Todd Ames Hunter

Todd Ames Hunter (born August 26, 1953) 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. The map vastly expanded the number of safe Republican seats, and diluted the power of non-white voters. 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.

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: