Bob Thorpe

Bob Thorpe is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 6 since January 14, 2013. He is also a part of the Tea Party Movement.

Early life and career Bob Thorpe was born and raised in Burbank, California. Before serving in the Arizona legislature, he had a varied career in residential construction, website design, as a small business owner of a software company, and worked for Price Waterhouse among many other endeavors.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from California State University, Northridge in 1981. 2016 Thorpe and Republican Brenda Barton defeated Democrat Alex Martinez in the general election. 2014 Thorpe won reelection by a 16 percent margin. 2012 Thorpe was one of two candidates winning the August 28, 2012 Republican Primary, with 14,280 votes, and won the first seat in the four-way November 6, 2012 general election with 42,675 votes.

Introduced legislation Thorpe has introduced legislation that challenges federal authority in environmental matters. In 2014, Thorpe introduced and later amended a bill that aimed to end the Endangered Species Act in Arizona and deport certain endangered animals. The proposed bill also stipulated that half of all fines imposed by the federal government must be turned over to Arizona's general fund.

In 2017 Thorpe introduced HB2120 which would ban all activities from college campuses in the state which "are designed primarily for a particular ethnic group" and "promote social justice toward a race." In 2017, the American Conservative Union gave him a lifetime evaluation of 89%.

Statements about Cliven Bundy

In April 2014, Thorpe travelled at his own expense to meet with people gathered at Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada. During the weekend of his visit, Bundy supporters engaged in an armed standoff with law enforcement officers. Upon returning to Arizona, Thorpe reportedly urged Arizona state legislators to support Cliven Bundy.

After Thorpe's visit, Bundy was recorded saying that "the Negro" was better off in slavery. Thorpe wrote that he disagreed with Bundy's "racially insensitive statements", and he also wrote disapprovingly of the cattle round-up that prompted the standoff.

Steve Hansen, a Democratic Arizona House candidate in a different district, criticized Thorpe's understanding of the Bundy conflict. Citing Thorpe's own admission that he is “unfamiliar with the (Bundy) legal case,” Hansen wrote, "One would think that an Arizona lawmaker that is interested enough to travel to Nevada and meet with the people assembled at the Bundy 'event' would be intellectually curious enough to look into the legality of actions on both sides of the dispute."

Later that year, Thorpe tweeted a series of race-related messages that were criticized by Democrats, civil rights activists, and the Republican House Speaker. One of the messages Thorpe posted suggested that Eric Holder, the first black attorney general, was "soft on crime" for race-related reasons. Thorpe apologized, deleted the offending tweets, locked down his Twitter account, and prevented reporters from following it.