U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, hospitalized with cancer last year, tests positive for coronavirus

U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, has tested positive for the coronavirus, he said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Wright, 67, who was hospitalized in September due to complications from cancer treatment, said in a statement that he’s been in quarantine since Friday and “will continue to quarantine until my doctors and medical professionals give me the okay to return to work.”

Earlier this week, Wright announced that soon after returning to Texas following the House vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump, he learned that he and several members of his staff had come into contact with an individual who had the virus. Wright did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration and said in a statement at the time he was “watching from my home in Arlington.”

Wright, a former tax assessor-collector for Tarrant County who first took office in 2019, said he’s experiencing minor symptoms.

A spokesperson for Wright told The Texas Tribune the congressman had not yet been vaccinated but had plans to do so in “the near future.”

“I feel okay and will continue working for the people of the 6th District from home this week,” Wright said in a statement. “I encourage everyone to keep following CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and want to thank all the medical professionals on the front lines who fight this virus head-on every single day.”

Earlier this month, Republican U.S. Reps. Kay Granger of Fort Worth and Kevin Brady of The Woodlands both tested positive for the coronavirus.

Multiple state leaders have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. The first statewide elected official to publicly confirm a positive coronavirus test was Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann in May. Other state lawmakers, including Rep. Tony Tinderholt, Sen. Kel Seliger and former House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, have tested positive. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also tested positive in early December.