# United States Representative, District 4

Compare records and positions simply between Eric Jones or Mike Thompson for United States Representative, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (2-year term).

- Jurisdiction: Federal
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-4
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Eric Jones** — Businessman/Nonprofit Executive · Democratic
- **Mike Thompson** — Member of Congress · Democratic

Representative Mike Thompson led the June 2 primary with 41.0% and fellow Democrat Eric Jones took 22.2%, so November is a contest between two members of the same party. Jones raised $8,378,929 — $5,364,133 of it his own money, the largest self-financed campaign on this ballot — and still finished 19 points behind. The district covers Napa, Lake and part of the North Bay.

The winner holds one of 435 seats in the U.S. House for a two-year term. A member introduces bills, sits on committees that shape federal legislation, votes on the federal budget and on war powers, and handles casework between constituents and federal agencies. Seniority governs committee standing, and more than a quarter-century of it is a substantial asset for a district.

With two Democrats on the ballot, party is not the axis. The incumbent has 13 career bills enacted — the highest count of any candidate on this ballot — against a challenger with no record who has put more than $5.3 million of his own money into the race. Weigh a long legislative record against a self-financed challenge, and note the primary went decisively to the record.

## Mike Thompson

Mike Thompson has represented California's 4th District in the U.S. House since 1999 and is seeking another term. He is a decorated Vietnam War combat veteran (Sonoma Index-Tribune). In Congress, he is the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax and a senior member of its Health Subcommittee (House.gov). He has authored bills on affordability — including an American Affordability Act aimed at lowering housing, energy, and child care costs — as well as on rural health care and agriculture support (Sonoma Index-Tribune; House.gov).

Thompson says he is running because, as his campaign puts it, "costs are skyrocketing" and "our democracy is on the line" (campaign site). He has long been known as a moderate, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, but has moved toward a more confrontational posture on the current administration's policies, including immigration enforcement (Sonoma Index-Tribune). He voted against a bill on ICE authority, saying it lacked proper oversight and guardrails (Sonoma Index-Tribune).

Thompson's priorities include gun violence prevention, health care, housing, immigration, jobs and the economy, fiscal responsibility, and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (campaign site). He points to a bipartisan bill he co-wrote with Republican Rep. James Gallagher to expand rural health care access, support agriculture, and increase federal funding for rural infrastructure and education (House.gov). He also highlights work on infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalks and bike lanes along Highway 12 (Sonoma Index-Tribune).

**Strengths:** Nearly three decades in the House, a senior seat on Ways and Means, and a documented record of legislation on affordability, health care, and rural economic development.

**Trade-offs:** A long voting record means more to weigh, including votes on defense and immigration bills; a shift from moderate to more combative politics is itself a change to judge.

**Keep in mind:** He describes himself as more confrontational toward the current administration than in his earlier, more centrist years. Whether that shift reflects the district or the moment is for voters to decide.

## Eric Jones

Eric Jones, a businessman and nonprofit executive, is making his first run for elected office. By his campaign's account, he grew up in poverty in rural Maine, the son of a nurse and a disabled veteran, and became the first in his family to graduate college (campaign site). He went on to work as a Bay Area venture capitalist and, by his account, helped build companies that expanded access to care, including women's health and virtual mental health services (campaign site). He later founded the American Dream Institute, which he describes as focused on civic engagement and "expanding underrepresented voices" (campaign site). He and his wife Rachel, an architect, bought a home in Napa in 2021 and are raising two children, including a son treated for a congenital heart defect (Press Democrat).

Jones says he is running because, in his words, "I'm running because I am so fed up with our government robbing us, you, your children, my children, of the future we deserve" (campaign site). During the campaign, ads from Thompson's campaign said Jones had invested in gambling ventures and in companies under investigation for targeting seniors. Jones says those were decisions made by his former employer, not by him (Press Democrat). A super PAC also spent to support his campaign this cycle. Jones says he was not initially aware of the group's involvement, a disclosure that sits alongside his own pledge to reject corporate PAC money (Press Democrat).

Jones's platform centers on three planks: fighting corruption, lowering the cost of living, and protecting the future. He wants to ban corporate PACs, set congressional term limits, end stock trading by members of Congress, and end gerrymandering (campaign site). He wants to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing while lowering prescription drug costs (campaign site). He also wants to invest in water infrastructure and family farms while expanding homeownership, support comprehensive immigration reform, and he opposed U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict, saying Congress should have voted on a war powers measure first (campaign site; CapRadio).

**Strengths:** Ran an unusually large grassroots campaign, with dozens of town halls and about 200,000 doors knocked by his account, and pledges to reject corporate PAC money.

**Trade-offs:** No record in any office. Ad attacks on his investment history, which he attributes to his former employer, are the only conduct record beyond his own materials.

**Keep in mind:** He says the gambling and senior-targeting investment claims trace to decisions by his former employer, not to him, and that he didn't know of a pro-Jones PAC until after it began spending.

## Record in office

Eric Jones has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices.

Mike Thompson (Democratic) has served in the U.S. House since 1999 and has sponsored 27 bills in the 119th Congress; 13 of their career bills have become law.

Per Congress.gov and the public-domain congress-legislators roster, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Record details

Thompson — Committees: Ways and Means

Thompson — HR 735 (2022): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 502 East Cotati Avenue in Cotati, California, as the "Arturo L. Ibleto Post Office Building".

Thompson — HR 3589 (2020): Greg LeMond Congressional Gold Medal Act

Thompson — HR 2254 (2018): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2635 Napa Street in Vallejo, California, as the "Janet Capello Post Office Building".

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Eric Jones** — $8,378,929 raised (Individuals: $3,007,229; Self-funding: $5,364,133)
- **Mike Thompson** — $4,204,013 raised (Individuals: $2,282,283; PACs & committees: $1,847,811; Party: $1,835)

Total raised is all receipts for the 2026 cycle; the breakdown lists direct contributions, so the pieces can sum below the total. Figures are FEC filings through June 30, 2026, per the FEC bulk campaign-finance summaries, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Review notes

- Eric Jones for Congress and Mike Thompson for Congress | Home may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote)
2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org)
3. [Home | Representative Mike Thompson](https://mikethompson.house.gov/)
4. [Mike Thompson for Congress | Home](https://www.mikethompsonforcongress.com/)
5. [Eric Jones for Congress](https://www.ericjones.us/)
6. [A day on the campaign trail with Eric Jones, the Democrat hoping to unseat Northern California's Mike Thompson in Congress](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/05/21/eric-jones-mike-thompson-district-4-congress/)
7. [Rep. Mike Thompson is making his case for a 15th term in Congress. Here's what that looks like in California's 4th District](https://www.sonomanews.com/2026/05/20/mike-thompson-congress-election-2026/)
8. [What to know about Congressional District 4 race](https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/06/01/what-to-know-about-congressional-district-4-race/)
9. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json)
10. [Congress.gov — member sponsored legislation (Library of Congress)](https://api.congress.gov/)
11. [FEC — 2026 House & Senate current-campaign financial summaries (bulk data)](https://www.fec.gov/files/bulk-downloads/2026/webl26.zip)

## The rest of the ballot

United States Representative, District 4 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "United States Representative, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-4 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026).

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