Texas Candidate Free to Call Himself a Doctor, Justices Indicate

Nearly every justice on the Texas Supreme Court said the state’s medical board wrongly penalized a Republican congressional candidate for holding himself out as a doctor in campaigning on pro-life values.

During oral arguments Wednesday, the justices suggested the board overstepped its authority in issuing a cease-and-desist order prohibiting Rey Gonzalez Jr., who graduated from medical school but isn’t licensed to practice medicine, from calling himself a physician.

“It strikes me as odd that [Texas Medical Board] is policing political speech on the campaign trail,” Justice James Sullivan said.

Gonzalez didn’t rely on the title to solicit patients, instead ...