Mike Thompson (D-Calif.)

U.S. Representative (since January 1999)

(Congress Bio Directory)

Why He Matters

Since coming to Capitol Hill in 1999, Thompson has often found himself on the short list for plum positions, both in Congress and in the Obama Administration. Those spots have eluded him so far, but he has a reputation among party elite as a potent fundraiser who is well-rounded on the issues and his chance could come soon.

Thompson is an avid outdoorsman with a strong conservation record and was on Obama's list as a possible Interior Secretary. He is a close friend of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has held key positions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). However, he was not was selected for the chairman's post partially because of a politically damaging trip to Iraq in 2002.

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Corrections?

News From Around The Web

Congress' revolving door turns back to K St. via The Hill

Thompson bill to better treat soldiers, vets passes via Times-Herald

House OKs indefinite detentions, TBI treatment via Political Blotter

Topic

Jackie Speier (D-Calif.)

U.S. Representative (since 2008)

Topic

Mike Thompson (D-Calif.)

U.S. Representative (since January 1999)

Post Tech

Lawmaker opposition to SOPA grows

Hayley Tsukayama

While the Stop Online Piracy Act has a lot of bipartisan support, it’s also garnered quite a bit of lawmaker opposition.

The Fix

Blue Dog Democrats a dying breed

Aaron Blake and Rachel Weiner

Blue Dogs are retiring at a rapid clip, and even more of them will be vulnerable in 2012. Is this breed going extinct?

Column

Knights of a table that serves wine

(Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

Dave McIntyre

Retired Rep. George Radanovich, Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Dan Lungren, all of California, have been honored for their work to raise the profile of American wines. [ Read more ]

At a Glance

Career History: vintner; state senator (1990-1998); chief of staff to Assemblywoman Jacqueline Speier (D-Calif.) (1987-1990)
Birthday: Jan. 24, 1951
Hometown: Saint Helena, Calif.
Alma Mater: California State University, Chico, BA, 1982; California State University, Chico, MA, 1996
Spouse: Janet
Religion: Roman Catholic
Committees: Intelligence, Ways and Means

DC Office: 231 Cannon House Office BuildingPhone: 202-225-3311
District Office: Napa, 707-226-9898; Eureka, 707-269-9595; Fort Bragg, 707-962-0933; Woodland, 530-662-5272
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Path to Power

Thompson was born in 1951 in St. Helena Hospital in the Napa Valley, the same hospital where his parents were born. He says he's a descendant of one of the Californians who took part in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt, which led to independence from Mexico.

Thompson dropped out of St. Helena High School and joined the Army. He served as a staff sergeant and platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne Regiment from 1969 to 1972, which was stationed in the II Corps zone in South Vietnam. Thompson received a Purple Heart for wounds he received during the war. When he returned to California, Thompson found a job fixing equipment for Beringer Vineyards. He and a partner developed a vineyard from a 10-acre plot formerly owned by Beringer, then sold it. Thompson used his share of the proceeds to pay for his bachelor's degree from California State University-Chico, from which he graduated in 1982.

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Thompson was given a fellow position in the California Assembly in 1982 and became a fixture in Sacramento, later serving as chief of staff for two Bay Area lawmakers. He struck out on his own in 1990, challenging state Sen. Jim Nielsen, who was criticized for his views on gays and a radio interview where he said that AIDS "may be God's way to visit plague upon mankind for the kind of permissive society we have become."

Thompson won the seat and remained in Sacramento through 1998 by renting a room in an adjoining safe Democratic district in 1993 after his original district was redrawn to favor Republicans. He became the Senate Budget Committee chair.

More than a year before the 1998 general election, Thompson launched his bid for an open Congressional seat in California's 1st District, which stretches from the Oregon border to the Napa Valley. He won the Democratic nomination easily and garnered 62 percent of the vote in the general election. He has had no trouble getting reelected since.

In September 2002, Thompson joined Reps. David Bonior (D-Mich.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) on a trip to Iraq prior to a vote in Congress to authorize military action there. Conservatives saw the visit to a country the United States was expected to go to war with as support for the enemy. Though Thompson didn't make comments like his fellow travelers-McDermott said he thought Bush "would mislead the American people" into war-the visit at least delayed Thompson's political rise as Democrats feared that giving him a plum position on the DCCC could create an easy target for Republicans and turn off donors. Thompson voted against authorizing the war.

Thompson has often been mentioned as a potential chair of the DCCC, but has never been selected. In 2004 he was the head of the DCCC Business Advisory Council. He was selected to oversee the campaigns of endangered House Democratic incumbents in the 2006 elections. His Baghdad trip hurt his chances at the post in 2002. He was passed over again in 2004 and 2006 for Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), respectively.

Thompson now sits on the House Ways and Means and Intelligence committees. He has served two terms as the chairman of the Intelligence subcommittee overseeing issues of terrorism.

The Issues

During the 110th Congress, Thompson voted with his party 96.5 percent of the time. Thompson is a member of the Blue Dog Democrats.

Thompson voted against the compromise 2008 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act update, claiming the bill ceded too many civil liberties.

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After joining Congress in 1999, Thompson and Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.) launched the Congressional Wine Caucus, which now has 250 members who take part in Capitol Hill tasting events. Thompson led a high profile and unsuccessful fight against conservatives and wholesalers in 1999 who sought to ban the Internet sale of alcohol. Ahead of a 2005 Supreme Court case addressing direct alcohol sales, Thompson was one of 20 members of Congress who filed an amicus brief seeking to allow Internet sales. The court ruled direct shipments could be made by out-of-state wineries.

Health-Care Reform

At a townhall meeting in August 2009, Thompson clearly stated that he supports a public option as a key to "suppressing costs" in the ongoing health-care debate.

Conservation

In 2006, a Thompson-sponsored bill was enacted that turned a 273,000-acre stretch of California's northern coast into a federally protected area for salmon and trout habitat.

Thompson has opposed offshore energy drilling, particularly off the coast of his California district. In the waning days of the Bush Administration, Thompson blasted its plan to open 2 million acres off the coast for oil exploration. His 2009 bill to permanently ban oil and gas exploration on California's North Coast has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Iraq

A frequent co-sponsor of bills that called for timetables and redeployment of forces in Iraq, Thompson crafted his own bill in 2007 calling for all U.S. troops to leave the country within a year of enactment. The bill also required the president to develop a regional diplomatic plan with the United Nations to contain Iraq's civil war. One of many similar bills, it garnered only three co-sponsors.

The Economy

After voting against the initial version of the $700 billion financial bailout plan in fall 2008, Thompson was among the House Democrats who received a call from then presidential candidate Barack Obama to support the bill. Thompson said his choice was between doing nothing or voting for "an imperfect rescue package."

Thompson said he secured $4.6 billion in funding for the Army Corps of Engineers in the economic stimulus package that passed in February 2009.

The Network

Thompson's closest political ally is Pelosi, a fellow Californian who selected him for the Ways and Means committee in 2005.

In January 2008, Thompson endorsed Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, but switched his endorsement to Obama hours after Clinton suspended her campaign in June 2008.

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Additional Resources