Alas, Kinky Friedman won’t be the next agriculture commissioner from the great state of Texas, having lost the Democratic primary runoff last month. But that just frees up the troubadour/mystery novelist/humorist/friend to unwanted dogs for Wednesday night’s Washington Jewish Music Festival gig  at the D.C. Jewish Community Center, where the Kinkster will, between ditties, likely talk about marijuana.  

Friedman said he made the agriculture commissioner race a “non-binding referendum on lifting the prohibition on pot and hemp,” a stance that dovetails with his Seeds of Change tour. Even though he lost his runoff to Democrat Jim Hogan, 54 percent to 46 percent, he doesn’t think the issue of marijuana and hemp legalization is going away.  

“I think the children of the world look to Texas. Y’know, they don’t care if Nebraska legalizes or Massachusetts legalizes. But if Texas does, that would, I think, effectively end the war on drugs and we might stop making criminals out of people who aren’t really criminals. So it’s up to Texans to decide: Do they want to be seceders or do they want to be leaders?” Speaking of states that have taken on a leadership role on the issue — such as Colorado, which has decriminalized marijuana — Friedman sees a golden opportunity for the Lone Star State to fund its priorities.  

“We can look at Colorado, which is a tiny little pissant state, which is making about a hundred million dollars every other week or so. They’re also paying all their education and health care costs with pot,” Friedman said between laughs. He added that while many candidates talk about the importance of education, “all I’m doing is telling you how you can fund it.”  

He’s also well aware of how pot and hemp are viewed, because he wasn’t always a partisan himself.  

“Willie Nelson always used to tell me about hemp, and I would go into a diabetic coma. I wasn’t interested. Now I’ve been researching it,” he said, which helped shape his message to the state’s farmers about hemp’s sustainability.  

“Y’know, I don’t smoke pot. I only smoke it when I’m with Willie. That’s kind of a matter of Texas etiquette. … [But] this is not about hippies smoking dope. It’s about the future of Texas,” Friedman said.  

His commissioner campaign wasn’t Friedman’s first run for statewide office. He ran for governor in 2006, getting 12 percent in an independent bid under the slogan, “How Hard Could It Be?” It’s that love of Texas and history of public service — he was a Peace Corps volunteer — that’s endeared him to Texans of all political stripes.  

While in Washington, Friedman will also do what Texans do best: hang out and eat. He’ll be at Wednesday’s Texas breakfast club gathering on Capitol Hill, a place where Texans set aside differences to nosh.  

And then later on that night, Kinky Friedman, friend to both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former frontman for the world’s first country-western Jewish band, the Texas Jewboys, proprietor of fine cigars, salsa and the Utopia Rescue Ranch, author of “Spanking Watson” and “Armadillos and Old Lace,” will sing at a sold-out show.  

The music, while laced with a bit of political activism perhaps, should provide for a smoking good time.