Texas AG Ken Paxton Fends Off Primary Challenge from George P. Bush

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Texas attorney general Ken Paxton successfully held off a primary challenge from George P. Bush in a runoff election on Tuesday, the Associated Press projected.

Paxton, who was endorsed by former President Trump, beat out Bush, who is the state’s land commissioner and the son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, as well as the nephew and grandson of former presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, respectively.

The runoff comes after a four-way primary in March, in which Paxton received nearly 43 percent of the votes and Bush won 23 percent.

While many 2022 primary elections will be seen as a test of the weight Trump still has in the GOP, the Texas attorney-general primary was a litmus test for how much power the Bush family name still carries, particularly in Texas, where former President George W. Bush was once governor and former President George H. W. Bush was a congressman.

George P. Bush’s loss follows his cousin Pierce Bush’s defeat in a congressional race two years ago. Pierce Bush became the first member of his family to lose a race in Texas in 40 years, the AP reported.

A March poll found that 40 percent of Texas Republican primary voters said they’d never vote for George P. Bush, with two-thirds of them saying the reason was his name.

“It’s not about dynasties. It’s not about some sort of myth,” George P. Bush said Tuesday after voting. “It’s about doing the right thing and supporting the right people for the right offices, and I think anybody can plainly see that we’ve got a crook right now in our top law-enforcement position who continually abuses his office.”

Paxton was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud in a case that is still winding through the courts. He is also reportedly under an FBI investigation after four former staffers in the attorney general’s office made allegations of bribery and abuse of office, according to the AP.

He has denied wrongdoing in the securities-fraud case.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) last week called Paxton’s criminal case an “embarrassment.”

Paxton, who is running for a third term, replied in a tweet, “I’m not shocked by the Senator’s comments. He represents the Bush wing of the GOP.”

The state bar of Texas is also considering potential punishment against Paxton after the attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania from casting their electoral votes for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, the AP reported.

Paxton is the heavy favorite to win reelection in the general election in November in the overwhelmingly Republican state.

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