On May 24, 2022, Texas Republican voters overwhelmingly rejected the Attorney General candidacy of George P. Bush by voting for the incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton to the tune of 68%-32%
Bush is the son of former Florida Governor and failed presidential candidate Jeb Bush and the nephew of former President George W. Bush. John Binder of Breitbart News reported that Bush “was rejected by Republican voters in all but five of Texas’s 254 counties.”
Paxton’s victory appears to be a major win for America First Republicans who want the party to move away from its neoconservative inclinations that dominated when George W. Bush was in office. Binder observed that Paxton “has been a fierce opponent of illegal immigration and the monopolistic business practices of giant tech corporations.”
Binder added the following shocking developments regarding Bush’s victory:
The only counties Bush won were Loving County, where fewer than 10 residents voted; Sterling County, where about 50 residents voted; Kenedy County, where about 6 residents voted; Starr County, where about 200 residents voted; and Travis County — home to the left-wing city of Austin.
Bush’s loss shows that the Bush brand is becoming increasingly tarnished with the Republican Party. George W. Bush’s administration was a disaster — from the nation-building projects to the Wall Street bailouts. This earned Bush a lot of enemies. Moreover, Bush’s massive spending programs at home, such as medicare expansion, alienated many conservative Republicans. All told, George W. Bush’s administration was one of the worst in recent memory.
While George P. Bush was able to assume the position of Land Commissioner of Texas in 2014, no other Bush has been able to attain a position of political prominence since George W. Bush left office. For example, Pierce Bush, the grandson of George H.W. Bush, received a measly 15.4% of the vote in the Republican primary for Texas’s 22nd congressional district in 2020. Pierce Bush’s dismal performance was likely due to his Bush family association.
As the Republican Party continues its working class realignment, it will likely become more difficult for the Bush family to reassert itself. Given how gentrified the modern-day Democratic Party has become, it may perhaps behoove the Bushes to test their fortunes inside of the Democratic Party instead. They clearly don’t belong in the more populist-oriented GOP.
