Vote for Bennie Thompson - candidate for United States Representative District 2 in Mississippi

Bennie Thompson is running for United States Representative District 2 in Mississippi. Bennie Thompson has been a U.S. Representative representing District 2 in Mississippi since 1993, so we can judge how he has represented us during his 33 year tenure.

Incumbent

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As a United States Representative, Bennie Thompson is a member of the United States Congress. Congress enacts laws that influence the daily lives of all Americans and is intended to serve as the voice of the people. Its responsibilities include funding government functions and programs, holding hearings to inform the legislative process, and oversight of the executive branch.

Performance Review

Did Bennie Thompson make our lives better or worse ?

Fighting Against Higher Costs for Mississippians
Protecting Our Healthcare
Making the Rich Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes
Protecting Our Environment
Fighting for Food Security
Standing Up for Workers
Defending Our Democracy
Funded by People, Not Corporations
Speaking Out Against DOGE Cuts to Mississippi
Fighting the Wrongdoing of the Current Administration
Standing Up for Common-Sense Gun Safety
Protecting Our Reproductive Freedom
Protecting Our Right to Vote
Standing Up Against ICE
Opposing the Reckless War in Iran
Showing Up for Us
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Mississippi Report Card

Fighting Against Higher Costs for Mississippians

Food, rent, electricity, healthcare - in America we should be able to afford these basic necessities of life without going bankrupt.

Bennie Thompson knows this and is fighting back. While his colleagues cheer on or ignore Trump's tariffs driving up the cost of everything we buy, Thompson is calling it out loud and clear:

"Donald Trump's reckless tariffs are making the rich richer and the poor poorer."
Half of all Americans are struggling to afford groceries
47% are struggling to afford their utility bills
47% are struggling to afford healthcare
48% are struggling to afford housing
1 in 4 Americans say they have skipped a medical checkup due to affordability
23% are skipping a prescription dose

Bennie Thompson is calling out the policies driving up our costs and fighting to do something about it. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting against the policies driving up our costs.

Protecting Our Healthcare

We all deserve access to quality healthcare so we can live healthy and productive lives.

Bennie Thompson agrees, and has consistently voted to protect and expand healthcare access. When the "One Big Beautiful Bill" threatened to gut Medicaid and healthcare for millions of Mississippians, Thompson voted NO and said so clearly:

He voted against the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that cut more than $1 trillion in federal health care and food assistance
He has consistently voted to protect the ACA and prevent tax credits from expiring, keeping health costs manageable for millions
Mississippi stands to lose an estimated $2-$4 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next decade — Thompson is fighting to prevent that
An estimated 115,000 Mississippi residents are projected to lose health care coverage under the Republican bill — Thompson voted against it
On average 714,600 or 24.3% of Mississippi's population were on Medicaid in 2024

Bennie Thompson is fighting to make sure we can get the healthcare we need. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting to protect our healthcare.

Making the Rich Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes

We all need to pay our fair share to the government so it can provide the services that benefit all of us.

But billionaires in the U.S. pay a smaller tax rate than most teachers and nurses. That's not fair — and Bennie Thompson agrees.

The wealthiest 400 billionaire families in the U.S. paid an average federal individual tax rate of just 8.2 percent. For comparison, the average American taxpayer in the same year paid 13 percent.
The 25 richest Americans paid $13.6 billion in taxes from 2014-2018 — a "true" tax rate of just 3.4 percent on $401 billion of income.
23 of the largest and most profitable companies in the US paid no federal corporate income taxes from 2018-2022.
Thompson voted AGAINST the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that will reduce taxes for the top 1 percent by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, while raising taxes for the poorest Americans.

Bennie Thompson voted against the billionaire tax giveaway and is fighting to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting to make the wealthy pay their fair share.

Protecting Our Environment

We all deserve clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet to live on.

Bennie Thompson is a strong defender of our environment. He has earned a 97% score from the League of Conservation Voters for 2025 and a lifetime score of 85%, consistently voting to protect our environment while Republicans roll back protections so billionaires can profit at our expense.

Bennie Thompson is fighting to protect us from the pollution and climate destruction that Republicans have unleashed. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is protecting our environment.

Fighting for Food Security

Nobody in America, the richest country in the world, should go hungry.

Here in Mississippi, 1 in 4 kids faces hunger every day. Bennie Thompson has consistently fought to protect SNAP and food assistance programs, voting against every Republican attempt to gut them. He has never voted against a Farm Bill in over 30 years in Congress, and co-sponsored the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 to protect food assistance.

