Now, he says, the time was right and an open seat presented itself. “I had this early interest in politics but was not so interested that I was willing to commit and make that my sole focus in my professional life,” he said. “I love medicine, I love what I do, and I didn’t want to give that up. But, because we have a citizen legislature, I now have an opportunity to serve and yet be able to continue to do what I really love doing as a doctor.” Ms. Bhuchar, wife of Sugar Land pe- diatrician Subodh K. Bhuchar, MD, sees her race as an opportunity to make a bigger difference on two issues she is passionate about — education and health care. She previously served two terms on the Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees. Through her experience advocating
before the legislature on public educa- tion and health care as a school board president and TMA Alliance member, “I realized that if we needed to make a dif- ference in the two key areas that make up 75 percent of the state budget, I would be able to bring to the table some very intense, hands-on experience.”
The medical prognosis TEXPAC officials say the outlook for phy- sicians and alliance candidates appears promising. However, some of these rac- es still could be in flux because of court challenges to the legislatively drawn redistricting maps. The final candidate lineup won’t be known until the courts have made a final determination and an additional candidate filing period is completed.
The state’s primary elections, origi- nally scheduled for March, already have been postponed until April and could be pushed back to June or later if the courts don’t act soon. Three of medicine’s incumbents are seeking reelection, including Sen. Bob Deuell, MD (R-Greenville) and Reps. Susan King (R-Abilene) and John Zer- was, MD (R-Richmond). Dr. Todd says all three should be in a good position to win.
Senator Deuell drew a primary chal-
lenge from a Tea Party candidate, who political analysts say is a long shot to
upset the incumbent. The winner of that primary currently faces no Democratic opposition. David Reynolds, TMA’s director of political education, says Representative King, wife of Abilene otolaryngologist Austin King, MD, likely will face only a Libertarian challenger, if any. And Repre- sentative Zerwas currently is unopposed. In addition to Representative Shel-
ton, Rep. Charles Schwertner, MD (R- Georgetown), also wants to move up to the Senate. He’s running for the open Senate District 5 seat being vacated by Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) who retired after more than 20 years of service. Representative Schwertner’s GOP
primary opponent has lost the three previous times he’s run for state office. Mr. Reynolds says the district is predomi- nantly a Williamson County and Brazos County seat, which should bode well for Representative Schwertner. Dr. Todd says Dr. Shelton also has a solid shot at winning his race, although defeating an incumbent is never easy and it is still unclear if he will have a primary opponent as well. For his part, Representative Shel- ton is confident he will win, regardless of which district map is used. Current- ly, there are two maps in play — one drawn by the legislature and one drawn by federal court judges in San Antonio. The U.S. Supreme Court threw out the judges’ map and ordered them to redraw it and consider legislative intent. Ms. Todd faces a primary challenge from a candidate she describes as a
“Washington, D.C., lobbyist.” Ms. Bhuchar faces three other can- didates in her House District 26 Repub- lican primary. That seat was left open when Rep. Charlie Howard (R-Sugar Land) decided not to run for reelection, although Representative Howard had not yet announced his retirement when Ms. Bhuchar decided to run. Mr. Reynolds says Ms. Bhuchar has considerable name identification from serving six years on the local school board and has a lot of physician and alliance support in the district and the region. Dr. Bonnen also faces a primary op- ponent in a district that Mr. Reynolds
says will be represented by the winner of the GOP primary.
The friendly incumbent Two other physician candidates also are running for legislative seats this year, but they have jumped into primary races against candidates that TEXPAC consid- ers “friendly incumbents.” Donna Campbell, MD, of New Braunfels, is running against state Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) in Sen- ate District 25, while Stuart Spitzer, MD, of Kaufman, is challenging Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Terrell) in House District 4. “If a physician or alliance member
makes the decision to run against one of our friendly incumbents, we have to stay with our friendly incumbent,” Dr. Todd said.
The Texas Medical Association Political Action Committee (TEXPAC) is a bipartisan political action committee of TMA and affiliated with the American Medical Association Political Action Committee (AMPAC) for congressional contribution purposes only. Its goal is to support and elect pro-medicine candidates on both the federal and state level. Voluntary contributions by individuals to TEXPAC should be written on personal checks. Funds attributed to individuals or professional associations (PAs) that would exceed legal contribution limits will be placed in the TEXPAC administrative account to support political education activities. Contributions are not limited to the suggested amounts. TEXPAC will not favor or disadvantage anyone based on the amounts or failure to make contributions. Contributions are subject to the prohibitions and limitations of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Contributions or gifts to TEXPAC or any CMS PAC are not deductible as charitable contributions or business expenses for federal income tax purposes.
Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. To satisfy this regulation, please include your occupation and employer information in the space provided. Contributions from a practice business account must disclose the name of the practice and the allocation of contributions for each contributing owner. Should you have any questions, call TEXPAC at (512) 370-1361.
March 2012 TEXAS MEDICINE 37
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