marine Corps Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Retired Officers' Association. Currently, he is president of the Marine Corps Coordinating Council of Minnesota.

In 1998, Kline was the Republican candidate for Congress in the 6th District. All eight of Minnesota's congressmen were reelected that year, but the Kline-Luther race was the closest. Rep. Bill Luther won the race by a narrow 50-46 percent margin. The race was also the most financially competitive and the 2000 matchup was the same. Luther won, again, with 50 percent.

In 2002, immediately following the release of new Congressional redistricting maps, Kline announced he planned to run in the 2nd District, noting that the maps placed GOP Rep. Mark Kennedy just outside the boundary. Kennedy, in turn, chose to run in the 6th, and Luther chose to follow Kline to the 2nd for another rematch.

The new district, made up of a block of counties to the immediate south of the Twin Cities, is considered more friendly Republican territory.