28 Facts About Bob Stump

Robert Lee Stump was an American politician who served as a US Congressman from Arizona.

Bob Stump served as a member from the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1983 and then later a member of the Republican Party until the end of his tenure as congressman.

Bob Stump was born in Phoenix, and was a US Navy World War II combat veteran, where he served on the USS Tulagi from 1943 to 1946.

Bob Stump graduated from Tolleson Union High School in 1947, and Arizona State University in 1951 where he was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity.

Bob Stump owned a cotton and grain farm in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson for many years.

Bob Stump served four terms in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1959 to 1967, and five terms in the Arizona State Senate, from 1967 to 1976.

Bob Stump served as President of the Arizona State Senate from 1975 to 1976.

Bob Stump was first elected to the 95th Congress on November 2,1976, originally as a Democrat from the 3rd Congressional District, a vast district stretching from western Phoenix through Prescott to Lake Havasu City and the Grand Canyon.

Bob Stump defeated state senate minority leader Fred Koory with 47 percent of the vote.

Bob Stump considered himself a "Pinto Democrat," the popular name for conservative Democrats from rural Arizona, and his voting record was strongly conservative.

Bob Stump's profile was similar to those of conservative Democrats from the South.

Bob Stump voted for Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in 1981.

Bob Stump only faced an independent in 1978, and was completely unopposed in 1986.

Bob Stump briefly considered running for the Senate in 1986 after Barry Goldwater decided to retire.

Bob Stump had only a skeleton staff; he was known to answer the phone himself at his Washington, DC office, and to open his own mail.

Bob Stump usually returned home to work his farm in Tolleson on weekends.

On October 8,1998, Bob Stump voted in favor of legislation that was passed to open an impeachment inquiry.

On December 19,1998, Bob Stump voted in favor of all four proposed articles of impeachment against Clinton.

Bob Stump is one of the few members of the House to chair both committees.

Bob Stump consistently supported increased spending on the military and veterans.

Bob Stump sponsored bills to make English the official language for government business and to alter laws so that children born on US soil to non-citizen parents would not automatically be citizens.

Bob Stump was often accused of addressing himself mainly to the West Valley and ignoring the other portions of his sprawling district, even though the district's center of gravity had moved to the West Valley as early as the 1970s.

Bob Stump maintained his district office in downtown Phoenix, outside his own district, for many years.

Bob Stump would have been well within his rights to claim his Phoenix home as his official residence, as members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent.

Bob Stump decided not to run for re-election in 2002 due to declining health.

Bob Stump endorsed his longtime chief of staff, Lisa Jackson Atkins, as his successor in what was then numbered as the 2nd District.

Bob Stump is no relation to the member of the Arizona Corporation Commission of the same name.

In 2018, Bob Stump's widow issued a letter, criticizing an Arizona state government politician of the same name for allegedly capitalizing on her late husband's name.