Mac Thornberry (born July 15, 1958), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 13th District of Texas (map). He currently serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. Born in Clarendon, some 60 miles (97 km) east of Amarillo, Thornberry received his B.A. in history from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Texas Law School.
Thornberry upset Democratic Congressman Bill Sarpalius in the 1994 general election, a heavily Republican year nationwide. He polled 79,416 votes (55.41 percent) to Sarpalius' 63,923 ballots (44.18 percent). Two years earlier in a much higher turnout election, Sarpalius had polled nearly double the votes that he received in 1994.
Since his initial election, Thornberry has consolidated his hold on the district and routinely wins by large majorities in an area that was historically Democratic as recently as the 1970s.
Thornberry is only the third Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction. His predecessors were Robert Dale "Bob" Price (1927-2004) of Pampa, who represented the district from 1967-1975, and Eldon Beau Boulter, of Amarillo who held the seat from 1985-1989.
