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Texas Democratic Leaders Snub Kinky

styleweekly.com

Texas Democratic leaders don’t want Richard “Kinky” Friedman to run for any public office as a Democrat.  For example, State Sen Leticia Van De Putte of San Antonio made a robocall touting South Central Texas rancher High Fitzsimmons III as the “serious” candidate for agriculture commissioner reported the Amarillo Globe-News.

Fitzsimmons finished a distant third in the Democratic primary.  The two candidates remaining in the upcoming May 27 runoff are Friedman or Jim Hogan. 

Hogan is a former dairy farmer.  He hasn’t campaigned for the office.  He doesn’t even have a website. 

Friedman says Hogan’s refusal to campaign shows contempt for the voters.

“He wants to serve the people but he doesn’t want to meet them,” he said. “What kind of candidate is that?”

Hogan could not be reached for comment because a phone number listed under his name was out of service and the Democratic Party of Texas did not respond to a request for other contact information.

Friedman says despite the party’s snub and claims he is not a serious candidate, he is a genuine contender.

“I think we have a great chance,” Friedman said. “We’re finally where we want to be and I think we’re going to surprise a few people.”

Friedman’s stance on the legalization of marijuana has attracted the most attention for the candidate, but he has also spelled out his position on water conservation, desalination, harvesting feral hogs and selling the meat to generate revenue for the state, and illegal immigration. 

Mark P. Jones is a professor at Rice University.  He analyzes legislative and statewide races.  He says Friedman is likely to win the runoff, but doesn’t have much chance of a November win in a Republican-majority state.