Todd Ames Hunter

Todd Ames Hunter (born August 26, 1953)[1] is an American politician and lawyer from Corpus Christi, Texas, serving as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 32 in Nueces County. From 1993 to 1997, as a Democrat, Hunter also held the District 32 House seat. He did not seek reelection in 1996. From 1989 to 1993, he was the District 36 Democratic representative. In the 1992 election, he was switched after two terms to District 32 via redistricting.[2][3]

For the New Zealand musician and composer, see Todd Hunter.
Todd Ames Hunter
Member of the
Texas House of Representatives
from the 32nd district
Assumed office
January 13, 2009
Preceded byJuan M. Garcia III
In office
January 12, 1993 – January 14, 1997
Preceded bySteve Holzheauser
Succeeded byGene Seaman
Member of the
Texas House of Representatives
from the 36th district
In office
January 10, 1989 – January 12, 1993
Preceded byTed B. Roberts
Succeeded bySergio Munoz
Personal details
Born (1953-08-26) August 26, 1953
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAlexis Taylor Hunter
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Kansas (BA)
Southern Methodist University (JD)
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Hunter was born in Bartlesville in northeastern Oklahoma to Richard and Patricia London Hunter. In 1975, he graduated from the University of Kansas at Topeka, Kansas, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Speech, and Human Relations. In 1978, he obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University.[3]

Career

In 1978, Hunter moved to Corpus Christi, where he is currently a solo practitioner after leaving civil defense law in 2017 as a partner with Hunter, Barker & Fancher, LLP. He has worked for numerous law firms in Corpus Christi.[4]

He is married to the former Alexis Taylor, the eldest daughter of Marcella and Leroy Taylor. Alexis and Todd reared all three of their children—Todd A. Hunter, Jr. (born 1986), Michael Taylor Hunter (born 1987), and Christina Alyson Hunter (born 1991)--in Corpus Christi.[1]

Hunter is a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi. He is a director and member of the advisory board of the Coastal Bend division of the Boy Scouts of America. He is affiliated with Rotary International and is a board member of Consumer Credit Counseling Service and the Texas Lyceum Association.[1][5][6][7]

Hunter won his seventh nonconsecutive term in the 83rd Texas Legislature in 2012 without primary or general election opposition.[8][9]

Role in post-2020 gerrymander

In 2021, Hunter rushed through a heavily pro-Republican gerrymandered redistricting map that he authored through his committee. He provided a minimum of 24 hours advance notice for testimony and allowed for no amendments.[10] The map vastly expanded the number of safe Republican seats,[11][10] and diluted the power of non-white voters.[12] The map increased the number of seats where white are in the majority and reduced the number of seats where Hispanics or blacks are in the majority, even though non-whites were behind 95% of the population growth in Texas.[13]

2023 Speech

During the 88th Texas Legislature, Hunter was the House sponsor for Senate Bill 7, which would provide incentives to electric utility companies to improve the electrical grid (in the wake of what Hunter called "Snow Cane Uri"). During the layout on second reading, Hunter gave an impassioned speech, calling the bill "the lobby annuity plan" and noting that the bill had the support of both the liberal Sierra Club and the conservative Texas Oil & Gas Association (Hunter mused that, after finding out about that, he had to re-read the bill "to see if I still favored it"). A YouTube video of the speech can be found here:[14]

References
  1. "Todd Hunter's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  2. "Todd Ames Hunter". Texas Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  3. "State Rep. Todd Hunter District 32 (R-Corpus Christi)". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  4. "Hunter, Barker & Fancher, LLP". Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  5. "General election returns, November 4, 2008 (House District 32)". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  6. "Todd Hunter's Voting Records". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  7. "Texas Voter ID Officially Takes Effect, October 21, 2013". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  8. "Texas Tribune Directory". Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  9. M. Fernandez (June 25, 2013). "Filibuster in Texas Senate Tries to Halt Abortion Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  10. "Texas Republicans' congressional map carves up Rep. Jackson Lee's district, siphoning off thousands of Black constituents". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  11. "Texas House approves map that seal GOP majority, critics say it bypasses minority population growth". Dallas News. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  12. Cai, Alexa Ura and Mandi (2021-10-15). "With surgical precision, Republicans draw two congressional districts that dilute power of Hispanic and Asian voters". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  13. Tribune, Cassandra Pollock, The Texas (2021-10-13). "Texas House passes proposed new map for chamber's 150 districts, aiming to protect Republicans' majority for the next decade". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 2021-10-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. "Rep. Todd Hunter lays out SB7 on second reading". YouTube.

(unseated by Juan M. Garcia, III)

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