A spokesman for Marchant asked that this be posted on this site. The surgery took place in Dallas after he had chest pains. First, the official release: On Monday, Texas Republican U.S. Congressman Kenny Marchant, 59, had successful double by-pass heart surgery. Marchant is recovering well and expects to be back in Washington when the new Congress is sworn into office in January. He currently serves on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and on the U.S. House Republican Study Committee. This past election, Marchant won an overwhelming reelection to a fourth term in Texas Congressional District 24. His congressional district includes portions of West Dallas County, Northeast Tarrant County and Southeast Denton County. * * * * Kenny is one of my favorite legislators ever. He had the misfortune to get his congressional district one redistricting cycle too late — in 2002 instead of 1992. Consequently, he has never been able to amass the seniority that would open the door to real influence. However, he did have the foresight to be an early supporter of John Boehner for minority leader. That should serve him well in the next Congress, when Boehner will be speaker.