Robert F. "Bob" Orr (born October 11, 1946) is an American attorney, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

from 1995 to 2004. Orr was a Republican candidate for

governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

in 2008 North Carolina gubernatorial election.

Early life and education

Orr was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

and spent his childhood in

Hendersonville, North Carolina Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leona ...

. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, Orr served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1968 to 1971. Orr returned to Chapel Hill to earn his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Carol ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Orr entered private law practice in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. In 1986, Orr was appointed to the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...

, and in 1994 was elected to the state's highest court. From 1992 to 1993, Orr served on the United States

National Park System The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties ...

Advisory Board. Orr is also an adjunct faculty member at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

, and is a member of the Board of Visitors for NCCU's Law School. On July 31, 2004, Orr retired from the state Supreme Court during the summer to head the newly formed North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law. In December 2006, ''

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'' reported that Orr was exploring a run for

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. He made his candidacy official in late January 2007. He lost to

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...

in the May 2008 primary. Orr then returned to the NC Institute for Constitutional Law. He stepped down from leading the institute in 2011 and joined the Poyner Spruill law firm. Gov. McCrory appointed him to serve as district attorney for the 24th district in 2014, filling a vacancy through the 2014 general election. He later joined the Campbell Shatley law firm. Orr was a delegate to the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Lo ...

. A supporter of

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

, Orr said he would not vote for his party's nominee,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, in the general election, telling a reporter that Trump would be "a danger to the country." Uproar over Orr's comments led him to leave the convention early. Orr officially left the Republican Party in February 2021, changing his registration to unaffiliated.

References

External links

North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Robert F. 1946 births Living people Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court North Carolina Central University faculty North Carolina Court of Appeals judges North Carolina Republicans Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia University of North Carolina School of Law alumni