Chris Bell (politician)

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Bell campaigning for Governor Chris Bell (2160688989).jpg
Bell campaigning for Governor

Bell was the Democratic candidate in the 2006 election for the office of Governor of Texas. He ran against Republican incumbent Rick Perry and independents Carole Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman. Bell ultimately received 1,310,353 votes, or 29.79%, in the four-way race. Following the loss, Chris Bell and the political action committee (PAC) "Clean Government Advocates for Chris Bell" sued Gov. Perry and the Republican Governors Association, claiming they illegally hid $1 million in donations from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry (no relation to the governor) in the final days of the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. [8]

Rick Perry chose to settle his part of the lawsuit out of court, but the Republican Governors Association did not. An initial court ruling in 2010 (by Travis County judge John Dietz) favored Bell, but that verdict was subsequently reversed on appeal in 2013, and the appellate court panel sent the case back to District Court to determine how much Bell should reimburse the governors association for associated legal fees. [9]

State Senate District 17 campaign (2008)

On July 18, 2008, Bell announced on his campaign website that he would run in the special election for Texas Senate, District 17. [10] The election was made necessary by the resignation of Republican senator Kyle Janek. While Bell emerged with a plurality in the November 4, 2008 election, he did not garner enough votes to avoid a special election runoff with Republican Joan Huffman, a former judge and prosecutor. [11] Despite heavy support from Democratic volunteers and officials, he ultimately lost the runoff to Huffman on December 16 with 43.7 percent of the vote to Huffman's 56.3 percent. [12]

Mayoral campaign (2015)

Bell ran for Houston Mayor in 2015 but finished fifth during the general elections. Bell then endorsed Bill King, [13] raising eyebrows. Bell had received only 7 percent of the general vote, concentrated in the district C precincts. It was not dispersed throughout the entire city.

Senate campaign (2020)

Bell ran for Senate in Texas in the 2020 election. [14] He lost the March 2020 Democratic primary, coming in sixth place with 8.5% of the vote and failing to advance to the runoff. Bell finished behind former congressional candidate M.J. Hegar, State Senator Royce West, labor organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, businesswoman Annie "Mamá" Garcia, and Houston City Councilor Amanda Edwards. [15]

Issues and positions

Abortion

Bell voted no on banning partial birth abortion except to save the mother's life and had a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. [16]

Immigration

Bell supports the use of United States National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border, "as long as we are very careful not to turn the border into a militarized zone." He also supports the McCain-Kennedy bill that would provide a so-called "pathway" to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country, provided they had jobs, learned English, paid fines and met certain other requirements. "I don't want to see anybody cutting in line, but I do think that people should be able to earn their citizenship if they're productive and law-abiding citizens." [17]

Education

Bell supports increased spending for the Texas public education system. He wants to focus on acquiring and retaining quality teachers, stopping textbook censorship, and taking the focus away from standardized tests like Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). He wants to create a bipartisan committee on public education and give school districts more local control. [18] Finally, he wants to make Texas higher education affordable. He wants to end the tuition deregulation which caused a 23% average increase in tuition at Texas state schools. He also wants to give public universities state funding and help students by making textbooks tax free. [19]

Gay rights

Bell is a lifelong proponent of gay rights. In 2002, the Houston Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign awarded him with their first ever John Walzel Political Equality Award. He cosponsored the Permanent Partners Immigration Act with Houston Congress member Sheila Jackson-Lee. The bill sought to offer residency to immigrant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens, much as citizens of other countries who marry Americans are allowed to stay in the country. [20]

Healthcare

Bell is a passionate supporter of stem cell research. After losing his mother to Parkinson's disease, and nearly losing his wife to cancer, he believes that using science to cure disease is a moral imperative. Bell is on the board of StemPAC, a leading stem cell advocacy group, and often speaks at national stem cell conferences. While a member of the 108th United States Congress, he consistently voted pro stem cell research. Bell is also a strong proponent of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a program that has been the target of budget cuts by Governor Rick Perry. [21]

Trans-Texas Corridor

Bell has opposed the Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposed toll road, on the grounds that it would consume 1.5 million acres (6000 km²) of farmland and 150 square miles (390 km2) of privately owned property.

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References

  1. ↑ Martin, Joe (April 17, 2017). "Two high-profile Houston lawyers start new firm". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ Nazerian, Tina. "Mayoral candidate calls for investigation of Meyerland flooding." Houston Chronicle . June 21, 2015. Retrieved on May 2, 2016.
  3. ↑ Fleck, Tim. "First Out of the Gate". Houston Press. Published February 8, 2001. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "CITY OF HOUSTON GENERAL ELECTION HARRIS, FORT BEND AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES COMBINED" (PDF). City of Houston. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Joel Hefley, Chairman; Alan B. Mollohan, ranking minority member. "Memorandum to the Members of the (Ethics) Committee". Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2006.; undated, retrieved November 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ Graczyk, Michael. "Texas appeals court upholds DeLay reversal", Tallahassee News (Associated Press), October 1, 2014; retrieved November 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ Camia, Catalina; Davis, Susan. "Texas court overturns Tom DeLay conviction", USA Today, September 19, 2013; retrieved November 5, 2014.
  8. ↑ Kroll, Andy (April 15, 2013). "The Enduring Mystery of GOP Megadonor Bob Perry". Mother Jones . Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Judgment overturned in governor's race lawsuit". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. October 5, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ Bell, Chris (July 18, 2008). "An Invitation from Chris Bell". Archived from the original on July 19, 2008.
  11. ↑ "Runoff for District 17 set for December". SE Texas Record. November 17, 2008.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  12. ↑ Bernstein, Alan (December 16, 2008). "Huffman defeats Bell in runoff for state Senate seat". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  13. ↑ Elliott, Rebecca (November 17, 2015). "Bell surprises with endorsement of King in mayor runoff". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ Tribune, The Texas; Svitek, Patrick (July 3, 2019). "Democrat Chris Bell plans to run for U.S. Senate". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Live: Texas State Primary Election Results 2020". New York Times. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Chris Bell on Abortion".
  17. ↑ Robison, Clay (June 20, 2006). "Chris Bell and the border". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  18. ↑ Bell, Chris (August 2006). "Rebuilding Public Education". Archived from the original on August 2, 2006.
  19. ↑ Bell, Chris (August 2006). "Higher Education in Texas: An Agenda for Opportunity". Archived from the original on August 2, 2006.
  20. ↑ "Houston Voice Online". www.houstonvoice.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  21. ↑ Bell, Chris (August 2006). "Healing the Sick". Archived from the original on August 2, 2006.
Chris Bell
Chris Bell, official portrait (108th Congress).jpg
Official portrait, 2003
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives
from Texas's 25th district
In office
January 3, 2003 –January 3, 2005
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 25th congressional district
2003–2005		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas
2006 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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