Duncan Hunter is currently a Republican House member from California's 52nd congressional district in northern and eastern San Diego. He has served in that capacity since 1981 and is now seeking the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

Early Life

Duncan Lee Hunter was born in Riverside, California on May 31, 1948 to his parents Lola L. Young and Robert Olin Hunter. Attending the University of Montana and the University of California, Santa Barbara for brief stints, Hunter later enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Under the auspices of the G.I. Bill, Hunter enrolled at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 1973 and earned a BSL and JD in 1976. After graduating, Hunter opened a legal office, often providing legal advice free of charge to the Hispanic community. Admitted to the California Bar in 1976, Hunter has held inactive status since 1983 and as a result may not practice law in California until he again requests active status.

House of Representatives

In 1980, Hunter was sought out to run for Congress in the then 42nd District against 18-year incumbent Democrat Lionel Van Deerlin. At first the underdog, attacks on Van Deerlin's national defense policy did not fall on deaf ears in the 42nd district, where a military base was never far from home. He narrowly beat the incumbent. One of the many Republicans gaining office in this "Reagan Revolution," Hunter has held the seat more or less unchallenged, consistently gaining 70% of the Democratic vote.

In 2002 Hunter became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and has sponsored legislation authorizing defense department fiscal year activities from 2004 to 2007. In 2006, Hunter offered an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, one that would clarify the enacted policy of restricting women from direct combat units. This would have kept women from nearly 22,000 jobs. (Source: New York Times)The amendment was withdrawn in order for a study to be conducted on the rationale and future implementation of the policy. While only a ranking member when he retired from the House in 2007, Hunter had served as Chairman of the full committee from 2003-2007, responsible for a defense budget totaling more than $500 billion. Hunter also served as Chairman of the Military Research & Development Subcommittee from 2001-2002 and the Subcommittee on Military Procurement from 1995-2000, where he presided over $60 billion for the acquisition of military weapon systems and components.

Having a district located in the California-Mexico border region, Hunter has made border enforcement a major priority. In 1988, Hunter authored legislation making the military the lead agency in illegal drug interdiction and was successful in obtaining military units for building roads and fencing along the U.S. border with Mexico. Over 40 miles of fencing and border infrastructure have been constructed to date. Additionally, Hunter passed legislation in 1995 to authorize an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents in response to the Clinton Administration's budget which attempted to cut agency resources. (Source: House.gov)

In Pursuit of the White House

On March 20, 2007, Hunter announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of the current session. His son, Duncan Duane Hunter is currently serving oversees as a U.S. Marine, but is campaigning to succeed his father as Representative from the 52nd district.

On January 25, 2007, Hunter formally announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008. His county level successes have yet to translate into state levels and most major polls do not even list Hunter as an option along with frontrunners such as Romney, Giuliani, McCain or Fred Thompson. (Source: RealClearPolitics.com)