Anton J. Gunn is an American politician who was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

South Carolina House of Representatives

The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...

, serving District 79 which includes parts of Richland

Richland County, South Carolina

Richland County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The 2000 U.S. census recorded its population to be 320,677. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded that its population had reached 384,504. It is the second most populous county in South Carolina, behind only Greenville...

 and Kershaw Counties. Gunn, who was elected to the House on November 4, 2008, was the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 to be elected to the House of Representatives from District 79.

Prior to his election to the South Carolina House of Representatives, Gunn was the political director for Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's 2008 presidential primary campaign in South Carolina and was the key figure in the campaign operation that launched Obama's run to the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election.

Gunn is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (USC) and USC's College of Social Work, where he played Division I college football for the Gamecocks. Gunn worked as a community organizer and a nonprofit professional for twelve years in South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 before getting involved in politics. He also taught community activism in the Women Studies program at the University of South Carolina in 2005. Gunn served as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention

2008 Democratic National Convention

The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...

 in Denver, Colorado.

South Carolina House of Representatives

Elected on November 4, 2008, Gunn was the first African American in history to represent District 79 (Richland and Kershaw counties). While completing his first term in office, Gunn was one of the most active legislators sponsoring or co-sponsoring more than one hundred pieces of legislation during his first year. Rep. Gunn served on the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs committees in the House where his subcommittee assignment was Medical Affairs, Children Affairs and Social Services. Rep. Gunn provided a key leadership role on all health care-related legislation assigned to the committee. He was the author and lead sponsor of legislation creating the General Assembly’s first and only Joint Electronic Health Information Study Committee to examine the feasibility of increasing the use of Health Information Technology and Electronic Personal Health Records in South Carolina.

United States Department of Health and Human Services

On August 13, 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Gunn to serve under Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician currently serving as the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was the second female Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors...

as Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Region IV which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Gunn serves as the senior member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Regional Office in the Southeastern United States.

Gunn represents the Secretary in direct official dealings with State, Local and Tribal government organizations by establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with Governors, Mayors, and other key State, local and Tribal officials. Gunn provides guidance and coordination to the efforts of HHS-Intergovernmental & External Affairs (IEA) staff in dealings with Federal and non-Federal government officials.