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Jill Long Thompson

Last edited by hoosierliberals about 37 weeks ago.
Table of Contents [hide]
    1. Roles
    2. Biography
    3. Voting Record
    4. Controversies
      1. Union Endorsements
      2. Campaign Finance
      3. Negative Campaigning

Jill Long-ThompsonCity: Argos
Occupation: Candidate for Political Office

Roles

  • Jill Long Thompson is the 2008 Democrat nominee for Governor of Indiana.
    1 
  •  CEO and Senior Fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy. 
  • Defeated candidate for U.S. Congress (IN-2) in 2002 (vs. Chris Chocola) 
  • U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture (Clinton Administration) from 1995-2001.
  • Member of Congress (IN-4) from 1989-1995.

Biography

Long Thompson served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th Congressional District from 1989 to 1995. Long Thompson spent more than five years as U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 to 2001.  Long Thompson also served as Vice Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, a Democratic policy organization.

Jill Long Thompson grew up on the family farm outside of Larwill in Whitley County. She lives with her husband Don Thompson, a commercial airline pilot, in Marshall County on a farm near Argos. Most recently, Long Thompson served as CEO and Senior Fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy.

She earned an M.B.A. (1978) and Ph.D (1984) in Business from Indiana University, and a B.S. in Business from Valparaiso University (1974).

After leaving Congress in early 1995 and before becoming Under Secretary of Agriculture, Long Thompson served as a Fellow at the Institute of Politics in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to her election to Congress, Long Thompson was an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Valparaiso University, an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University/Purdue University-Fort Wayne, and a lecturer at Indiana University in Bloomington.

She also served as the Mark E. Johnston Chair of Entrepreneurship at Manchester College and as Adjunct Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University South Bend.2

Voting Record

  • Voted for taxpayer funding for the U.N. Population Control Fund, even in countries like China that practice coercive abortion policies.
  • Voted against legislation requiring that abortion clinics give parents at least 48 hours’ notice before a minor’s abortion.
  • Voted to allow nonphysician abortion counseling at taxpayer funded abortion clinics.
  • Voted for allowing the National Institute of Health to use tissue from intentionally aborted children for research.
  • Voted to make abortions available for the full nine months of pregnancy in U.S. overseas military hospitals.
  • Supports Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalizes abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy.
  • Voted for taxpayer funded abortions. 3

Controversies

Union Endorsements

In June, 2008 the United Auto Workers refused to endorse the gubernatorial campaign of Jill Long Thompson. The UAW met at the Indiana Democratic Convention and voted not to endorse the Democratic nominee. 4

Jill Long Thompson and the unions both admitted this was because of the potential for a disagreement over which organization would get the rights to unionize and bargain on behalf of state employees. 5 6  It is not clear what Thompson promised the unions in order to earn their endorsement.

Campaign Finance

Long-Thompson gets her campaign contributions primarily from two sources: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Emily’s List, the Washington-based group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights.7As of late summer 2008, SEIU had contributed over $900,000 to her campaign, raising questions about here independence from union interests if elected.8 The pro-abortion group Emily's List had contributed over $400,000 to Thompson as of September 2008.  Right to Life groups denounced this resounding endorsement, suggesting that "Indiana has never had a candidate for Governor with such an extreme position on abortion".9

Negative Campaigning

  • Long Thompson has used the "poltical stunt" of filing formal complaints against Governor Mitch Daniels for his use of state-owned vehicles even going to the extreme of asking Daniels to produce flight logs and staff e-mails. Daniels only uses the state plane when there’s state business to conduct. 10 
  • Long Thompson has been frequently criticized for her negative campaigning in all of her attempts to get elected to Congress and for Governor.  These complaints include some from members of her own party.  11 12 13
  1. 1. Hoosiers for Jill
  2. 2. Hoosier's for Jill Website
  3. 3. Indiana Right to Life
  4. 4. Howey Politics
  5. 5. fwdailynews.com
  6. 6. Howey Political Report Interview with Jill Long Thompson
  7. 7. Indianapolis Star (cached version)
  8. 8. Howey
    Political Report
  9. 9. LifeNews.com
  10. 10. Tribune Star
  11. 11. Indianapolis Star
  12. 12. Howey Political Report
  13. 13. Blue Indiana