Robert Dean Hunter (June 25, 1928 – February 11, 2023) was an American politician and academic administrator. He served as vice president at

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

-affiliated

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

, and as a Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

, in which from 1986 to 2007 he represented District 71. On August 9, 1986, Hunter won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

with 50.5 percent of the ballots cast to fill the District 71 House seat vacated by the

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Gary E. Thompson, who resigned on June 2. Hunter became the first Republican since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

to represent Abilene and Taylor County in the state legislature. Hunter and his wife, the former Shirley M. Long (born c. 1933), resided in Abilene from 1956. The 57,000-square-foot Hunter Welcome Center, named in their honor, was dedicated at ACU in 2009. Hunter died on February 11, 2023, at the age of 94.Former state representative, longtime ACU administrator Bob Hunter dies
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Robert Dean 1928 births 2023 deaths People from Dodge City, Kansas People from Abilene, Texas Abilene Christian University alumni American members of the Churches of Christ Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Texas Legislature 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature