Biography:

Michael Thompson was born and raised in the California wine country town of St. Helena. He still lives there with his wife, Janet. Thompson received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Chico State University. A U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, Thompson was also an instructor in the Army's Airborne school.

Thompson served as chief of staff to California Assemblyman Lou Papan from 1984 to 1987, and for Assemblywoman Jacqueline Speier from 1987 to 1990.

Thompson was elected to the state Senate in 1990 in the 4th District, then gave up his seat and ran in the 2nd District after district boundaries were redrawn in 1991.

Thompson was also a political science lecturer at Chico State and California State University, San Francisco.

He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1998.

Past Campaigns:

Mike Thompson was elected to the U.S. House in 1998, defeating Republican Mark Luce with 62 percent of the vote for the seat vacated by Republican Rep. Frank Riggs.

Thompson was elected to the California state Senate from the 4th District in 1990. District boundaries were redrawn in 1991, and much of Thompson's district became the new 2nd District. When the 2nd District senator retired in 1992, Thompson resigned his seat and ran in the special election for the 2nd District, winning a narrow victory.

Thompson retained his seat in 2000 with 65 percent of the vote against Republican Russel Chase. Thompson ran unopposed in the March 2002 open primary. His opponent, Republican Lawrence Wiesner, also ran unopposed in the 2002 open primary.

Thompson was re-elected in 2002, defeating Wiesner with 64 percent of the vote.

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