The Bush name helped his uncle get elected governor in Texas twice, but for George P. Bush what once was a storied legacy has become a handicap — a sign of how much the Republican party has changed in the Lone Star State.
Polls show Bush trailing incumbent Ken Paxton as they vie for the GOP attorney general nomination in a May 24 primary runoff. Among the biggest issues driving support for Paxton is that he’s “not a Bush,” according to a survey released this week by the Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler.
Paxton has questioned whether his opponent is a true Texas conservative, especially given his ties to a political family that won Republican votes for decades but is now seen by some as too moderate for today’s GOP. The family baggage has undercut Bush’s attempt to paint Paxton as ethically challenged amid an indictment on securities fraud, accusations from aides that he intervened to help wealthy donors and plans by the state bar to sue him over his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Paxton denies any wrongdoing.
