Ralph Gordon Thompson

Ralph Gordon Thompson (born December 15, 1934) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Education and career Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Thompson received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1956 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1961. He was a United States Air Force lieutenant from 1957 to 1960. He was a United States Air Force Reserve colonel from 1961 to 1987. He was in private practice in Oklahoma City from 1961 to 1975. He was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1966 to 1970. He was assistant minority (Republican) leader from 1966 to 1970 and unsuccessfully ran for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1970, losing to incumbent George Nigh. While a Republican had been elected governor in 1962, the first election of a Republican lieutenant governor did not occur until 1994. Federal judicial service