Bob Beauprez
Encyclopedia
Robert L. "Bob" Beauprez (born September 22, 1948) is an American
politician who was a Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
, representing the 7th Congressional District
of Colorado
.
Beauprez was the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado in 2006, and was endorsed by outgoing governor Bill Owens. He faced Bill Ritter in the November 7 election, conceding defeat at 10:15 PM that night. By November 10, results showed Ritter with 779,000 votes and Beauprez with 566,000, with less than 100,000 absentee and provisional ballots left to count.
Beauprez is married with four children.
, which had been purchased by his grandparents. His grandparents had emigrated from Belgium
to Colorado and raised draft horses on the family's land. Joseph C. Beauprez and Marie Stengel, his parents, raised both Hereford and dairy cattle on the farm. Beauprez often cites his father's example as a major influence on his life.
Beauprez attended Fairview High School where he played football and was named all-conference offensive tackle. He went on to study physical education at the University of Colorado, and received his B.S.
in 1970.
In 1999, with the backing of Senator Wayne Allard, Beauprez became chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. His tenure as state party chairman was marked by an aggressive attempts to use redistricting to get more Republican candidates elected in Colorado. The Republican Party lost control of the Colorado State Senate for the first time in four decades while Beauprez was chairman.
in the U.S. House of Representatives, regarded as a "swing" district. In beating Democrat Mike Feeley by only 121 votes he won the closest race in the nation. As a freshman, Beauprez served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Small Business Committee. He was re-elected in 2004 and subsequently obtained a position on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Beauprez several months before the primary. After Beauprez was defeated by Ritter, there was speculation that he might consider running for the retiring Wayne Allard's Senate seat in 2008.
On February 2, 2006, veterans called on Beauprez to apologize for appearing at a photo-op in a military-issued uniform, even though he had never served in the military. He had requested and received three draft
deferments and then a medical release during the Vietnam War
. http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2006_01_29_patriotboy_archive.html#113894918619211141
In May 2006, ProgressNow, a liberal
advocacy group, produced an Internet-based ad that again focused on Beauprez's draft status during Vietnam. The Beauprez campaign dismissed the ad as done by a "well-financed attack machine."
ed case against illegal immigrant
and alleged heroin dealer Carlos Estrada Medina. Under the plea bargain, the dealer was given probation. Later, he was arrested in California, under an alias, on suspicion of sexual abuse on a child. But the fact that that information couldn't be verified in public court records prompted inquiries to Beauprez's campaign as to where it got its facts. Beauprez's campaign manager, John Marshall told a local news station, "In federal criminal databases, the guy's information matches up." That comment set off alarms in Ritter's campaign because federal criminal databases are off-limits to anyone but law enforcement and can be used only for law enforcement purposes. Because the subsequent arrest was under an alias, Ritter's supporters argued that the information could only have been obtained by accessing the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
database, which access is restricted by federal law. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation, and found enough evidence to then ask FBI to join its probe. Beauprez denied anything improper had occurred, and that he had never heard of the NCIC database. The Denver Post noted that, as a Congressman, Beauprez had cosponsored a bill relating to the database. When charges were brought against the ICE agent who provided the information to John Marshall, he was found unanimously not guilty by a jury.
Senior Special Agent
Cory Voorhis was prosecuted for retrieving Medina's rap sheet from the NCIC database and sharing it with Beauprez' staff. Beauprez defended the action as "whistleblowing," citing a pattern of lenient plea bargains during Ritter's term as district attorney. Many questioned why a Denver District Attorney employee, who accessed the same information and shared it with the Ritter campaign, was not also prosecuted. Voorhis was found not guilty on April 9, 2008. One of the jurors in the case said the jury didn't think Voorhis had "done anything intentionally wrong" and there were "some feelings" that Voorhis had been unfairly "singled out" for prosecution.
During the investigation, Beauprez received criticism for appearing to be unsupportive of Voorhis. But following Voorhis' acquittal, it became public that Beauprez did offer assistance to Voorhis, which was turned down by Voorhis' attorneys in order to avoid the appearance of a partisan political relationship. In an open letter to Beauprez, Voorhis wrote "You are indeed an honorable gentleman, and a great American." http://www.alineofsight.com/a-letter-from-cory-voorhis At least one media figure, Peter Boyles
, has apologized to Beauprez and retracted his criticism.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician who was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, representing the 7th Congressional District
Colorado's 7th congressional district
Colorado's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the central part of the state, the district encompasses much of the northern parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including the suburbs of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora as well as the...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Beauprez was the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado in 2006, and was endorsed by outgoing governor Bill Owens. He faced Bill Ritter in the November 7 election, conceding defeat at 10:15 PM that night. By November 10, results showed Ritter with 779,000 votes and Beauprez with 566,000, with less than 100,000 absentee and provisional ballots left to count.
Beauprez is married with four children.
Early life
Beauprez grew up on his family's dairy farm outside of Boulder, ColoradoBoulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, which had been purchased by his grandparents. His grandparents had emigrated from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to Colorado and raised draft horses on the family's land. Joseph C. Beauprez and Marie Stengel, his parents, raised both Hereford and dairy cattle on the farm. Beauprez often cites his father's example as a major influence on his life.
Beauprez attended Fairview High School where he played football and was named all-conference offensive tackle. He went on to study physical education at the University of Colorado, and received his B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in 1970.