About 39% of SNAP participants are children, and 20% are elderly
41.7 million Americans receive SNAP benefits every month
In Mississippi, nearly 400,000 citizens receive SNAP benefits every month, including almost 258,000 families with children, over 150,000 families with older adults or disabled people, and 9,000 Mississippi veterans.
Thompson voted AGAINST the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that dramatically cuts SNAP funding

Bennie Thompson is fighting to make sure no one in Mississippi goes hungry. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting to make sure no one in Mississippi goes hungry.

Standing Up for Workers

A good job where we can make a living to support our families, own a home, and have a good life. That's the American Dream.

Bennie Thompson believes in that dream and is fighting to keep it alive — while the current administration turns it into a nightmare:

There were 20.8 million layoffs in the U.S. in 2025
There were 137,000 layoffs in Mississippi between January and November 2025
55% of employed Americans say they're concerned about losing their jobs
The unemployment rate is 4.6%, the highest level since the pandemic
In 2025 the U.S. economy averaged just 15,000 jobs added per month, a dramatic decrease from the monthly average of 125,000 the year before Trump took office.
58,000 net manufacturing jobs have been lost from April, when the administration announced "Liberation Day" tariffs, to September 2025.
Thompson voted AGAINST the tariffs and the OBBBA — the policies that are destroying our economy and killing jobs.

Bennie Thompson is fighting for workers and trying to keep the American Dream alive. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is standing up for workers and the American Dream.

Defending Our Democracy

Our democracy is only as strong as the people willing to fight for it.

Bennie Thompson is one of those people. When a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, trying to overturn a free and fair election, Thompson stepped up. He was appointed Chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, leading the most consequential congressional investigation in a generation.

Thompson:

Chaired the January 6th Select Committee, directing a two-year investigation into the attack and those who planned and financed it
Produced an 845-page final report documenting the full scope of the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, laying the groundwork for criminal accountability
Has continued to speak out about the threats to democracy, including presidential immunity and pardons for those convicted of attacking the Capitol
As Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, continues to exercise oversight over the agencies responsible for protecting our democracy and our security

When our democracy was under attack, Bennie Thompson stood up and led. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson led the fight to defend our democracy when it was under attack.

Funded by People, Not Corporations

Our elected officials should work for us, the people — not for billionaires and big business.

Bennie Thompson's campaign is funded primarily by small donors and people in Mississippi. His top supporters include unions, small businesses, and individuals from across the district — not the defense contractors and out-of-state billionaires who fund his Republican colleagues.

Unlike the Republicans in the Mississippi delegation, Thompson does not take NRA money — they give him an F rating
His top organizational supporters have historically included labor unions and Mississippi-based businesses

When Bennie Thompson votes, he's voting for the people who sent him to Washington — and that's us. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

Note: Full donor breakdown available at OpenSecrets.

Bennie Thompson: Contributors 2023-2026

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is funded by people, not corporations.

Speaking Out Against DOGE Cuts to Mississippi

We all want a government that works for us as efficiently and effectively as possible. That's not what DOGE delivered.

While his Republican colleagues in the Mississippi delegation stayed silent, Bennie Thompson was one of the loudest voices speaking out against DOGE's chaotic destruction. He called DOGE a "national security nightmare", warned that "planes are crashing, prices are soaring, and our adversaries are celebrating", and specifically condemned the Trump/DOGE removal of AmeriCorps NCCC members from the Vicksburg campus, calling his colleagues' silence "complicit."

Because the damage is real. Elon Musk and DOGE:

Had access to and exfiltrated (stole) all our sensitive personal information.
Kneecapped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which had returned over $26 billion to the American people since 2011.
Attempted to cut $4 billion in funding for medical research.
Will cost the federal government an estimated $500 billion in lost tax revenue (that could pay for programs for us), due to cuts at the IRS.
Laid waste to the employees at several government departments, removing their top experts and most skilled practitioners, and making their services less effective for all of us. This badly affected veterans, who make up 30% of the federal workforce.
Cut over a billion dollars worth of grants from Mississippi

"One of the neediest states will become even needier," Thompson warned. He was right — and he's fighting back while the rest of the delegation does nothing. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is speaking out against DOGE while his Republican colleagues stay silent.

Fighting the Wrongdoing of the Current Administration

As a member of Congress, part of Bennie Thompson's job is to act as a check and balance to the executive branch.

While his Republican colleagues have completely abdicated that responsibility, rubber-stamping everything the current administration wants to do no matter how crazy, dangerous, or harmful, Bennie Thompson is doing his job and fighting back.

As Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Thompson has the platform, the expertise, and the will to hold the administration accountable — and he uses all three.

Bennie Thompson is the only member of the Mississippi congressional delegation who is actually fighting for Mississippians. We need to keep him there.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is doing his job and fighting back for Mississippians.

Standing Up for Common-Sense Gun Safety

We deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods, schools, and places of worship.

In order to do that, we need to take real steps to prevent gun violence. And despite what we've been told, it is possible to support the 2nd Amendment and support common-sense gun safety laws at the same time. Bennie Thompson agrees — he has consistently voted for gun safety measures and has earned an F from the NRA.

Mississippi has the highest firearm mortality rate and highest murder rate in the United States.
A child or adolescent is killed with a gun every 2 hours and 48 minutes in the U.S.
Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the U.S. are 33 times greater than in Australia and 77 times greater than in Germany
Every day, 125 Americans are killed with guns, and more than 200 are shot and wounded
Women in the U.S. are 28 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries.

Bennie Thompson is fighting to keep our communities safe. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting to keep our communities safe.

Protecting Our Reproductive Freedom

America is the land of FREEDOM. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to start a business, freedom to choose your own career path, freedom to make your own medical decisions, freedom to raise your children according to your values, and freedom to pursue happiness. Freedom is what makes America great.

Bennie Thompson believes in that freedom — including the freedom of women to make their own deeply personal medical decisions without government interference.

Thompson:

Has a 100% pro-choice voting record throughout his career
Voted to protect Roe v. Wade and has condemned its overturn
Opposed federal efforts to restrict or ban abortion
Voted against the "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act" (January 2025)
Supports access to reproductive healthcare and contraception
Opposed attacks on Planned Parenthood

Arkansas House of Representatives candidate (and pastor) Robb Ryerse stated it well: "Abortion should remain safe and legal. These are personal decisions best made by patients, their doctors, and their faith — not politicians. You don't have to agree with every decision someone makes to believe they should be free to make it. That's what personal liberty means." Almost 2/3 of Americans agree and believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Bennie Thompson agrees too, and is fighting to protect that freedom. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is fighting to protect our reproductive freedom.

Protecting Our Right to Vote

In America our vote represents our will. It gives us the power to make the change that we want to see in the world.

Bennie Thompson has consistently fought to protect and expand voting rights — and he knows what's at stake. Mississippi's 2nd District is majority Black, and Thompson has seen firsthand how voter suppression targets communities of color. He blasted the SAVE Act as "window dressing on voter suppression," pointing out that 21+ million Americans lack proof of citizenship documents, and that the law disproportionately targets Black Americans, married women, elderly voters, and veterans.

The SAVE Act would force every single American citizen to prove their citizenship status in person when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information. For the vast majority of Americans, this would mean presenting a passport or birth certificate at their local election office. This would disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizens: 146 million Americans do not have a passport, and 69 million women who have married do not have a birth certificate that matches their new legal name. Working-class and low-income Americans would also be disproportionately disenfranchised if the bill became law, as the vast majority of these groups do not possess a passport. Read about all the ways they're trying to take away our voting power on the starvoters home page, then come back here.

Thompson has opposed the SAVE Act, calling it part of "a larger agenda — to willfully suppress American voters"
He has co-sponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore federal protections gutted by the Supreme Court
He has consistently voted to protect early voting, same-day registration, and mail-in voting

YOU HAVE POWER. Bennie Thompson is fighting to protect it. Keep him in Washington working for us. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is protecting our right to vote.

Standing Up Against ICE

Whether white, black, or brown, we should all be able to live in America and exercise our constitutional rights without fear that law enforcement will turn on us.

But the current administration has created a secret police force that is abusing their power against anyone who stands in their way, U.S. citizen or not. They claim to be going after "the worst of the worst", but are taking daycare workers, day laborers, grandmas and kids who are valued members of our communities. As Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson is exercising every tool at his disposal to hold ICE accountable.

ProPublica: They describe the legions of masked immigration officers operating in near-total anonymity on the orders of the president as the crossing of a line that had long set the United States apart from the world's most repressive regimes. ICE, in their view, has become an unfettered and unaccountable national police force.
ProPublica: Accosting people outside of their immigration court hearings where they're showing up and trying to do the right thing and then hauling them off to an immigration jail in the middle of the country where they can't access loved ones or speak to counsel. Bands of masked men apprehending people in broad daylight in the streets and hauling them off. Disappearing people to a third country, to a prison where there's a documented record of serious torture and human rights abuse.
New York Times: Masked and heavily armed, ICE agents are sent to cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis to terrorize immigrant communities and brutalize people who challenge their efforts to stop and detain anyone deemed suspicious. To expand its reach, ICE greatly lowered its recruitment standards, effectively enlisting anyone who cares to sign up. To attract new officers, ICE advertises the chance to do violence to people deemed "enemies" of the United States, likening civil immigration enforcement to a war on a dangerous, alien force. The result is an agency whose agents' first recourse appears to be violence or the threat of violence.
They are executing American citizens. On January 7, 2026 an ICE agent in Minneapolis murdered an American citizen, a mother of 3, by shooting her in the face as she tried to drive away. Then the killer walked away, and our government lied and tried to gaslight us about what happened. Thompson was among those who condemned the murder and demanded accountability.
They are executing American citizens: Part 2. On January 24, 2026 ICE agents in Minneapolis murdered an American citizen, a 37 year old ICU nurse, who was filming their activity and trying to help others. Then our government lied and tried to gaslight us about what happened.

Bennie Thompson sued the Trump administration alongside other Democrats to restore congressional oversight access to ICE detention facilities. He led 84 House Democrats in demanding answers from DHS on plainclothes ICE operations. The law says members of Congress must have access to ICE detention facilities — and Thompson is enforcing that law. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson is taking action to hold ICE accountable.

Opposing the Reckless War in Iran

War destroys human lives, families and innocent people, causes economic ruin, and triggers immense suffering. War should always be the option of last resort.

In order to distract from the Epstein Files, Donald Trump started an illegal war of choice with Iran. Bennie Thompson cosponsored and voted FOR the War Powers Resolution that would have stopped it. Because:

American soldiers are dead and Americans have been abandoned in other countries
We executed a double-tap strike against a girls school in Iran, killing 100 little girls and then their rescuers and parents
Gas prices have gone up
Multiple other countries are under attack
There is threat of attacks on American soil
They have floated the idea of a draft
The war is costing us $1 billion a day
We are being dog-walked by Israel, who has been trying to convince presidents to attack Iran forever, and finally found one dumb enough to do so

No one wants this war. Bennie Thompson agreed and voted to stop it. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson voted to stop the reckless war in Iran.

Showing Up for Us

Good leaders meet with their constituents and have town halls where citizens can voice concerns, ask questions, and provide input on policies.

Bennie Thompson does this. He holds regular town halls and community events across the district — from Vicksburg to Marks to the Mississippi Delta — covering budget cuts, Medicaid, Social Security, veterans issues, and everything in between. He publishes a monthly newsletter keeping constituents informed, and his office actively helps residents navigate federal agencies.

Held a town hall in Vicksburg covering the budget implications for Agriculture, Education, Job Layoffs, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Veterans
Held a town hall at Madison Shannon Palmer High School in Marks
Holds regular "Donuts with Congressman Bennie Thompson" community sessions at colleges across the district
Publishes a monthly newsletter with district news, available federal grants, and legislative updates

Bennie Thompson wants to hear from us and responds to our concerns. That's the kind of representative we deserve.

starvoters pov: Bennie Thompson shows up for us and listens to our concerns.

starvoters pov

Bennie Thompson is fighting for us on every issue that matters. While his Republican colleagues in the Mississippi delegation rubber-stamp everything the Trump administration does, Thompson is standing up against higher costs, fighting to protect our healthcare, opposing tax giveaways for the wealthy, defending our environment, fighting to make sure no one goes hungry, standing up for workers, defending our democracy itself, speaking out against DOGE's chaotic destruction, fighting for our right to vote, exercising real oversight of ICE, opposing the reckless war in Iran, and consistently showing up for us — town hall by town hall, newsletter by newsletter, lawsuit by lawsuit.

Mississippi has the highest gun death rate in the country, the highest poverty rate, and some of the worst healthcare outcomes — and Thompson has spent 33 years fighting against that. He led the investigation that documented the January 6th attack on our democracy. He is the only Democrat in the Mississippi delegation, the only one fighting back.

Can we afford to lose that voice after 33 years of him fighting for us?

For your sake, for your kids sake, for your family, friends, neighbors and fellow Mississippians sake, vote to keep Bennie Thompson fighting for us. Don't let billionaire-manufactured culture wars and other BS distract you from what really matters. Because we all deserve a better life — and Bennie Thompson is fighting to make it happen.

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