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 * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

-affiliated

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of th ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan st ...

, and as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

, 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, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

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

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 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians