Bob Thorpe has spent the last 8 years in the Arizona House of Representatives opposing what the majority of his Flagstaff constituents want — good education for their children, affordable and accessible healthcare, and local solutions to local problems. Now that the law prevents him from running for a 5th term, and his party rejected his bid to run for Arizona Senate, he’s seeking to park himself on our County Board of Supervisors. Instead, it’s time to retire Thorpe from the government. We have a wonderful alternative in Judy Begay — a native rancher of the District who has devoted her life to service in education and healthcare.
We Can’t Trust Thorpe to Oversee Our County Health Department
In the face of a pandemic, Thorpe attacked mask-wearing and “liberal mayors” who were attempting to protect their citizens by requiring masks in their cities. He criticized Governor Ducey for allowing local control over mask requirements. Thorpe himself has repeatedly attended rallies and gone door-to-door in District 4 and elsewhere in Northern Arizona without a mask.
When Republican Governor Jan Brewer, at the behest of Arizona hospitals, expanded Medicaid as was Arizona’s option under the Affordable Care Act, Bob Thorpe was among a small group of extremists who sued the state to stop the expansion. Thanks to the Arizona Supreme Court, they lost and several hundred thousand Arizona’s have health insurance — in spite of Bob Thorpe.
We Can’t Trust Thorpe to Oversee Our County Schools
During his 4 terms in the legislature, Thorpe ignored teachers and did nothing to support our public schools. His priority was cutting corporate taxes while using the resulting deficit as an excuse not to fund education. He voted for deep cuts to education while Arizona schools rank at the bottom of all states in education funding. While in the legislature, his most noteworthy action on education are his failed attempts to limit ethnic-studies in public schools and to unconstitutionally limit student voting. Contrast his opponent’s years of school board service.
Thorpe’s History of Opposing Local Solutions to Local Problems
When Flagstaff wanted to save over $150,000 in landfill cleanup costs by banning plastic bags are retail outlets and to protect the beauty of our forests by banning the sale of disposable plastic sleds, Thorpe made fun of the community’s effort. In 2016 he voted for “The Great Plastic Bag Rescue,” which prohibited Arizona cities from banning plastic bags. Likewise, Thorpe voted to prohibit cities’ and counties’ regulation of VRBOs (vacation homes by owners), which has led to neighborhood disturbances and unsightliness. With this history, how could we possibly believe that Thorpe sincerely cares for our community? We can’t.
What’s Thorpe’s Motivation for Seeking A County Seat?
One has to wonder about why Thorpe is running for County Supervisor since he so clearly thinks little of the value of local control over government affairs. Could it be that he has no place to go to continue to build his state pension fund and he’s planning to abandon his county seat for another legislative run in 2022?
Term limits were passed by voters as an amendment to the state’s constitution in 1992 and limited legislators to four consecutive 2-year terms at a time in either the House or Senate. Thorpe believes it’s perfectly fine for a termed-out legislator to take a 2-year break to comply with the technical letter of the law and then return. So, we may not even get a full four years from him on the County Board of Supervisors were he to win. Let’s not even let him have two years. Vote for Judy Begay.
More on Thorpe
Letters in Opposition
OVER 100 TEACHERS AND OTHER NOTABLES
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