Kyle Janek (born January 10, 1958) is an American physician and former Republican member of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

, having represented District 17 from November 2002 until June 2, 2008. The district includes portions of Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend,

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

, and Jefferson counties. Janek was not a candidate for re

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

to the state Senate in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

held on March 4.Gary Polland's TEXAS CONSERVATIVE REVIEW
/ref> Janek resigned the seat, and

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

called a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to coincide with the regular November 4

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

to fill the two years remaining in the term. Republican Joan Huffman, a former

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

court

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Chris Bell, a former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

who was Perry's 2006 election opponent, led the field and went into a December 16 runoff. Huffman ultimately prevailed, 56-44 percent. She becomes the sixth woman serving in the state Senate.''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'', December 17, 2008, p. 1

Biography

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

by training, Janek has served in the Texas Legislature as a Republican since 1994. He received an

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Galveston, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the olde ...

in 1983 and has since practiced

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

. Janek is the son of former

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, its population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

Commissioner Eddie Janek Sr. He is the brother of Galveston

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Eddie Janek Jr., who has previously sought county office. In 1992 Janek entered the Republican primary for Texas State Representative District 134 against two opponents, Mike Shelby and Tim Turner. Janek prevailed against Shelby, later a

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, in the runoff, but he lost the

Sue Schechter, even though the District was almost 60 percent Republican. In 1994, when Schechter chose not to seek re-election, Janek was elected. He served in the Texas House of Representatives until 2002, when he ran for the Texas Senate. Janek sought the seat being vacated by longtime District 17 Senator J. E. "Buster" Brown. Janek defeated attorney Gary M. Polland in the Republican primary, and then prevailed against Democratic candidate Ronnie Ellen Harrison in the general election. He was reelected again in 2006 over a Libertarian Party opponent. Since being elected to the Senate, Janek has focused his legislative efforts on

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

reform, and the sponsorship of a state program to prevent

steroid A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes t ...

abuse among high school athletes. On September 1, 2012, Janek began serving as the Executive Commissioner to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

2008 election

Janek resigned his Senate seat in June 2008. Joan Huffman won the subsequent special election to replace Janek.

Election history

Most recent election

2006

Previous elections

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

References

External links

Senate of Texas - Senator Kyle Janek
official TX Senate website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Kyle Janek (TX)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Kyle Janek
20062004200220001998
campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Janek, Kyle 1958 births Living people Republican Party Texas state senators Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Politicians from Houston American anesthesiologists Politicians from Galveston, Texas American politicians of Polish descent 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature