Michael C. Burgess

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Michael Burgess

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 26th district
In office 2003 - present
Preceded by	Dick Armey
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	December 23, 1950 (age 56) Rochester, Minnesota
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Laura Burgess
Religion	Reformed Episcopalian

Michael Clifton Burgess, M.D. (born December 23, 1950) is a physician and politician from the state of Texas, currently representing the state's 26th Congressional district (map) in the United States House of Representatives.

1 Personal
2 Political career
3 References
4 External links
5 External links

Burgess was born in Rochester, Minnesota to Harry Meredith Burgess and Norma Crowhurst. He graduated from North Texas State University and graduated from the medical school at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Burgess worked in Obstetrics and Gynecology for over 20 years, delivering over 3,000 babies in North Texas, including the children of Paul LeBon, who ironically would be his opponent in the 2002 general election.

Burgess made his first run for elective office in the 2002 Republican primary to fill the seat of Congressman Richard Armey. The winner of the GOP primary was virtually assured of winning the November general election, as the district (comprised of the majority of Denton County) was (and remains, even after the redistricting of 2004) strongly Republican.

Using the campaign slogan "We Need a Doctor in the House", and with the endorsement of his fellow physicians, the relatively unknown Burgess took second place in the primary behind Congressman Armey's son Scott (a Denton County Commissioner), finishing with 23% of the vote to Armey's 45%, but Armey's failure to capture a 50% majority led to a runoff election.

Before the runoff was held, The Dallas Morning News reported that Scott Armey used his influence to procure county jobs and contracts for his friends. The report strongly hurt Scott Armey, and in what was considered a mild upset, Burgess beat Armey by a 55%-45% margin in the runoff. As expected, Burgess went on to defend the district for the GOP, defeating Democrat LeBon by a large margin in the general election.

Congressman Burgess ran for re-election in 2004 and 2006 (modifying his campaign slogan to read "We Need to Keep the Doctor in the House"), winning both elections by healthy margins.

Burgess previously served on the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and currently serves on the powerful U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Additionally the Congressman serves on the Health, Energy and Oversight, and the Investigations subcommittees.

Burgess is also one of nine medical doctors in Congress, and one of seven in the House.

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