Congressman Thompson has served Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District since 1993, making him one of the longest serving members and has been the only Democrat in Mississippi’s delegation since 2011.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Science in Educational Administration. He has been a teacher, an alderman at his church, Mayor of Bolton, and Hinds County Board of Supervisors official with deep ties to local government and his community.
Born in a state with a unique history of racial inequality, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson draws inspiration from the legacies of Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, and Henry Kirksey. Over his career you will see a deep and abiding pattern or organizing for racial justice and to improve the lives of all.
Congressman Thompson has:
- organized voter registration drives for African Americans throughout the Mississippi Delta
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sued for increased funding for Mississippi’s historically black universities
- passed legislation to create the National Center for Minority Health Care
- served on the Agriculture, Budget, and Small Business Committees
- chaired the top Democratic position on Homeland Security in 2005
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been an outspoken advocate for victims of Hurricane Katrina
- served as the first ever Democratic Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
Most recently the nation saw the fortitude and leadership of Congressman Bennie Thompson on display when on July 1, 2021, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi named Rep. Thompson Chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Under Chairman Thompson’s leadership, the bipartisan committee has conducted a thorough investigation of the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack and worked to ensure nothing like that attack ever occurs again. At the Chairman’s direction, the Select Committee has begun presenting its findings about a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 election, reflecting the body of evidence the committee has built through more than 1,000 interviews and the hundreds of thousands of records the committee has obtained.
Chairman Thompson continues to guide the Select Committee’s investigative and reporting work. He has been married to his college sweetheart, London Johnson of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, for 42 years.
