AUSTIN November 28, 2018 - Unofficial returns show that Democrat Julie Johnson defeated two-term incumbent Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) by about 7,500 votes. Mrs. Johnson, whose wife Susan Moster, DO, is a Fort Worth gastroenterologist and Texas Medical Association member, ran with TEXPAC’s endorsement.

Mrs. Johnson joins seven TMA-member physicians who will return to the Texas Senate and House in 2019. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Lewisville), who is an obstetrician and the only TMA member in Congress, easily won reelection to his ninth term yesterday. All nine candidates had been endorsed by TEXPAC.

“I am proud that our family is growing,” said TMA President Doug Curran, MD. “These elected officials have special insight into health care problems and the challenges our practices and patients face every day. And all of them maintain strong relationships with their colleagues in their districts and with TMA.”
The returning physician members of the Texas Legislature, in alphabetical order, are: 

• State Rep. Greg Bonnen, MD (R-Friendswood), a neurosurgeon, won with 70 percent of the vote;
• State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, MD (R-Lakeway), an ophthalmologist who is in the middle of her four-year term and was not on the ballot this year;
• State Sen. Donna Campbell, MD (R-New Braunfels), an emergency medicine physician, who won with 58 percent of the vote;
• State Rep. Tom Oliverson, MD (R-Cypress), an anesthesiologist, who won with 69 percent of the vote;
• State Rep. J.D. Sheffield, DO (R-Gatesville), a family physician, who ran unopposed;
• State Sen. Charles Schwertner, MD (R-Georgetown), an orthopedic surgeon, who won with 55 percent of the vote; and
• State Rep. John Zerwas, MD (R-Richmond), an anesthesiologist, who won with 54 percent of the vote. 

Overall, the majority of TEXPAC-endorsed candidates will return to work – or begin their freshman year – when the legislature returns on Jan. 8, 2019 for its 140-day regular session.