James Thompson, a civil rights attorney in Wichita and Democratic candidate for the Kansas Fourth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Wichita State this week.

The meet-and-greet took place in Hubbard Hall and was coordinated by the WSU College Democrats.

“Our big thing this fall is getting some democrats elected,” College Democrats President Gabriella Garrett said.

“Bringing awareness, making sure students know how to register to vote, that their vote is important and the resources that they have to vote. We want students to be engaged in the political sphere.”

Thompson spoke at length on issues including healthcare, climate change, renewable energy, privatization of prisons, immigration, the minimum wage, tariffs, gun law reform, abortion, and the legalization of marijuana.

When Thompson was asked about the mechanisms involved with getting money out of politics he said, “Right now we’ve got Citizens United and we have a Supreme Court that is highly unlikely to overturn that.”

Thompson said the thing he wants most is a constitutional amendment. He said he wants “to just end forever and ever this discussion on whether or not a corporation has the same rights as a human being,” he said. “So getting a constitutional amendment passed is the most important. That’s going to take some time.”

Thompson went on to say that he does not take PAC money unless it’s from unions because “they are working people.”

Thompson credits Sanders with converting him from a registered Republican. “In 2016 I got really excited about this white-haired, seasoned guy from Vermont who was running around talking about things like, ‘Hey maybe we can afford to have healthcare for everybody,’” Thompson said.

“I was a registered Republican,” he said. “But if you’re a practicing attorney here, every judge in our county is a Republican and if you want a vote on who you’re going to be appearing in front of, until recently you had to be a Republican because it never made it to the general election. Everything got decided in the primary. So I was a registered Republican but I switched so I could caucus for Bernie. He really inspired me about returning power to the working people and protecting the people that were out there.”

The last topic Thompson addressed was Roe v. Wade. He said overturning Roe v. Wade is “a horrible idea.”

“If we really want to reduce the number of abortions then we need to continue doing what we’re doing. And that’s through education. That’s through empowering women to make the decision that’s best for them,” Thompson said.

“Let’s make sure that women have the economic ability to take care of a child, that they’re being paid equally. Let’s talk about addressing the issue of violence against women and making sure that our laws have teeth in them and putting away predators that are preying on women. Let’s talk about making sure that we have healthcare for the children when they are born and the ability to get childcare and pre-k education . . . So that when a woman is forced to make that decision she’s making it with the best resources available to her.

“I don’t think government should be telling anyone what they can or can’t do with their body. That decision should be with a woman and whoever she chooses to let in on that decision,” Thompson said.

Thompson made national headlines when he appeared in Wichita with former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and young rising Democratic star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in July.

Thompson did not turn down any questions from those gathered, and at the end of each response he would ask whomever had asked him if he had answered their question.

Thompson did not shy away from discussions of his own personal history. Homeless at age 16, he talked about “fishing out of the canal for dinner” in Oklahoma. He was emancipated at age 17 and after a brief stint at the University of Central Oklahoma, he joined the Army where he worked as part of the Presidential Honor Guard in Washington, D.C.

After leaving the Army, he used the G.I. bill to complete a bachelor’s degree in political science at WSU. He then attended law school at Washburn University.