Rep. Duncan D. Hunter
Former Representative for California’s 50th District
pronounced DUN-kun // HUN-ter
Hunter was the representative for California’s 50th congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 2013 to 2020.
He was previously the representative for California’s 52nd congressional district as a Republican from 2009 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Duncan D. Hunter [R-CA50, 2013-2020]](/static/legislator-photos/412283-200px.jpeg)
Misconduct
In 2016 Hunter was investigated for converting funds from his congressional campaign committee for personal use. The House Committee on Ethics deferred to the Department of Justice. In August 2018, Hunter was indicted. In June 2019, Hunter's wife pleaded guilty and said that she and Hunter misused over $200,000 in campaign funds for personal purposes. In December 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to misuse campaign funds. The House Committee on Ethics released the findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics and resumed its investigation. Hunter resigned from Congress in January 2020 and was pardoned on December 22, 2020 by President Trump.
| Aug. 31, 2016 | House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the allegations |
| Mar. 23, 2017 | House Committee on Ethics deferred to the Department of Justice |
| Mar. 23, 2018 | House Committee on Ethics deferred to the Department of Justice |
| Aug. 21, 2018 | Federal Bureau of Investigations indicted Hunter and his wife for converting campaign funds to personal use. |
| Sep. 6, 2018 | House Committee on Ethics established an Investigative Subcommittee and simultaneously deferred further investigation to the Department of Justice |
| Nov. 6, 2018 | Hunter was reelected. |
| May. 3, 2019 | House Committee on Ethics reauthorized for the Investigative Subcommittee for the 116th Congress and simultaneously deferred further investigation to the Department of Justice |
| Jun. 13, 2019 | Hunter's wife changed her plea to guilty and said that she and Hunter misused over $200,000 in campaign funds for personal purposes. |
| Dec. 3, 2019 | Hunter pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to misuse campaign funds. |
| Dec. 9, 2019 | House Committee on Ethics resumed its investigation as the Department of Justice has completed its work and released the findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics |
| Jan. 7, 2020 | Submitted his resignation from Congress. |
| Dec. 22, 2020 | Pardoned by President Trump. |
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Hunter is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2020 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills legislators sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Dec 28, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Hunter was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6175 (115th): Maritime Safety Act of 2018
- H.R. 1726 (115th): Coast Guard Improvement and Reform Act of 2017
- H.R. 2518 (115th): Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2017
- H.R. 1296 (114th): To amend the San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement Act to clarify certain settlement terms, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 4188 (114th): Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015
- H.R. 1987 (114th): Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015
Does 6 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Hunter sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Transportation and Public Works (30%) Armed Forces and National Security (19%) Education (13%) International Affairs (13%) Private Legislation (8%) Environmental Protection (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (6%) Immigration (4%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Hunter recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 2251 (116th): Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act
- H.R. 2175 (116th): Stop Harmful Adolescent Marriage Act of 2019
- H.R. 1565 (116th): Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2019
- H.Res. 151 (116th): Expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the priorities and …
- H.R. 1136 (116th): For the relief of Roberto Luis Dunoyer Mejia, Consuelo Cardona Molina, Camilo …
- H.R. 892 (116th): To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to limit attorney fees …
- H.R. 768 (116th): No Funding for Sanctuary Campuses Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2009 to Jan 2020, Hunter missed 244 of 7,716 roll call votes, which is 3.2%. This is on par with the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Jan 2020. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
