Goodbye, Mike Thompson

(August 21, 2011)

My guess is that Mike Thompson will be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives again in 2012. However, apparently he will not be representing Mendocino County or the northwest coast of California. Following the new redistricting process, new district lines have been made final. Mike's home county of Napa will be in District 5 that also includes southwest Sonoma County, southern Lake County, and wedges of Solano and Contra Costa Counties. Mendocino County will be in Congressional District 2 with Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Marin Counties, plus Sonoma County minus Santa Rosa and points south east. See California Congressional Districts final 2011 maps.

Mike announced on August 19, 2011 that he would seek reelection in District 5. In addition to Napa County, the population of the district is concentrated in Santa Rosa and Valencia. It has a higher proportion of Republicans than District 2, but is still a Democratic Party majority district. The election is not until November 2012.

While Mike will be representing District 1 until his term ends on January 3, 2013, this may be my last article in Mike Thompson Watch. Hopefully someone, perhaps even a conventional newspaper, will give the citizens better news coverage and analysis on how Mr. Thompson and other elected officials actually vote in Congress.

The new districts may be challenged in court, but I think a successful challenge is unlikely.

There are many online sites that record all of the votes of Congress. The one I have found easiest to use is www.govtrack.us

Thanks for reading Mike Thompson Watch. I hope it helped make Mike Thompson a better representative of our fair region.