A District Court in Texas is now set to decide whether or not the Texas Medical Board can police campaign speech.

It all stems from a case involving -you guessed it- a Republican, Rey Gonzalez who went to med school, but didn't get his license. He instead ended up getting a law degree, and decided to run for office in 2020, going by 'Dr. Gonzalez' on the campaign trail.

"Rey Gonzalez was running for a U.S. House seat in 2020, and he was unsuccessful, but on the campaign trail he was calling himself 'Dr. Gonzalez', and he did go to med school, but is not licensed to practice" said Travis Morgan, who documented the case for Texas Scorecard.

Apparently, a Karen on the left complained about it to the TMB, which then issued a cease-and-desist order, demanding Gonzalez stop using the titles “doctor” and “physician” without disclosing that he is not licensed to practice medicine each time the claim was made. Failure to comply would expose him to civil penalties of $5,000 per violation.

"The Texas Medical Board coming after him for it, and wanting to fine him is a bit much" Morgan told KTRH.

The Texas Supreme Court basically agreed, before sending the case back down to lower court. The TMB should only be concerned about practicing physicians, not whether or not someone calls themselves 'Dr'.

"It just one of those common sense issues, where if a politician says something ridiculous about a title, well that should just be brought up against them on the campaign trail" noted Morgan, "It shouldn't be something that they're legally liable for, especially when it's somewhat justifiable. He did go to med school."

In it's ruling, the Texas Supreme Court stated, “If the Texas Medical Board thinks it has the power to police campaign speech, it will have to defend that position on the merits,” stated the decision.

As for Rey Gonzalez, he is asking the court for the cease-and-desist order to be set aside or temporarily blocked from enforcement, along with a declaration that the TMB exceeded its authority, and to be granted whatever other relief the law may allow.

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