Thomas John Oliverson (born June 8, 1972) is an American politician and

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

who is a Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

for District 130.

Biography

A 2000 graduate of the

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate Sc ...

in Houston, Oliverson is affiliated with U.S. Anesthesia Partners, which operates more than one thousand anesthesiology groups in Texas. He consults with physicians and dentists in regards to patient office surgery. In 2015, Oliverson and his wife, Jennifer, were named to the inaugural committee of

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...

, the presiding officer of the Texas State Senate. The Oliversons

home school Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

their three children and reside in

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Cypress, Texas Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-fo ...

. They are active members of Jersey Village

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, which was founded in Houston in 1956.

Political career

Oliverson retained prominent Republican political strategist Allen Blakemore, and handily the Republican House nomination over Kay Smith, 16,988 votes (70 percent) to 7,265 (30 percent). No

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 (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

sought the position in the November 8

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, held in conjunction with the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...

. Oliverson contends that

property tax A property tax or millage rate 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 net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

es in Harris County are "too high, and we need meaningful tax relief now." He supports automatic reductions in property tax rates when revenues increase above expected levels. He supports the "fair tax" system as a means to abolish property taxes. Despite the overall Democratic sweep of Harris County, Oliverson handily won his second term in the state House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. He defeated the Democrat Fred Infortunio, 52,063 votes (68.5 percent) to 22,562 (29.7 percent). The remaining 864 votes (1.5 percent) went to the

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Roy Eriksen. Oliverson earned recognition in June 2019 from Texas Monthly magazine as one of Texas' top lawmakers for his work on passing health care legislation and working with Republicans and Democrats during Texas' 86th Legislative session. In 2021, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Oliverson called for rescinding rules on mask requirements in the Texas legislature chamber. Public health experts recommended that people use face masks while indoors in public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

References

External links

State legislative page

Tom Oliverson at the Texas Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliverson, Tom 1972 births Living people People from Houston Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Physicians from Texas Baylor College of Medicine alumni Baptists from Texas 21st-century American politicians