 He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees from Abilene Christian University.He also holds honorary doctorates from Pepperdine University near Malibu, California, Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, the University of St. Thomas in Houston, and the Southern Baptist-affiliated Hardin-Simmons University, also in Abilene.On 9 August 1986, Hunter won a special election 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 2 June.