Chris Bell ( politician ) This article or section contains information about a candidate in an upcoming or ongoing election . Content may change dramatically as the election approaches and unfolds . Robert Christopher Bell ( born November 23 , 1959 ) is a Democratic politician . He last served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas District 25 in Houston from 2003 to 2005 . Currently , he is the Democratic candidate in the 2006 election for the office of Governor of Texas . As of October 31 , 2006 , the Zogby /Wall Street Journal tracking polls show Bell in second place with 28.5% , behind incumbent Republican Rick Perry with 36.7% , but ahead of independent candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Strayhorn , with 15.0% and 14.4% , respectively . Personal history Chris Bell was born in Abilene , Texas in 1959 . He was raised in Dallas and moved to Austin when he was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin . As a student , Bell served as president of the Intrafraternity Council and spearheaded a successful effort to reinstate student government . In 1982 , he graduated with a journalism degree and began work as a television and radio journalist , first in Ardmore , Oklahoma and later in Amarillo . He then moved to Houston , working as a Harris County court radio reporter while taking night classes at South Texas College of Law . Despite his success in journalism ( he was named “best radio reporter in the state” in 1990 by the Texas Associated Press ) , he left journalism and began what would become a successful litigation practice after receiving a law degree in 1992 . Bell 's public service career began in 1997 , after being elected to the Houston City Council . He currently lives in Houston with his wife , Alison Ayres Bell , and their two sons , Atlee , ten , and Connally , eight . Alison previously worked for Mosbacher Energy and as the scheduler for Republican Rob Mosbacher’s 1994 campaign for lieutenant-governor . ft & h=495 & w=778 & hasAd=1 & mod=blogs ) Career Houston City Council ( 1997-2002 ) Bell served as at large Position 4 councilman for the Houston City Council for five years . During this time , he served as chairman of both the Council Committee on Customer Service and Initiatives and the Ethics Committee . Throughout his service , he focused on ethics reform , passing laws that limited the use of soft money in city elections . He also championed what he called “customer-driven government , ” featuring innovative ideas to make government more accessible to the public . He also helped pass the largest tax cut in the city 's history and worked to pass sweeping ethics reform that significantly cleaned up what was a corrupt local government . Mayoral Bid ( 2001 ) In 2001 , Bell attempted to run against incumbent mayor Lee Brown . Brown and Bell first butted heads when , in 2000 , Bell joined with conservatives to pass a 2-cent property tax rollback . In turn , Brown replaced Bell as chairman . Bell finished third behind Brown and Republican candidate Orlando Sanchez . There were no hard feelings between Bell and Mayor Brown after the election—Bell endorsed Brown during the resulting runoff election and Brown was a vocal supporter for Bell 's 2002 congressional bid . US Congress ( 2002-2005 ) In 2002 , Bell successfully ran for the United States House of Representatives for Texas District 25 in Houston . He was a “star freshman , ” and was soon made assistant whip by House Democratic whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland . Bell also served on four standing committees , and was responsible for founding the Port Security Caucus , a group dedicated to improving seaport security . He also looked out for Houston’s interests while in Washington . In October of 2003 , Bell became the prime target in Republican Tom DeLay ’s infamous 2003 congressional redistricting effort . Bell 's District 25 was redrawn and resulted in District 9 , a district intended for minority representation . On March 9 , 2004 , Bell was defeated in the Democratic primary for District 9 by Al Green , the former president of the Houston NAACP . On June 15 , 2004 , in conjunction with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington , Bell filed an ethics complaint against Tom DeLay , alleging an abuse of power and illegal solicitation of money , among other things . This ended a seven-year `` truce '' on such official accusations between the parties . Four months later , the House Ethics Committee unanimously admonished DeLay on two of Bell 's charges . The third charge was left for criminal investigation in Texas . In 2005 , DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury on criminal charges that he had violated campaign finance laws . Gubernatorial campaign ( 2006 ) See also : Texas gubernatorial election , 2006 Currently , Bell is the Democratic candidate in the 2006 election for the office of Governor of Texas . He is running against Republican incumbent Rick Perry and independents Carole Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman . Issues and Positions Immigration Bell supports the use of National Guard troops along the US-Mexico border , `` as long as we are very careful not to turn the border into a militated 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 do n'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.” Education Bell is dedicated to increasing 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 TAKS . He wants to create a bipartisan committee on public education and give school districts more local control . Finally , he wants to make Texas higher education affordable . He wants to end the tuition deregulation put in place by Rick Perry , which caused a 23% average increase in tuition at Texas state schools . He also wants to give public universities the state funding they need to remain competitive and to help students by making textbooks tax free . 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 in 2002 . He co-sponsored the Permanent Partners Immigration Act with Houston Congress member Sheila Jackson-Lee . The bill seeks 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 . Bell also supports civil unions for gay and lesbian couples , and is against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage . Healthcare Bell is a passionate supporter of stem cell research . After losing his mother to Parkinson 's , 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 Congress , he consistently voted pro stem cell research . As governor , he plans to use state funding for stem cell research initiatives in Texas . Bell also wants to put the focus back on the Children’s Health Insurance Program ( CHIP ) , a program that was recently a target of budget cuts by Governor Rick Perry . Trans-Texas Corridor Bell is dedicated to fighting the Trans-Texas Corridor . A toll road formerly recommended , but now opposed , by Comptroller and gubernatorial opponent Carole Strayhorn and passed by Governor and gubernatorial opponent Rick Perry , the Trans-Texas corridor as proposed would consume 1.5 million acres ( 6000 km² ) of farmland and 150 square miles of privately owned property . Bell plans to put an immediate stop to the project and open it up to public debate . External links Chris Bell for Governor Entry from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Voting record maintained by the Washington Post A Message from Alison Ayres Bell Categories : Future election candidates | 1959 births | Living people | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas | Texas politicians Bell , Chris Texas gubernatorial election , 2006 