Michigan Lawmaker’s Campaign Payments to Son Amid Domestic Violence Charges
A Michigan state representative has been using campaign funds to pay her son over $24,000 in consulting fees over the past two years, even as he faces domestic violence charges. This revelation comes from an ongoing investigation by the Detroit News into how legislators are spending campaign money.
The expenditures by the campaign committee of state Rep. Jamie Thompson, a Republican from Brownstown Township, were uncovered through this investigation. The report highlights other instances where lawmakers have used campaign funds for personal expenses such as Netflix subscriptions, car repairs, and housing.
According to disclosures filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Thompson’s campaign paid her 24-year-old son, Jackson Thompson, $24,690 between August 2024 and December 2025 for canvassing and general consulting. On September 22, 2025, Jackson Thompson was arraigned in Wayne County on charges that included domestic violence, according to court records.
A judge ordered Jackson Thompson to wear a GPS tether and set his bond at $50,000. A week after the arraignment, Rep. Thompson’s campaign paid her son $1,220 on September 29. Records show that the campaign has paid him $5,290 while the charges have been pending.
Jackson Thompson’s trial is set for April 13. He has not been convicted of the charges and did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Rep. Jamie Thompson acknowledged the payments to her son in an interview and admitted that her son has a “legal issue that he has to work through.” She emphasized that politics is his career.
“He’s a hardworker,” the lawmaker said of her son. “He’s been on my campaign since I started.”
When asked about whether her son has been wearing a tether while doing campaign consulting, Rep. Thompson said she didn’t believe it was relevant.
Rep. Thompson represents a portion of Wayne County’s Downriver region, including Brownstown Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, and Woodhaven. She was re-elected in 2024 with 54% of the vote.
Lawmaker Spoke Out Against Dating Violence
Despite the ongoing payments to her son and his charges, Rep. Jamie Thompson was the lead sponsor of a House resolution against teen dating violence on February 18. In a speech on the floor, she emphasized that love should not hurt and control is not love.
“Bringing awareness to the consequences of intimate partner violence and supporting the development of healthy, respectful and nonviolent relationships has the potential to decrease teen dating violence both now and in future generations,” Thompson’s resolution stated.
Michigan currently has no law prohibiting lawmakers from using campaign money collected from donors interested in their policy decisions to pay family members for services. However, such transactions have been relatively rare in Lansing in recent years.
At the federal level, members of Congress can only pay their family members’ salaries for campaign work if the payments reflect the fair market value for true services that were provided, according to the Federal Election Commission.
When asked if she would be fine with every lawmaker in Michigan paying campaign cash to relatives, Rep. Jamie Thompson said she would “absolutely” be fine with others doing it.
Bob LaBrant, a longtime campaign finance lawyer in Michigan, laughed when asked a similar question.
“At that point, there isn’t going to be a whole lot of money to run your campaign, if you’re paying your relatives,” LaBrant said.
Ex-Girlfriend’s Allegations
Tracy Wimmer, a spokeswoman for the Michigan House Democrats, called it “absolutely shocking” that Rep. Thompson’s campaign was paying her son while he was out of jail on bond, tethered, and awaiting trial for domestic violence.
“I think if you were to ask the average person in her district, ‘Do you think it’s right for elected officials to funnel campaign money to violent criminals just because it’s their kid,’ I’m pretty sure the answer you’d get would be a resounding ‘hell no,’” Wimmer said.
Jackson Thompson is facing one charge of interfering with electronic communications, a felony that carries a penalty of up to two years behind bars, and one charge of domestic violence, a misdemeanor, according to court records.
The allegations center on claims from a former girlfriend who said he had taken her phone from her, threatened her, smacked her multiple times, and pulled her hair, leaving what she described as a “knot” on her head, over a weekend in September 2025.
“He smacked me across my face in the car,” the woman said during Jackson Thompson’s preliminary examination.
During the October 21 preliminary exam hearing, a judge dismissed a third more serious charge of unlawful imprisonment against Jackson Thompson.
The Rep. Thompson campaign’s payments to her son represented about 15% of its expenditures from August 2024 through December 2025.
Among the campaign’s top donations over that time were a $10,900 contribution from the Michigan Oil and Gas Association’s committee, $2,500 from the Small Business Association of Michigan’s committee, and $4,000 from the Monroe County Republican Party, records show.
When asked Wednesday for comment on Thompson’s payments to her son, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said he was not aware of the issue.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of that,” the Kalamazoo County Republican said. “I don’t have any comment on it right now.”
