Jim Hogan, left, and Kinky Friedman are running in the Democratic primary for agriculture commissioner.

Kinky Friedman has injected some star power into the race for agriculture commissioner, but he and his Democratic primary opponent, Jim Hogan, have been largely rejected by state party leaders.

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Ben Philpott is a senior reporter for KUT-FM, Austin’s National Public Radio affiliate. He has been covering state politics and dozens of other topics for the station since 2002, during which time he...