Mike ThompsonIncumbent
Candidate for U.S. Representative, Congressional District 4
Mike Thompson is the Democratic incumbent for California's 4th Congressional District. He has held the seat since 2023, following redistricting. He represented California's 5th District from 2013 to 2023. He represented the 1st District from 1999 to 2013. Before that, he served in the California State Senate, 1990 to 1998. He was born in 1951 in St. Helena, California. He served in the U.S. Army, including combat in Vietnam. He later earned a B.A. and a master's in public administration from California State University, Chico. He worked as a college instructor and owned a winery before politics. In Congress, he serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is ranking member of its Tax subcommittee and also sits on its Health subcommittee. He co-chairs the Congressional Wine Caucus. He filed for re-election to a 15th House term in the 2026 general election. He formally announced his campaign in early 2026. Born 1951. Home: St. Helena, California, in the Napa Valley. Occupation: U.S. Representative (incumbent). Former college instructor and winery owner. Prior office: incumbent since 1999. U.S. House: CA-1 1999-2013, CA-5 2013-2023, CA-4 2023-present. California State Senate, 1990 to 1998.
On the issues
- Economy & Jobs
Thompson supports job-creating federal investment in infrastructure, clean energy, and workforce/technical education, and has generally supported labor protections, while his public materials do not detail specific positions on the minimum wage or trade tariffs.
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Thompson calls for a 'balanced approach' to the federal deficit that includes higher taxes on wealthy Americans, spending restraint (including reviewing defense spending), and PAYGO budget rules, and has criticized the 2017 GOP tax law as adding to the national debt while favoring the wealthy.
Source → - Health & Health Care
Thompson supports the Affordable Care Act and efforts to expand and extend it (including extending ACA premium tax credits), and backed Medicare prescription-drug price negotiation and a $2,000 out-of-pocket drug cost cap under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Source → - Immigration & Border
Thompson supports comprehensive immigration reform combining border security with an earned pathway to legal status for immigrants, and in 2026 supported cutting ICE funding and impeaching the DHS Secretary following enforcement controversies in his district.
Source → - Reproductive & Social Issues
Thompson supports federal protection of abortion access (backing the Women's Health Protection Act and related bills) and has voted for legislation extending civil rights protections to LGBTQ Americans.
Source → - Education & Schools
Thompson supports expanding Head Start/early childhood funding, debt-free college financing through Pell Grants, and allowing student loan refinancing at lower rates.
Source → - Public Safety & Policing
Thompson, who describes himself as a hunter and gun owner, supports Second Amendment rights alongside expanded background checks and other gun-safety measures such as red flag law funding.
Source → - Environment, Energy & Climate
Thompson calls climate change an urgent threat and authored major clean-energy tax credit legislation (the GREEN Act, incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act), supports renewables like solar/wind/geothermal, has pushed to reinstate a Superfund tax on oil producers, and has led public-lands conservation efforts.
Source → - Foreign Policy & Defense
Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, supports strong military funding paired with fiscal restraint (favoring some defense spending cuts), views military action as a last resort, and has championed expanded VA benefits including for toxic exposure (PACT Act) and community care (MISSION Act).
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Thompson describes voting rights as civil rights and supports policies protecting voter access, and has publicly criticized what he called 'reckless' misinformation about U.S. election integrity.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.