Bill Zedler

William Wade Zedler, known as Bill Zedler (born August 19, 1943),[1] is a retired medical consultant from Arlington, Texas who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 96. He has served since 2003 except for the term from 2009 to 2011, when he was temporarily unseated by Democrat Chris Turner.[2]

Bill Zedler
Zedler in 2012
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 96th district
In office
January 11, 2011 – 2021
Preceded byChris Turner (now in District 101)
Succeeded byDavid Cook
In office
January 14, 2003 – January 13, 2009
Preceded byKim Brimer
Succeeded byChris Turner
Personal details
Born (1943-08-19) August 19, 1943
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEllen Tuffly Zedler
Children3
Residence(s)Arlington, Texas
Alma materSam Houston State University
OccupationRetired medical consultant

A board member of the bipartisan Texas Conservative Coalition, Zedler is considered one of the most conservative of current Texas legislators.[3]

Zedler won his seventh nonconsecutive term in the state House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 32,656 votes (50.9 percent), he defeated Democrat Ryan E. Ray, who polled 30,295 (47.2 percent). The Libertarian Stephen Parmer held another 746 votes (1.9 percent).

In February 2019, Zedler, whom The Texas Observer labeled an "outspoken anti-vaxxer",[4] drew national attention[5] when he introduced a Texas bill that would allow parents to opt-out of school vaccination requirements.[6] The move was criticized as support for the anti-vax movement, so he later tried to set the record straight by explaining he wasn't "completely against vaccines".[7] He was also criticized for his false claim that measles, which is caused by a virus, could be treated with antibiotics.[5][6] He was quoted as saying "They want to say people are dying of measles. Yeah, in third-world countries they're dying of measles. Today, with antibiotics and that kind of stuff, they’re not dying in America."[8] In the U.S. 1-2 people die for every 1000 people infected with measles.[9]

References
  1. "Rep. Bill Zedler (R-TX 96th District)". Missouri Library Association. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  2. "Bill Zedler". Texas Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  3. "Bill Zedler's Biography". votesmart.com. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  4. Novack, Sophie (February 26, 2019). "Amid Measles Outbreak, Texas Lawmakers Want to Make it Even Easier to Opt Out of Vaccines". The Texas Observer. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  5. Bever, Lindsey (February 27, 2019). "Lawmaker promoting anti-vaxx bill suggests measles can be treated with antibiotics. (It can't.)". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  6. "Texas lawmaker says he's not worried about measles outbreak because of 'antibiotics'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  7. Tinsley, Anna M. (April 4, 2019). "As measles cases stack up, Texas lawmaker says he's opposed to mandated vaccine schedules". Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  8. "Amid Measles Outbreak, Texas Lawmakers Want to Make it Even Easier to Opt Out of Vaccines". The Texas Observer. 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  9. "Measles Data and Statistics" (PDF). CDC. April 16, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2022.


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