Samuel D. Thompson (born July 31, 1935) is an American politician and scientist who served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

from 2012 to 2024, representing the 12th Legislative district. Before redistricting in 2011, he served in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

from 1998 to 2012, representing the 13th district. Thompson was first elected as a Republican, but facing a difficult primary over his age, he switched parties in February 2023 and said he would seek re-election as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. He however reversed his decision and announced on February 27, that he would not run for re-election. His party switch increased the Democratic State Senate majority to 25-15.

Early life

Thompson was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

and attended public schools in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. He reached the rank of Specialist Third Class while serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

from 1955 through 1957. He received a B.S. in 1960 from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

in chemistry and mathematics and was awarded a PhD in 1965 from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in physical chemistry. He worked as a research chemist at

duPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

and J.P. Stevens and Company and was employed by the

New Jersey Department of Health The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey's State Board of Health was established in 1877. Its administrative functions were vested in the Department of Health, which was crea ...

from 1972 to 1994 as a chemist and director of clinical laboratory improvement service. He served on the United States Armed Forces Epidemiological Board from 1983 to 1990. He was appointed by then

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

to serve on the Governor's Education Task Force in 1994 as Co-Chair. He served on the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

Authority from 1994 to 1997 as director of communications and formerly as director of planning, analysis, and government relations. Thompson has served on the New Jersey Advisory Council on Elder Care since 1998, the Continuing Care Advisory Council from 1998 to 2002, and the New Jersey State Council for Adult Literacy Services from 2000 to 2002. He is married to the former Jacqueline P. Haycock, and they live in

Old Bridge Township, New Jersey Old Bridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of th ...

Early political career

Thompson was chair of the Middlesex County Republican Organization from 1987 until 1994 and was a delegate to every

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

from

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

through

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

.Senator Samuel D. Thompson (R)

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

. Accessed January 27, 2022

New Jersey Assembly

Thompson was first elected to the General Assembly in 1997 in the northern

Monmouth County Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by ...

and northeastern Middlesex County-based 13th district. He served as the Assistant Republican Assembly Leader from 2004 to 2005. He served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee and the Human Services Committee.Senator Thompson's legislative web page

. Accessed January 27, 2022.

New Jersey Senate

Elections

2011 election

Following the reapportionment of the legislative districts for the 2010 Census, Thompson's hometown of Old Bridge was moved to the new 12th district, which was spread across the counties of Burlington,

Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

, Monmouth, and Middlesex. The four Republican county committees endorsed Thompson to be the Senator from the new district and was elected in the 2011 general election defeating Democrat Robert "Bob" Brown.

2017 election

Thompson defeated challenger Art Haney in the June 3, 2021 primary and Democrat David Lande in the general election.

Tenure

He sat on three Senate committees (Budget and Appropriations, Environment and Energy, and State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation) and two joint committees (Housing Affordability and Public Schools). In May 2017, Thompson introduced a bill to designate ''

Streptomyces griseus ''Streptomyces griseus'' is a species of bacteria in the genus '' Streptomyces'' commonly found in soil. A few strains have been also reported from deep-sea sediments. It is a Gram-positive bacterium with high GC content. Along with most other ...

'' as New Jersey's State Microbe, to be added to the state's other state symbols. ''S. griseus'' was chosen for this honor because it is a New Jersey native that made unique contributions to healthcare and scientific research worldwide. A strain of ''S. griseus'' that produced the antibiotic

streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, Burkholderia infection, ''Burkholderia'' i ...

was discovered in New Jersey in 1916 and developed into an antibiotic by a

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

team by Albert Schatz and

Selman Waksman Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Russian-born American inventor, biochemist and microbiologist, whose research into the decomposition of organisms that live in soil enabled the discovery of streptomycin and severa ...

in 1943. A companion bill was introduced in the Assembly in June 2017 by Annette Quijano. During the 2019 budget fight, Democrats passed a budget without Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

's millionaires tax. Thompson was one of six Republicans to vote for the budget.

Committees

*Joint Committee on Housing Affordability *Joint Committee on the Public Schools *Budget and Appropriations *Education *State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation

District 12

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

and two members in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. The representatives from the 12th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session were:Legislative Roster for District 12

. Accessed January 11, 2022. * Senator Samuel D. Thompson (D) * Assemblyman Robert D. Clifton (R) * Assemblyman Alex Sauickie (R)

Electoral history

Senate

Assembly

References

External links

Senator Sam Thompson's Official SiteSenator Thompson's legislative web page

**''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms'' �
2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004Assembly Member Samuel D. 'Sam' Thompson

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Samuel D. 1935 births 20th-century American chemists Chemists from New Jersey Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Living people Louisiana State University alumni People from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey Politicians from Middlesex County, New Jersey Politicians from Mobile, Alabama Republican Party New Jersey state senators Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly United States Army soldiers University of Arkansas alumni 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature