Anesthesiologist Will Try to Knock Out Foes in Campaign for Open Seat in Texas House

December 30, 2005

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

The Texas Legislature could have an anesthesiologist in both chambers if John Zerwas of Richmond can survive a Republican primary test and win an open state House seat next fall.

Zerwas - the chief medical officer for the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System - plans to enter the rapidly developing field of candidates vying for the Republican nomination to the House District 28 seat that State Rep. Glenn Hegar of Katy is giving up in order to run for the Senate.

Zerwas will join Wharton businessman and political activist Michael Franks, Pattison school teacher Stan Kitzman and Richmond attorney David Showalter in the GOP primary competition for a race for a seat that wasn't expected to be open next year until a chain of events spurred Hegar into the Senate District 18 race earlier this week. While Zerwas prepared to enter the competition for the open House seat, Wharton veterinarian Dwight King was letting potential supporters know that he will not be running against Hegar in the primary election for the Senate or seeking the seat he's giving up in HD 28. King had initially planned to run for the Senate, but there'd been speculation that he might run for the HD 28 seat instead after Hegar moved quickly to launch his state Senate bid.

No Democrats have expressed an interest in running for Hegar's House seat in a district where more than two out of every three voters have been backing candidates at the top of the Republican ticket in recent years. Potential candidates can file for the 2006 primary elections in Texas until the deadline at 6 p.m. Monday.

Zerwas has an early advantage with ties to State Senator Kyle Janek - the Legislature's only current member who administers anesthesia to patients during surgery for a living. Janek, a Houston Republican whose Senate district overlaps with a small part of HD 28, has known Zerwas for more than 20 years and used to be a partner in the same medical practice with him. Janek is unopposed so far in his bid for re-election to his seat in SD 17 next year.

Zerwas may also be known to voters in the House district that hugs Houston's western edge as the host of a weekly feature segment called "Breakthroughs" on the KHOU-TV Channel 11 newscast. The news feature showcases advancements in technology and medicine at Memorial Hermann Hospital centers. Zerwas also has connections in the business community as a member of the Greater Houston Partnership - and he's spent some time around politics as a former president of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists.

Franks - a member of the State Republican Executive Committee - was the first candidate to jump into the HD 28 race after Hegar declared early this week that he would pursue the seat that Democratic State Senator Ken Armbrister of Victoria won't be seeking again in 2006. None of the HD 28 candidates have had much time to explore potential campaigns for the seat because Hegar didn't know until last week that Armbrister had decided against a bid for re-election. Hegar had appeared to be in position to run unopposed in HD 28 before shifting his focus to the open Senate race. Three Republicans, however, had entered the battle for Armbrister's seat well before they knew whether the incumbent would be on the ballot in 2006.

Kitzman, who's been teaching American history in the Royal Independent School District, is one of several dozen current and former educators who are competing in House races in 2006. Like Kitzman, most of those are running as Republicans.

Showalter - a political newcomer - manages a law firm that handles civil lawsuits with offices in Richmond and Bellaire. He's also a real estate developer who writes a column for the Fort Bend Business Journal and serves on the Rosenberg-Richmond Chamber of Commerce board.

With all of the HD 28 competitors getting a late but even start in the primary battle, the candidate who can raise the most money in the shortest amount of time may have the best shot at the inside track for round one of the primary election March 7.

Hegar won the HD 28 seat initially in 2002 and reclaimed it in his first re-election bid last year. Hegar's most serious competition in those two races came from GOP primary foe Gary Gates, a Richmond developer who's filed to run for the open southeast Texas Senate seat that Armbrister still holds.