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Medicine-Friendly Candidates Prevail in Tuesday’s Runoff Elections
By Jennifer Perkins

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Most of the Texas House and Senate candidates backed by TEXPAC won their races in Tuesday’s primary runoff elections and will move on to November’s general election.  

“Thank you to the House of Medicine for supporting candidates who protect our patients and advocate for the health of all Texans,” said Brad S. Patt, MD, chair of TEXPAC, the Texas Medical Association’s bipartisan political arm. “With TEXPAC support, our candidates were successful in the vast majority of runoff races yesterday, and they need everyone’s continued support for the election in November.” 

Although some ballots are still being counted, more than 1 million votes were cast in the runoff, a record. 

Among the results for the TEXPAC-backed candidates:   

  • State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., a Democrat running for reelection in Texas Senate District 27 (Brownsville), defeated Sara Stapleton-Barrera, a medical malpractice attorney who backed easing tort reform protections. Senator Lucio won 56-44%. 

  • Republican State Rep. J.D. Sheffield, DO, lost to challenger Shelby Slawson by more than 20 percentage points in a race to serve Texas House District 59 (west of Temple). Ms. Slawson, an attorney, was supported by scope-of-practice-expansion proponents. 

  • As of Wednesday morning, Glenn Rogers, DVM, a Republican running for Texas House District 60 (west of Fort Worth), was beating Jon Francis 51-49%. Mr. Francis is a well-funded anti-science candidate who backs vaccine choice. Mr. Rogers was winning by only 678 votes with final mail-in ballots due Wednesday. 

  • State Rep. Harold Dutton, a Democrat running for reelection in Texas House District 142 (northeast Houston), is beating challenger Jerry Davis 52-48%. Representative Dutton was leading by 445 votes with final mail-in ballots due Wednesday.   

  • In the special election for Texas Senate District 14 (Austin area), state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, a Democrat, is currently headed to a runoff with former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt. Judge Eckhardt backs easing tort reform protections.  

The November general election is less than four months away. We will keep you updated on opportunities to support TEXPAC-endorsed candidates as recommended by local physician leadership. 

Last Updated On

July 15, 2020

Originally Published On

July 15, 2020

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