Rep. Mike Thompson announces bid for 13th term in Congress in new district

Thompson, a moderate Democrat based in Napa County, has won every race since 2012 with more than 70% of vote

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, a two-decade Democratic congressional veteran, has announced his bid for a 13th term from a slightly redefined new district.

Thompson will be running in the newly numbered Fourth Congressional District, which includes all of Napa and Lake counties and parts of Sonoma, Solano and Yolo counties.

He was elected to Congress in 1998 after serving in the California state Senate. Thompson, 70, has never lost an election.

“I was born, grew up and have lived my entire life” in the new district, he said Tuesday in a news release.

His current Fifth District covers all of Napa and parts of Lake, Solano, Contra Costa and Sonoma counties, including Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati and Sonoma Valley.

The new district still includes eastern Sonoma County, with some adjustments to the lines in Santa Rosa. Because his district has changed over the years, he previously has represented all of the new district, he said.

Thompson, a moderate Democrat aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has won every general election since 2012 with more than 70% of the vote. In November 2020, he won his 12th term with 76% of the vote against token opposition.

His news release listed endorsements by 49 elected officials, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, six state legislators, all five Sonoma County supervisors and Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers and Councilman Tom Schwedhelm.

“Through fires, floods and a pandemic, Mike Thompson has been there for Santa Rosa,” Rogers said in the release. “He has moved mountains to get our city the resources it needed to rebuild.”

A member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, Thompson has voted in support of President Joe Biden on 49 measures this year.

A Vietnam War combat veteran and a hunter, Thompson has pushed unsuccessfully for an expansion of background checks on gun purchases, a measure that faces opposition from the National Rifle Association.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.