Throwback Thursday — Celebrating 150 Years of the Messenger-Inquirer: Thompson spent 14 years as legislator while balancing family business
Tommy Thompson spent 14 years trying to balance his family's homebuilding business while serving as the state representative for the 14th House District.
Thompson, an Owensboro Democrat, was first elected to the seat in 2002. It was the moment that his family's business — Thompson Homes — had been preparing him for.
Thompson, 76, said his father, William 'Bill' Thompson, got involved in former governor and U.S. Sen. Wendell Ford's election campaigns.
'I kind of got a little bit of interest and inertia from that,' Thompson said.
So much so that Thompson first ran for public office against Louis Johnson in 1977 for state representative of the 13th District — a race that Thompson would lose.
'I was young and probably a little naive,' Thompson said. '…Louis was a great guy and well seated here in the community. I lost that race but I learned a lot.'
But it would be Thompson's involvement with the National Association of Home Builders that would provide him with valuable future political insight.
By being in the homebuilding trade, Thompson said understanding the role local, state and federal governments played was essential.
'It really was involved in politics because housing, other than probably narcotics, is the most heavily regulated industry in the country,' he said. 'At all levels, there are regulations to deal with and policies that impact the ability to produce housing.'
Thompson was part of the National Association of Home Builders board for five years, becoming its president in 1994.
Thompson described it as 'a great time' as it allowed him to engage with national leaders such as the Federal Reserve chairman, members of Congress and U.S. presidents.
'I got to testify before Congress a number of times on housing issues,' Thompson said. '…There were five years there that I was in Washington a lot, traveled around the country and really around the world — I got to go to a number of foreign countries representing housing.'
That experience with the National Association of Home Builders further ignited his fervor to run again for state office.
'I said to myself, 'Well, if you really want to affect change, you probably need to be on the inside of the arena instead of the outside,' Thompson said.
In 2002, Thompson defeated Republican Ray Askins for the 14th District House seat, representing Ohio County and 17 precincts in eastern Daviess County.
Although it was the long-awaited political victory for Thompson, he then had the challenge of balancing his business with having the responsibility of being a public servant.
'…Something has to … suffer and so my business did because I couldn't be here day-to-day like I wanted to be,' said Thompson, who was the company's president then. 'Your family suffers because you're not there to attend ballgames, help be a dad, help Mom do the honey-do things.'
Thompson would serve the 14th House District seven terms before being defeated in 2016 by Matt Castlen.
According to Thompson, he could tell the political climate was changing both at state and national levels as Donald Trump entered the political fray.
'I really enjoyed most of my tenure in the legislature but in the last (few) years it became very partisan,' he said. '…People started being intractable around a particular policy or a particular party issue, so there was less opportunity to compromise, which was disappointing.'
Now nearly 10 years later, Thompson said he's content on watching the legislature from the sidelines.
'I missed it initially just because it was such a big part of my life for a long time,' Thompson said. 'But I haven't missed the partisanship and it's become more so that way as I talk to some of my colleagues who are still up there.'
After losing the race, Thompson returned his full focus back to the company that his father started 77 years ago.
His son, Nick Thompson, now runs the day-to-day operations as president and Thompson has become the CEO.
'(Nick's) been a real help, coming in here and lending his talents, commitment to the company and giving me a little flexibility,' said Thompson, who still goes into their Frederica Street office every day. '…I don't plan on retiring anytime soon.'
Locally, the newest Thompson Home neighborhoods include Fiddlesticks off J.R. Miller Boulevard, Keeneland Trace off Carter Road and Saddle Pointe off Thurston Dermont Road.
Thompson said the company has also expanded into southern Indiana, building homes in Newburgh and Evansville.
'…My dad started our company back in 1948 and then I came in here,' Thompson said. '…And now that my son has come in, he's the third generation, so it's important to continue that legacy and hopefully continue that foundation that we started. …I hopefully took it to a little different level and my son will hopefully take it to the next level.'
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