Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated Land Commissioner George P Bush in a runoff race on Tuesday, effectively ending the Bush dynasty in a state where the political family dominated.
The race mark the first time in decades that a Bush has lost in a statewide primary in Texas. Mr Bush’s grandfather was the late former president George HW Bush, while George W Bush, who was elected twice as governor of Texas before becoming US president, is his uncle. He is also the son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
Mr Paxton benefited from former president Donald Trump’s endorsement of his campaign, despite Mr Bush making overtures to the former president. In 2018, Mr Bush endorsed and voted for Mr Trump despite the fact Mr Trump frequently criticised his father and said the elder Bush supported immigration reform because he was married to a woman from Mexico.
Mr Bush challenged Mr Paxton for the attorney general’s race after Mr Paxton faced federal indictment and an investigation from the FBI. But Mr Paxton enjoyed support from Mr Trump’s base after Mr Paxton sued four swing states in the Supreme Court in 2020 as a means of overturning the 2020 presidential election. In addition, Mr Paxton also spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally at the White House Ellipse before the 6 January riot at the US Capitol last year.
In March, neither man won a clear majority but were the top-two vote earners in the primary, forcing them into a runoff. Mr Trump’s spokesperson also criticised Mr Bush for being similar to his father while showing Mr Paxton as closely aligned with the former president who remains popular in the Lone Star State.
Mr Paxton’s victory marks the end of a dominance by the Bushes in Texas that began when George H W Bush, originally from Connecticut, migrated to Texas after graduating from Yale and worked in the oil industry.
After serving as the first Republican Congressman to represent Houston and losing two Senate races, the eldest Bush would join Ronald Reagan’s ticket in 1980, beginning a 40-year streak where Bushes would win statewide in Texas. George P Bush’s uncle would win the governorship in 1994 and 1998 and won the state both times he ran for president. George P Bush won the Texas Land Commissioner job in 2014 and reelection 2018.
But the Bush star power faded in recent years. In 2016, Jeb Bush exited the presidential primary contest before the Texas primary, which Senator Ted Cruz won. In 2020, Pierce Bush, George P Bush’s cousin, lost the GOP congressional primary in the 22nd district. George P Bush’s loss marks likely the end of the most successful political dynasty in American and Texas history.
