Todd Ames Hunter

Background

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 in University Park outside Dallas, Texas.

In 1978, Hunter moved to Corpus Christi, where he currently practices civil defense law as a partner with Hunter, Barker & Fancher, LLP. He was previously a partner at Hunter & Handel, P.C., and an associate at the Meredith, Donnell & Edmonds and Kleberg, Dyer, Redford & Weil law firms in Corpus Christi. Hunter's areas of practice include insurance defense, commercial law, banking, and mediation. He was also involved in a number of insurance defense cases regarding mold.

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.

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.

Legislative record

After a twelve-year absence from the Texas House, Hunter returned to win his former but reconfigured seat in the 2008 general election. Hunter narrowly unseated the incumbent Democrat Juan M. Garcia, III, 27,844 votes (50.1 percent) to 25,994 (46.8 percent). The remaining 1,705 votes (3.1 percent) were cast for the Libertarian Party nominee, Lenard Lee Nelson (born c. 1949), of Corpus Christi.

Though District 32 now includes only a portion of Corpus Christi, the seat of government of Nueces County, when Hunter took the seat in 2009, it also included Aransas, Calhoun, and San Patricio counties.

71st-75th Legislative sessions

During his 1988 to 1997 tenure in the legislature, Hunter served as chairman of the House Committee on Civil Practices and was a key player in important issues, such as tort reform and education. He served on numerous other important House committees, including the Ways and Means, Elections, Calendars, Urban Affairs and Higher Education committees. Additionally, Hunter served on the Appropriations Committee for two terms and was named chairman of the Subcommittee on Education and vice chairman of the State Affairs Committee.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times named him its "Newsmaker of the Year" in 1996. The Harte-Hanks newspapers rated him one of the "Best of the Best" legislators. He was given an honorable mention by Texas Monthly magazine and was cited as one of the five legislators who had a “career year”.

Hunter was instrumental in passing legislation that made Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi a four-year university. He co-sponsored the Tuition Revenue Bond Bill and worked for passage of legislation to give statutory existence to the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON). He was the author of the bill creating a Distance Learning Master Plan for Texas colleges and universities. He sponsored a bill protecting the privacy of boat and outboard motor owners. The new law requires written, rather than oral, request for information from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Hunter obtained passage of windstorm insurance reform legislation in 1991 and 1993 and slab foundation reform legislation in 1995. He passed legislation allowing Gulf Coast counties to use part of the hotel-motel tax it generates for promotion of tourism and was responsible for a law that transferred the state beach cleaning funds to the General Land Office.

81st Legislative session

During the 81st Legislative Session, Hunter served as chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. He was at the time the only new member (returning after a twelve-year hiatus) named as a chairperson. He oversaw a committee with jurisdiction over all appellate courts in the state, including the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Hunter also served on the Insurance and the General Investigating and Ethics Committees. Hunter was also named to the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding and was Co-chairman of the joint committee on Redistricting and Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.

During the 81st session, Hunter received the James Madison Award presented from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas for his work on the "Free Flow of Information Act." The Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., gave him its "Free Enterprise Champion Award". The Texas Medical Association’s named him recipient of its "Friend of Medicine Award." The Texas Civil Justice League presented Hunter with its "Jobs for Texas Award." He was also cited by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas and Central Texas Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

82nd Legislative session

At the start of his sixth term in 2011, during the 82nd Legislative Session, Speaker Joe Straus, named Hunter chairman of the Calendars Committee. The House Committee on Calendars is responsible for setting bills to be heard before the Texas House of Representatives. In addition to serving as chair of the Calendars Committee, he was also the chair of the Select Committee on Election Contest and served on the Corrections Committee, Human Services Committee, Redistricting Committee, and the General Investigation & Ethics Committee.

For the 82nd Legislative Session, Hunter received the “Law and Order Award” from the Texas Association of District and County Attorney’s Association. The Texas Homeless Network gave him the “Outstanding State Representative Award.” The Texas Association of Builders and Contractors Inc. gave him the “Free Enterprise Champion Award” for a second consecutive session. Additionally, he was also honored to again receive the “James Madison Award” from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Foundation as well as the “Friends of Medicine Award” by the Texas Medical Association.

In 2011, Hunter co-sponsored picture identification of voters casting a ballot; the measure finally took effect in October 2013 and was used widely without incident in the primaries on March 4, 2014.

83rd Legislative session

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

Hunter currently serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Calendars, as well as serving on these House committees: (1) County Affairs, (2) Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, (3) Redistricting, and (4) General Investigating & Ethics committees (5) Transportation Funding.

Rep. Hunter received a number of awards for his work during the 83rd Legislative session. Hunter was given the “TML Legislator of the Year Award” by the Texas Municipal League. The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas honored him with the “Lawmaker of the Year Award.” The Texas Association of Broadcasters gave him the “Legislative Leader Award.” Hunter was also honored by the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas and received their “Best of the House Award.” In 2014, Hunter was awarded the “Silver Spur Award” by the Texas Travel and Tourism Association in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the tourism industry in Texas. Hunter received the “Legislator of the Year Award” from The Texas Speech Language Hearing Association.

A pro-life legislator, Hunter in 2013 supported the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96-49. He also voted for companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 is the Democratic nominee for governor. In 2011, Hunter supported two other anti-abortion measures. One forbids state funding of agencies which perform abortions; the other requires a woman procuring an abortion to undergo first a sonogram.

Hunter supported legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. He supported the successful bill to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. He voted for the adoption of the biennial state budgets in both 2011 and 2013. He voted for the bill to prohibit texting while driving, which passed the House, 97-45. He voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation.

Hunter supported the measure to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. He voted to allow college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. He backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives.