Eric Jones Defeats Mike Thompson in Northern California 4th District Race
Self-funded political newcomer Eric Jones defeated longtime Representative Mike Thompson in Northern California’s 4th District race, capturing 52.5% of the vote to Thompson’s 47.5% as the Associated Press called the contest ten days after the Nov. 3 election.
The Associated Press reported that the Democrat-on-Democrat race concluded ten days after the November 3 election, ending Thompson’s tenure in Congress that began in 1998. Jones, a 36-year-old venture capitalist and nonprofit executive, poured $14.8 million of his own funds into the campaign to challenge the 14-term incumbent.
The newly drawn 4th District stretches from the wineries of Napa County to the rice fields of Sutter County under Proposition 50. Thompson entered the race backed by prominent state leadership, including Governor Gavin Newsom, Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, and the California Democratic Party, while running on his legislative record on water issues, wildfires, gun violence, and conservation.
“I’m proud of my service,” Thompson said in a statement Friday evening before listing his work on water issues, wildfires, gun violence and conservation. “My team and I have always lived by one principle: We’re here to do the people’s work serving our district, and that job is never too big nor too small.”
Jones built his campaign around calling for a new generation of leadership, keeping corporate money out of politics, lowering the cost of living, and expanding Medicare alongside tax cuts for low- and middle-income Americans.
His grassroots effort drew support from figures including Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); Duolingo Chief Executive and co-founder Luis von Ahn; and Our Revolution, an independent grassroots organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“It’s been really fantastic to see just how impactful our message was because we knew from Day One that we were speaking to voters and Americans who were pretty left behind in the political system,” he said in an interview Friday after his race was called.
Jones reported holding more than 200 town halls and knocking on half a million doors during the active campaign. “I answered every email myself personally. We offered a coffee chat with every single voter we met, and that’s the message that people heard,” he said in an interview Friday after his race was called.
“I do think we need to make a lot of progress on campaign reform. It’s something we’re already working on with the freshman class right now in D.C.,” he said in an interview Friday after his race was called.