“THERE’S NO WAY TO LEARN WITHOUT JUST DOING IT, AND WE DOCTORS SHOULD BE OUT THERE SUPPORTING THOSE CANDIDATES WHO ARE SHOULDERING THE BURDEN FOR ALL OF US.”
up front, and we certainly got the attention of the medical community, which can only help in the future,” Ms. Todd said.
“When the alliance and TEXPAC get involved, they make a big- ger difference than I think they realize.”
GOOD OL’ FASHIONED GRASSROOTS ACTION The record turnout was the result of some serious grassroots
activism by both physician and alliance members who trav- eled to Tarrant County from all over the state to block-walk on behalf of Ms. Todd, another first. Even a downpour of rain during a Saturday morning event in February didn’t keep away a group of University of North Texas Health Science Center osteopathic students, who could have been sleeping instead, Ms. Todd says.
One of those physician volunteers, pediatrician and aller-
gist Robert J. Rogers, MD, of Fort Worth, block-walked nearly every weekend in support of Ms. Todd and hit the phone banks hard, working lists of local physicians to get them out to vote. “For anybody who says physicians don’t vote — that cer-
tainly was not true in our district,” said Dr. Rogers, who also chairs the Tarrant County Medical Society Medical Legislation Committee.
Block-walking in the community gave him the chance to interact with local residents, too, where he found that many, while generally interested in the health care issues of the day, “didn’t have a clue as to what was really going on, and how big of a problem Medicaid funding and the number of uninsured are in Texas,” he said. “It was good to talk with people about that so when they are reading the paper and trying to pay at- tention and decide whom they vote for, they will rank health care as one of their important issues.” Five years ago, Dr. Rogers would have described himself as a “typical” doctor, frustrated with Medicaid’s poor payments and administrative hassles, but lacking a comprehensive view of the program’s statewide impact. That was until he started working on these campaigns. “The more physicians like me who really have no interest in running, but get involved in these elections, I can’t help but believe it’s going to make us more successful in the legislature as we go into the future,” he said. “There’s no way to learn without just doing it, and we doctors should be out there sup- porting those candidates who are shouldering the burden for all of us.” TEXPAC members, including physicians, alliance members, residents, and students, were instrumental not only in helping
20 TEXAS MEDICINE November 2012
candidates get exposure, but also in spurring them on to win their primary and runoff races. A first-ever TEXPAC-sponsored “meet the candidates” tele- town hall event held in March mobilized more than 2,000 TMA and alliance members in a virtual question-and-answer session with Dr. Bonnen, Ms. Todd, Ms. Bhuchar, and Republican state Rep. Charles Schwertner, MD, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgetown who left his Central Texas House seat to run for an open seat in Senate District 5. TEXPAC’s financial and grassroots support provided Dr.
Bonnen with extra helping hands as he and other volunteers knocked on 44,000 doors in 11 months of campaigning in the primaries. A December 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked Texas’ use of the state’s initially redrawn redistricting map pushed the March 6 primary to May 29, and Dr. Bonnen’s marathon race ended in a runoff that he ultimately won on July 31, also with record voter turnout in Galveston County. “We had no option but to campaign all out, not knowing
when it was going to end. And TEXPAC’s help definitely made a difference, helping us run a first-class campaign,” he said. “The turnout was spectacular, and that was definitely related to our grassroots activities.” Dr. Sheffield said his inexperience was a drawback when he first campaigned unsuccessfully two years ago in a tough race with a 12-year incumbent. This time, TEXPAC’s support helped him organize and pull through to victory. When the primary election was extended another three months, Dr. Sheffield’s campaign budget also got stretched to the limit. Heading into the runoff, TEXPAC stepped in with significant financial boost, “and we could not have made it through July without that support,” Dr. Sheffield said. Most of the physicians in House District 59 got behind
Dr. Sheffield in his second run for the House. Some of those doctors promenaded alongside him and his patients in local town parades, donning campaign signs and fluorescent green T-shirts beneath the Texas summer sun. “When physicians in a district start calling us about a can- didate, that’s when TEXPAC starts to get involved and get excited,” Dr. Todd said, adding that candidates endorsed by TEXPAC are committed to working with local physicians and TMA to address the needs of all Texans. Knowing this election cycle presented a great opportunity
with redistricting, TEXPAC Director David Reynolds said the organization, the largest bipartisan medical PAC in the state, spent significant resources to ensure medicine’s voice resounds.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76