ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson has died, eight months after he announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said Thompson, a statewide elected Republican, died Sunday. He was 59.
Georgia’s Department of Labor administers unemployment insurance and helps place job seekers.
Thompson was elected as labor commissioner in 2022 and took office in 2023. He assumed control of a state agency that had been battered during the pandemic by a huge wave of unemployment claims, raising questions about the management of the department under his predecessor, Republican Mark Butler.
In August 2023, Thompson announced his office had found more than $105 million in money that should have been handed over to the state treasury but which Thompson had alleged was squirreled away.
Thompson had continued his duties after his cancer diagnosis and even filled in as a speaker at the Georgia Republican Convention in June in Columbus after another guest cancelled.
When Thompson announced his cancer diagnosis, he said the disease had spread to his liver, but promised he wasn't giving up.
“I can assure you I will continue to be who I have always been — a fighter,” Thompson said at the time. “From the start, my life has been full of what seem like insurmountable challenges, but I’ve never given up and this farm boy from Montana doesn’t intend to start now.”
Thompson was first elected to the state Senate in December 2013 and was reelected four times. He easily won a Republican primary for labor commissioner in 2022 before defeating Democrat William Boddie and libertarian Emily Anderson in the general election.
Thompson was an Army veteran who founded a pair of automatic swimming pool cover businesses, an insurance agency, an insurance software company and a commercial development company. His record in the General Assembly was marked by opposition to abortion and advocacy for adoption.
Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint a successor, who would serve the remainder of Thompson's four-year term until early 2027.
“A successful businessman and respected leader of his community, Bruce was a passionate voice for what he believed in throughout his years of service to the people of Georgia,” Kemp said in a statement. “We are thankful to that commitment to our state, and, like so many others, have been inspired the strength and courage he showed over the past year in his fight against cancer.”
Jones, like others, noted Thompson's Christian faith, adding that Jones, as commissioner “made significant changes to improve workforce outcomes for citizens across the state.”
Thompson is survived by his Becky, daughter, Faith, and son, Max.