Antoine Thompson - Councilman - Higher Office

Higher Office

In 2005, Thompson began testing the waters for higher office. He raised campaign funds and consulted party leaders about the possibility of challenging United States House of Representatives then 76-year-old congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter who was already a 10-term veteran. Slaughter's New York's 28th congressional district was 29 percent African American, and minorities comprised nearly 40 percent of the Democratic primary vote. Charles B. Rangel warned that Slaughter had strong ties to the Congressional Black Caucus as well as strong support from labor, women's and pro-choice groups.

Thompson was encouraged to pursue Brown's New York State Senate seat that was to be filled by special election on February 28, 2006 after Brown ascended to be the Mayor of Buffalo on January 1, 2006 following the 2005 election. The district has a 4–1 ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans. In 2006, the Erie County Democratic Party chairman was Leonard Lenihan, and he noted that Thompson had not been timely in entering the special election process. The Erie and Niagara County Democratic committees bypassed Thompson as their nominee in favor of Marc Coppola despite Brown's backing.

Thompson had issued a threat that without backing for the State Senate seat, he would challenge Slaughter in the September primary election, but Lenihan was unimpressed with the threat and noted that Thompson needed to take a "Dale Carnegie course in terms of how to win friends and influence people".

Brown and Lenihan were at odds over various political positions after Lenihan played a major role in Brown's election to the office of Mayor. Brown supported Andrew Cuomo for New York Attorney General, David Paterson for Lieutenant Governor of New York and Thompson for 60th District New York Senator. Lenihan disagreed with each of these choices. Brown claimed a perceived racial slight but Lenihan pointed out that neither Anthony Masiello nor James D. Griffin was granted the right to pick their successor.

Thompson subsequently decided to run for the New York Senate seat in the November general election. Marc Coppola won the special election by a 56–44% margin in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 6:1. Thompson opposed incumbent Senator Marc Coppola as well as his cousin Former State Sen. Al Coppola in the September 2006 Democratic Primary for a full two-year term in the Senate. Thompson defeated both with 53% of the vote. He then defeated Marc Coppola again in the General election where Coppola ran as an Independent.