Mike Thompson

Mike Thompson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Frank Riggs
California State Senator from the 2nd district
In office 1990 – 1998
Preceded by	Barry Keene
Succeeded by	Wesley Chesbro
Born	January 24, 1951 (1951-01-24) (age 58) St. Helena, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Janet Thompson
Residence	St. Helena, California
Alma mater	California State University, Chico
Occupation	vineyard owner
Religion	Roman Catholic
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1969-1972
Unit	173rd Airborne Brigade
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

C. Michael Thompson (born January 24, 1951),^[1] American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing California's 1st congressional district (map), which includes Napa, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties as well as parts of Yolo and Sonoma Counties.

He was born in St. Helena, California, was educated at California State University, Chico, served in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade^[2] United States Army, 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.^[1]

He is married to Janet Thompson and has two sons.

He is a Blue Dog Democrat and was previously a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Elective office

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;^[3][4] Thompson's margin of victory was less than 1 percent.^[5]

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.^[6]

Thompson was approached by National Democrats about running for congress in 1996, but he declined, believing his senate seniority would be more beneficial to his district than would his being a freshman congressman. In 1998, National Democrats successfully recruited Thompson to run for the congressional seat of incumbent Republican Frank Riggs. Thompson was so well known and respected in the area that Riggs opted not to seek reelection after all, believing Thompson was unbeatable.^[7] Thompson easily won election and has had little trouble holding his seat.

Environmental record

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The League of Conservation Voters publishes the Environmental Scorecard for each session of Congress which rates how members voted on key energy and environmental issues. Mike Thompson was rated 91% (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 voted for President Bush's controversial Healthy Forests Initiative,^[8] which environmentalists saw as an inordinate gift to the timber industry.^[9] He has disappointed some environmentalists with votes against limits to new commercial logging roads in Alaska's Tongass National Forest^[10] and against limits to hunting bears over bait.^[11][12] He was also one of only 30 Democrats to vote against an amendment to maintain roadless areas protected under the Roadless Rule.^[13] While a California state senator, Thompson helped defeat legislation to halt the use of dogs in hunting of black bears^[14] and co-authored and voted for a bill (SB 28) to resume trophy hunting of cougars.^[15] 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.^[15] 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.^[16]

Thompson did not endorse California's Proposition 2 (the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act) in the November 2008 election,^[17] which passed with an overwhelming statewide 63.5% Yes vote^[18] and which also won in every county of Thompson's district.^[19] Proposition 2 was officially endorsed by the California Democratic Party.^[20]

Thompson is an active member and former co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus,^[21][22] and is a lifelong hunter and fisherman.^[23]

Other legislative history

Though Thompson is a Roman Catholic,^[1] he is staunchly 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.^[24] Judie Brown, president of the pro-life American Life League, issued a response to the letter saying that it is harmful to the Catholic Church to "[perpetuate] the lie that you can be a Catholic in good standing and support abortion."^[24] In February 2006, Thompson was one of 55 Democratic Representatives who were Catholic who signed a "Statement of Principles," which affirmed a commitment to their faith, but said that they disagreed with their church on some issues. They stated that on those issues, such as abortion rights, they would follow their conscience instead of their church's teachings.^[25] 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."^[26]

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.^[27]

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.^[28]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism/HUMINT, Analysis and Counterintelligence
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucuses

• Co-chair of the Congressional Wine Caucus

Electoral History

References

External links

• U.S. Congressman Mike Thompson official House site
• Mike Thompson for Congress official campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia