Challenger Eric Jones defeated longtime U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson in California’s 4th Congressional District on Friday evening.
The Associated Press called the race for Jones ten days after the Nov. 3 election. Jones finished with 52.5% of the vote compared to Thompson’s 47.5%. Decision Desk HQ had previously projected Jones as the winner after he led Thompson by more than 4%.
District 4 includes Napa, Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties. It also covers portions of Lake, Placer, Sacramento, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
Federal Election Commission figures reveal that Jones ran the fifth-highest spending congressional campaign of the cycle. He accumulated over $18 million in receipts—largely from his personal funds—coupled with spending exceeding $16 million. Thompson reported a little over $5.4 million in contributions and more than $5.3 million in expenses.
Read my full statement in response to the final election results for California’s Fourth Congressional District. pic.twitter.com/P1BAnLoOnr
Running against Thompson (D-St. Helena), who was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, Jones called for a new generation of leadership.
He campaigned on keeping corporate money out of politics, lowering the cost of living, and protecting the future by helping run a government that lives within its means. Jones reported holding more than 200 town halls and said that his campaign knocked on half a million doors.
“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,” Jones said in an interview after his race was called, adding that he wants to make progress on campaign reform with the freshman class in Washington, D.C.
“Our numbers show we’re going to win this thing,” Jones said during the tight vote count, pointing to a coalition of young voters, diverse voters, working families, and working-class voters who felt left behind by the political system.
Backers of Jones included Saikat Chakrabarti, formerly chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); Luis von Ahn, co-founder and Chief Executive of Duolingo; and Our Revolution, a grassroots independent group started by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Thompson spent 14 terms in Congress, initially elected to California’s 1st District after serving as a two-term state senator. Thompson was appointed to the committee on Jan. 5, 2005, serving on it for over 21 years. He had been endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, and the California Democratic Party.
“I’m proud of my service,” Thompson said before listing his legislative 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.”
Thompson also pointed to his efforts to restore water flows in the Klamath River, his climate change legislation that helped generate $400 billion in U.S. investments and create 400,000 jobs, and his role as chairman of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
The five counties encompassing District 4 have until Dec. 3 to finalize and submit their official vote certifications to the California Secretary of State’s Office.