Farmer
Following graduation he married Claudia Paul, and together they returned to his family's farm to continue in the dairy business with his brother Mike Beauprez. During his time on the farm Beauprez bred Holstein cattle and served on the board of directors of the Holstein Association of America. Beauprez later sold the farm to build Indian Peaks golf course.Banker
Following his years as a land developer Beauprez and his wife bought an interest in a small local bank known as Bank VII. It was renamed Heritage, and its assets went from $4 million in 1990 to around $450 million by 2006. In addition the bank grew from one location to more than a dozen. Beauprez has said that his decision to go into banking was partially influenced by the hope that he could help small businesses, as it was a bank loan in a drought during the 1950s that saved his family's farm. Due to the money from both land development and a controlling stake in Heritage bank, it is estimated that Beauprez is worth over $6 million.Republican Party Chairmanship
While Beauprez had been involved in the Republican Party for some time, his first leadership role came in 1997 as the chairman of the Boulder County Republican Party.In 1999, with the backing of Senator Wayne Allard, Beauprez became chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. His tenure as state party chairman was marked by an aggressive attempts to use redistricting to get more Republican candidates elected in Colorado. The Republican Party lost control of the Colorado State Senate for the first time in four decades while Beauprez was chairman.
Congress
In 2002 Beauprez ran to represent Colorado's 7th congressional districtColorado's 7th congressional district
Colorado's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the central part of the state, the district encompasses much of the northern parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including the suburbs of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora as well as the...
in the U.S. House of Representatives, regarded as a "swing" district. In beating Democrat Mike Feeley by only 121 votes he won the closest race in the nation. As a freshman, Beauprez served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Small Business Committee. He was re-elected in 2004 and subsequently obtained a position on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
2006 Colorado gubernatorial race
Beauprez won the Republican Party nomination for governor in August 2006, running to succeed two-term governor Bill Owens, who was ineligible for a third consecutive term. Beauprez ended up winning the nomination uncontested; he was briefly opposed by Marc HoltzmanMarc Holtzman
Marc Holtzman is Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital. Mr. Holtzman was the first Secretary of Technology for the state of Colorado and served as President of the University of Denver. He currently resides in Aspen, Colorado.-Business:...
, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Beauprez several months before the primary. After Beauprez was defeated by Ritter, there was speculation that he might consider running for the retiring Wayne Allard's Senate seat in 2008.
Military service
On February 2, 2006, veterans called on Beauprez to apologize for appearing at a photo-op in a military-issued uniform, even though he had never served in the military. He had requested and received three draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
deferments and then a medical release during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2006_01_29_patriotboy_archive.html#113894918619211141
In May 2006, ProgressNow, a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
advocacy group, produced an Internet-based ad that again focused on Beauprez's draft status during Vietnam. The Beauprez campaign dismissed the ad as done by a "well-financed attack machine."
NCIC database
In October, Beauprez started running ads that attacked Ritter's performance as Denver district attorney, citing a plea-bargainPlea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
ed case against illegal immigrant
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
and alleged heroin dealer Carlos Estrada Medina. Under the plea bargain, the dealer was given probation. Later, he was arrested in California, under an alias, on suspicion of sexual abuse on a child. But the fact that that information couldn't be verified in public court records prompted inquiries to Beauprez's campaign as to where it got its facts. Beauprez's campaign manager, John Marshall told a local news station, "In federal criminal databases, the guy's information matches up." That comment set off alarms in Ritter's campaign because federal criminal databases are off-limits to anyone but law enforcement and can be used only for law enforcement purposes. Because the subsequent arrest was under an alias, Ritter's supporters argued that the information could only have been obtained by accessing the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
National Crime Information Center
The National Crime Information Center is the United States' central database for tracking crime-related information. Since 1967, the NCIC has been maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and is interlinked with similar systems that each...
database, which access is restricted by federal law. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation, and found enough evidence to then ask FBI to join its probe. Beauprez denied anything improper had occurred, and that he had never heard of the NCIC database. The Denver Post noted that, as a Congressman, Beauprez had cosponsored a bill relating to the database. When charges were brought against the ICE agent who provided the information to John Marshall, he was found unanimously not guilty by a jury.
Criticism and praise regarding Cory Voorhis
Bureau of Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
Senior Special Agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
Cory Voorhis was prosecuted for retrieving Medina's rap sheet from the NCIC database and sharing it with Beauprez' staff. Beauprez defended the action as "whistleblowing," citing a pattern of lenient plea bargains during Ritter's term as district attorney. Many questioned why a Denver District Attorney employee, who accessed the same information and shared it with the Ritter campaign, was not also prosecuted. Voorhis was found not guilty on April 9, 2008. One of the jurors in the case said the jury didn't think Voorhis had "done anything intentionally wrong" and there were "some feelings" that Voorhis had been unfairly "singled out" for prosecution.
During the investigation, Beauprez received criticism for appearing to be unsupportive of Voorhis. But following Voorhis' acquittal, it became public that Beauprez did offer assistance to Voorhis, which was turned down by Voorhis' attorneys in order to avoid the appearance of a partisan political relationship. In an open letter to Beauprez, Voorhis wrote "You are indeed an honorable gentleman, and a great American." http://www.alineofsight.com/a-letter-from-cory-voorhis At least one media figure, Peter Boyles
Peter Boyles
Peter Boyles is a popular and controversial radio host in Denver, Colorado.Boyles can be heard on his morning drive-time talk show on 630 KHOW in Denver and on khow.com. His strong political opinions do not fit the usual radio talk show liberal or conservative stereotypes. For instance, although...
, has apologized to Beauprez and retracted his criticism.