Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Texas AG Paxton vanquishes Bush in Republican run-off

Published 05/24/2022, 06:13 AM
Updated 05/24/2022, 11:16 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a news conference after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in President Joe Biden's bid to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy that forced migrants to stay in Mexico to await U.S. hea

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a news conference after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in President Joe Biden's bid to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy that forced migrants to stay in Mexico to await U.S. hea

By Brad Brooks

LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) -Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton shrugged off a challenge on Tuesday from fellow Republican George P. Bush in a primary run-off election that pitted a Trump ally against the scion of two former U.S. presidents.

Edison Research projected a win for Paxton, who consistently led in polling in his re-election bid for a third term. He beat out Bush, the state's land commissioner, for former President Donald Trump's endorsement, despite a longstanding securities fraud indictment and other legal woes.

The Bush family name was once all-powerful in Texas politics. George P. Bush is the son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and the nephew and grandson of former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush.

But the younger Bush's underdog status highlighted a remarkable shift within the state's Republican Party over the past decade, with the center of power moving from the business-friendly wing squarely into the social conservatives' camp.

That largely explains Paxton's appeal even amid his 2015 indictment that's still playing out in the courts and reports that he is under an FBI investigation after four former staffers in the attorney general's office made accusations of bribery and abuse of office.

Paxton has maintained his innocence in the securities fraud case. His office did not respond to requests for comment about that case or the reported FBI probe. The FBI declined to comment.

Bush told Texas Public Radio earlier this month that his campaign was about "making sure we don't have indicted felons serving at the top of the chain of command of our law enforcement officials here in Texas."

In a statement Tuesday night, Bush vowed to keep "fighting for the rule of law in Texas."

Paxton will be well-positioned to win November's general election in heavily Republican Texas.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a news conference after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in President Joe Biden's bid to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy that forced migrants to stay in Mexico to await U.S. hearings on their asylum claims, in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

He boosted his standing in right-wing circles when he asked the U.S. Supreme Court to bar Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania from casting their electoral votes for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The court the case.

Republican voters "see (Paxton) as a fighter, as someone who will take the fight to Democrats, to the liberals and the socialists with vigor," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.