Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R)

The new congressman from the 52nd District is Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican who was elected to the seat that his father held for 28 years. The senior Duncan Hunter, the longtime chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, gave up the seat to compete for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

Hunter grew up in El Cajon and got a degree in business administration from San Diego State University. He worked in the computer industry for several years during the technology boom of the late 1990s. He says that the September 11 terrorist attacks prompted him to rethink his career plans. The next day, Hunter quit his job and enlisted in the Marine Corps. After completing officer training, Hunter was commissioned as a lieutenant. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003, served in Baghdad after the fall of the city, and in 2004 fought in the battle of Falluja. In 2006, he was promoted to captain and placed on reserve status. But shortly after announcing his candidacy in March 2007 for his father’s House seat, Hunter was again called to active duty, this time in Afghanistan. Hunter was prohibited from any campaign activities, including fundraising and planning, and held only one event before leaving. In his absence, the management of his nascent campaign fell to his wife, Margaret Hunter. She took over all appearances and campaign duties in addition to caring for their three young children. When Hunter called home from Afghanistan, it was still illegal for him even to inquire how the campaign was going, and he remained largely in the dark about its status until his duty ended in December 2007. He returned home to resume campaigning full-time.

In the June primary, Hunter faced two competitors, Santee Councilman Brian Jones and San Diego Board of Education President Bob Watkins. Although both were well known locally and campaigned actively, Hunter and his family surrogates effectively ran on the basis of his military credentials. Hunter also benefited from his father’s political and congressional connections, raising nearly three times as much money as his Republican challengers, including contributions from the political action committees of members of Congress and a $2,300 contribution from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Hunter cruised to victory in the June primary with 72% percent of the vote. His closest challenger, Jones, got 16%. In the general election, Hunter faced another military veteran, retired Navy SEAL Commander Mike Lumpkin, a former Republican turned Democrat. He agreed with Hunter on many issues, including gun rights and the need for a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. But national Democrats paid little attention to the contest, and Hunter prevailed in the predominantly Republican district, 56%-39%.

Hunter shares not only his father’s name, but also many of his political beliefs. Both were 31 years old when they were elected to Congress. He followed in his father’s footsteps with a seat on the Armed Services Committee, and cites national security as his top priority. “I can tell you what the guys on the ground, the men and women out there fighting, actually need,” Hunter said. “We have a whole lot of brass out there at the Pentagon and in the DOD [Department of Defense] who haven’t left their offices in six or seven years.” Hunter’s other interests include tougher immigration laws and finding ways to halt the outflow of jobs overseas.

In one of his first legislative efforts, Hunter in 2009 introduced a bill to bar the transfer of terrorism suspects from the federal prison camp in Guantanamo to San Diego County. He said that the Obama administration’s proposal would make the region a bigger target for terrorists crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. “The decision to close the facility was made without any consideration for the security risks and legal consequences that will undoubtedly arise,” Hunter told the San Diego Union-Tribune, accusing Obama of making a “purely political” decision. “If it weren’t, President Obama would have more closely examined the issue before rushing to a decision on his first day in office.”