Bennie Thompson

Bennie Thompson followed his mother into teaching before a career in local government and Congress.¹ He married his college sweetheart, London Johnson, and has described gardening, reading and listening to blues music among his interests.¹ He grew up in rural Bolton, Mississippi.¹ His public service has also included volunteer firefighting, experience he cites in explaining his interest in emergency preparedness and support for first responders.¹

Thompson earned his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College in 1968 and a master's degree from Jackson State in 1972.² As a student, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and helped organize voter registration drives in the Mississippi Delta.¹ He served as a Bolton alderman from 1969 to 1973 and mayor from 1973 to 1979.²

He then served on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors from 1980 to 1993 before entering Congress through a special election that April.² Thompson has chaired the House Homeland Security Committee and the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.² He now serves as Homeland Security's ranking Democrat.³

His current positions include stronger disaster preparedness and recovery programs, more public school funding and federal protections for abortion access.³ He faces Republican Ron Eller and independent Bennie Foster in the November election.⁴