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Bennie G. Thompson

U.S. House · MS-2 · Democrats · since 2025

also

Candidate for U.S. House · MS-2

Target Bennie

Biography

Overview

Bennie Thompson is a Democrat representing Mississippi's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993. He is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and has previously served as committee chair from 2007–2011 and 2019–2023. Thompson was the first Democrat and first African American to chair the committee. He is the only Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation and has been the dean of the delegation since 2018. His district includes most of Jackson and is majority-Black.

Career

Thompson was the first African-American chairman of a House committee to oversee passage of the first bill of a Congress (H.R. 1, the 9/11 Commission recommendations, which passed 299–128 in 2007 and was signed into law). He chaired the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack (2021–2023). He has championed bills on pilot screening, auto insurance reform, and classified document oversight, though these have not been enacted. He received an "A" grade from the Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index for his committee work in the 116th Congress. He was named a Presidential Citizens Medal recipient in January 2025.

Prior political experience

Thompson won a special election runoff on April 13, 1993, defeating Republican Hayes Dent with 55% of the vote to succeed Mike Espy in Mississippi's 2nd district. He won re-election in 1994 and has been reelected 12 times since. He faced significant opposition in 2002 and 2004, when journalist Clinton LeSueur held him to 55% and 58% respectively. In the 2020 general election, Thompson received 66.0% of votes in the primary contest data provided.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress-0.519

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
+0.390
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 340 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
17thU.S. House MS-22025–presentIn progressBennie G. Thompson—
16thU.S. House MS-22023–2025Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
15thU.S. House MS-22021–2023Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
14thU.S. House MS-22019–2021Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
13thU.S. House MS-22017–2019Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
12thU.S. House MS-22015–2017Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
11thU.S. House MS-22013–2015Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
10thU.S. House MS-22011–2013Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
9thU.S. House MS-22009–2011Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
8thU.S. House MS-22007–2009Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
7thU.S. House MS-22005–2007Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
6thU.S. House MS-22003–2005Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
5thU.S. House MS-22001–2003Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
4thU.S. House MS-21999–2001Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
3rdU.S. House MS-21997–1999Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
2ndU.S. House MS-21995–1997Term endedBennie G. ThompsonBennie G. Thompson
1stU.S. House MS-21993–1995Term ended—Bennie G. Thompson

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term9

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
2024U.S. House MS-2Won66.02%