Bell asks Friedman to quit governor's race

AUSTIN (AP) - Democrat Chris Bell made a public plea to independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman on Tuesday night asking that he drop out of the race and help him defeat Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

But Friedman, the mystery writer, musician and comedian who has cast himself as the antipolitician, was quoted in The Dallas Morning News as saying he wouldn't leave the race.

"No. You're kidding, for Chris Bell. What do you take me for?" Friedman said. "I'd be letting a lot of people down."

Bell placed a call to Friedman on Tuesday on a private number for him provided by a Friedman supporter, said Bell spokeswoman Heather Guntert. Bell left a message telling Friedman that he would like to visit him at his ranch near Kerrville to discuss the race.

But Friedman's spokeswoman said Tuesday night that he would not be meeting with Bell and he would not be dropping out of the race.

"We are pulling votes from both sides, and they understand they can't win with Kinky in the race. The call from Chris Bell is a desperate attempt to salvage their campaign, and we will not negotiate with terrorists," said Friedman's spokeswoman, Laura Stromberg.

She added that it was a joke, in reference to the Bell campaign trying to hold the Friedman campaign "hostage."

Bell said in a prepared statement that Friedman had done a lot to energize voters.

"I am proud to count among my supporters many of his friends," Bell said. "Kinky and I both want what's best for the state, and Rick Perry and Carole Strayhorn are not what's best for Texas. They are the problem."

Bell, whose campaign was boosted by a solid performance in a televised debate Friday and by a pledge from Houston trial lawyer John O'Quinn to raise or donate $5 million to Bell, appeared to be trying to make the most of his new momentum to narrow the field.

Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Libertarian James Werner are also on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Perry leads in polls, but his support has been showing at below 40 percent. The other candidates have been vying to break out of the pack behind him and move into a head-tohead race with the governor.

Bell said he and Friedman "agree on some very important issues, and our supporters all have a lot in common; they want change."

Playing off of a Friedman campaign ad that quotes from the Bible, Bell said in his statement, "So I'm asking for Kinky to join me, and be a good shepherd for the state of Texas."

---

Kelley Shannon has covered Texas politics and government in Austin since 2000.