Robert Kenneth Dornan (born April 3, 1933) is an American actor, radio talk show host, combat veteran, and Republican politician from California.

A former actor and television and radio talk show host, Dornan had a flair for the dramatic that drew supporters and detractors well beyond his congressional district.

[7][8] Robert Dornan took advantage of his family's entertainment industry experience and connections after he embarked on his own acting and talk show career.

He starred in the film The Starfighters, cast as Lt. Witkowski, an Air Force pilot who was the son of a U.S. congressman.

[13][14][15] Dornan moved into politics in 1973 as national spokesman for the Citizens for Decency Through Law advocacy group.

[16] In November 1977, he was an opposition speaker at the 1977 National Women's Conference with Lottie Beth Hobbs, Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Phyllis Schlafly and Nellie Gray.

Believing he had no chance of winning this new district, he opted to run for the United States Senate in 1982.

In 1986, he won a tough race against Democratic state Assemblyman Richard Robinson, winning by a 55% to 43% margin.

[citation needed] Dornan made headlines in March 1985 for a confrontation with Representative Thomas Downey (a Democrat from New York) on the House floor.

However, he did hold some positions that some might call liberal, including sponsoring animal protection acts, earning him the recognition of PETA in 1988.

The success of this action was believed to have kept enough Latino voters away from the polls to eke out a victory for Dornan against Mike Farber.

[26] Dornan later dropped out of the presidential race and ran for reelection to his seat in the House; he was defeated by Democrat Loretta Sanchez by less than 1,000 votes.

[27] Following the narrow defeat, Dornan alleged that Sanchez's winning margin was provided by illegal voting from non-U.S. citizens.

[28] A task force found 748 votes that had been cast illegally—624 from non-citizens in addition to 124 that had already been thrown out by California officials.

This encounter led to Menendez filing a resolution to bar Dornan from the House floor until the election was resolved, which passed by a vote of 289–65.

Among his remarks: In 1994, a 120-page book of quotations of Dornan was compiled by Nathan Callahan and William Payton and published as Shut Up, Fag!

The quotation that gives the book the title was actually shouted by Dornan's wife, Sallie, at an AIDS activist during an Orange County town forum.

Mike Kaspar of the Orange County Democratic Party said, "The primary issue is Bob Dornan, himself.