Bush's son and former Texas Republican director support Democrats

O democratic candidate for the Senate in Texas, James Talarico, obtained support in the November midterm elections from a member of the Bush family and a former executive director of the Republican Party in the state.

Neil Bush, son of former President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and brother of former President George W. Bush (2001-2009), along with Wayne Thorburn, former executive director of the Texas Republican Party, publicly stated this week that Talarico — Presbyterian seminarian and former professor — has the right values to represent Texas in the Senate.

Bush has even stated that he has voted in advance in Talarico, which runs against the controversial Republican Ken Paxton, supported by President Donald Trump.

The announcement appears less than two weeks from the legislative elections, in which Trump's party runs the risk of losing control of the two chambers of Congress.

Bush and Thorburn both highlighted the Democratic candidate’s “character”.

The brother of the former president went further, directly criticizing Paxton and expressing “concern” with the Republican’s conduct and course.

Paxton, current state attorney general, has accumulated a long history of corruption and fraud charges.

In 2023, he faced a process of dismissal — brought by his own party in the state legislature — in which he was eventually acquitted.

Bush also criticised Paxton's proximity to Trump, whom he accused of having caused a “heavy damage” to the Republican Party.

“ I am concerned about a political culture in which loyalty to a person prevails over loyalty to principles, and in which those who hold power come to believe that they no longer need to account,” Bush noted, who is an energy entrepreneur.

In 2015, a grand jury in Collin County formally accused Paxton of financial market fraud — a case closed in 2024 by a pre-trial agreement, without Paxton admitting guilt.

The Justice Department investigated Paxton for allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Investigations did not result in formal accusations and were terminated in the last weeks of Joe Biden's government (2021-2025).

Trump's decision to support Paxton against Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary was the subject of widespread criticism by the party's legislators and strategists.

The dispute over the seat of Texas in the Senate — for which the state has not elected a Democrat since 1988 — has become one of the most important in this electoral cycle. In all, more than 500 million dollars were spent on advertising during the campaign, according to data from AdImpact, quoted by the American press.

In recent weeks, the surveys showed Talarico slightly ahead of Paxton by some percentage points, with the margin decreasing in the last days. In RealClearPolitics, the Democrat now appears 1.5 points ahead of the Attorney General.