Mike Thompson (California politician)

Early life, education and career

Thompson was born in St. Helena, California, the son of Beverly Ann (née Forni) and Charles Edward Thompson. His father was of English ancestry and his mother was of Italian and Swiss descent. He was educated at California State University, Chico, served in Vietnam with the United States Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, was a vineyard owner and maintenance supervisor, taught Public Administration and State Government at San Francisco State University and California State University, Chico, and was a member of the California State Senate before entering the House.

Early political career

Thompson served as an aide to Democrat Jackie Speier (then a state Assemblywoman) before winning election to the California State Senate in 1990. He very narrowly unseated 4th district Republican incumbent Jim Nielsen after Nielsen's reputation took a hit following a series of ethical missteps; Thompson's margin of victory was less than 1 percent.

Following the 1992 general election, Democratic state Senator Barry Keene of the neighboring 2nd District resigned. Thompson, whose hometown of St. Helena had shifted from the 4th district and into the 2nd district after reapportionment, decided to run in the 1993 special election for Keene's seat. He narrowly beat Republican businesswoman Margie Handley but won easy reelection in 1994.

Thompson was approached by national Democrats about running for Congress in 1996 against freshman Republican Frank Riggs, but he declined, believing his senate seniority would be more beneficial to his district than would his being a freshman congressman. In 1998, however, Thompson was due to be termed out of the state senate, and opted to run against Riggs after all. Riggs opted to retire, believing that he faced almost certain defeat given Thompson's name recognition and reputation. Thompson won handily. He has been reelected seven times with no substantive opposition, and has turned what was a swing district for most of the 1980s and 1990s into a fairly safe Democratic seat.

For his first seven terms, Thompson represented a district stretching from the far northern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area all the way to the North Coast. However, his district was renumbered as the 5th district after the 2010 census and was made somewhat more compact, losing most of its northern portion to the 2nd district.

Tenure

Thompson is a Blue Dog Democrat and was previously a member of the New Democrat Coalition. He has been labeled as a "moderate Democratic leader". Thompson has voted with the Democratic party 91% of the time.

Thompson is a Roman Catholic, and is pro-choice. In May 2004, he, along with 47 other Catholic Democratic Congressmembers, sent a letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C. to dissuade him from refusing to administer Holy Communion to Catholic Congressmembers who practice pro-choice legislative voting. In February 2006, Thompson was one of 55 Democratic Representatives identifying as Catholic who signed a "Statement of Principles," which affirmed a commitment to their faith, but stating opposition to the Catholic doctrine on some issues. They stated that on those issues, such as abortion rights, they would 'follow their conscience' instead of the church's teachings. In response to the "Statement of Principles", the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued a "Statement on Responsibilities of Catholics in Public Life" that said, in part, "Catholic teaching calls all Catholics to work actively to restrain, restrict and bring to an end the destruction of unborn human life."

Thompson has been a supporter of a public option for healthcare. In 2009, Thompson wrote that "[b]y streamlining health care, reducing fraud and abuse, ending unnecessary testing, discouraging over-utilization, investing in smart reforms, and emphasizing preventive health care, we can significantly bring down the cost of health care." Additionally, in 2010, Thompson voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In late 2002, Thompson joined Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington and David Bonior of Michigan on a fact-finding trip to Iraq. During the trip, the lawmakers spoke to officials in Baghdad and residents in Basra. Presciently, they expressed skepticism about the Bush administration's claims that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

On March 26, 2008, Muthanna Al-Hanooti, an official of a Michigan charity, was accused of underwriting three members of Congress to travel to Iraq, on behalf of Iraqi intelligence officials. McDermott's office was already organizing the trip when the charity offered to pay trip expenses. McDermott's spokesman stated that the charity was fully vetted by the U.S. government. He also stated that the congressmen obtained a license from the State Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for the group to travel to Iraq.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Thompson endorsed former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) for President; his district, however, was narrowly won by Barack Obama.

The League of Conservation Voters publishes the National Environmental Scorecard for each session of Congress which rates how members voted on key energy and environmental issues. Mike Thompson was rated 92% (with 100% being the highest possible rating) for the 2nd session of the 110th Congress. His LCV Scorecard ratings have been at 90% or above for every session of Congress since 2001.

Thompson was endorsed for re-election in 2008 by the Humane USA PAC, a political action committee founded by leaders of animal rights groups such as The Humane Society of the United States, The Fund for Animals, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Doris Day Animal League, the Animal Welfare Institute, Farm Sanctuary and The Ark Trust.

Thompson has an 88% lifetime rating from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which endorsed him for re-election in 2008. This organization is the 501(c)(4) sister organization of Defenders of Wildlife.

The Sierra Club has endorsed Thompson for re-election in 2010.

In March 2012, Thompson, along with Assemblyman Jarred Huffman, voiced his opposition to a piece of water legislation that the House would be voting on, which he argued would "kill local jobs, ignore 20 years of established science and overturn a century of California water law."

Thompson voted for President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative, which some environmentalists saw as a preference to the timber industry. He has disappointed some environmentalists with votes against limits to new commercial logging roads in Alaska's Tongass National Forest and against limits to hunting bears over bait. He was also one of only 30 Democrats to vote against an amendment to maintain roadless areas protected under the Roadless Rule. Thompson received an A+ rating for his 100% voting record from the American Wilderness Coalition in 2004.

While a California state senator, Thompson helped defeat legislation to halt the use of dogs in hunting of black bears and co-authored and voted for a bill (SB 28) to resume trophy hunting of cougars. SB 28 would have undone provisions of California Proposition 117 (the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990) which had been approved by the voters in the statewide election held on June 5, 1990, that provided some protection for cougars. Thompson was the House sponsor of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush. Thompson was recognized as Federal Legislator of the Year by the hunting lobbyist group Safari Club International; he received the Hunting Heritage Award from the same group.

Thompson is an active member and former co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, and is a lifelong hunter and fisherman.

Committee assignments

Caucuses

Personal life

He is married to Janet Thompson and has two sons, Chris and Jon, and two grandchildren.