The latest scion of one of America’s most powerful political dynasties is trying to convince voters he’s something other than what his famous surname suggests.
George P. Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 37-year-old son who is a grandson of one former president and nephew of another, is launching his political career by running for Texas’ little-known but powerful land commissioner post.
But rather than campaigning on the mainstream Republicanism embodied by the family name, Bush says he’s “a movement conservative” more in line with the tea party.
As if to underscore the point, he says he draws the most inspiration not from the administrations of his grandfather, George H. W. Bush, or his uncle, George W. Bush, but from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who engineered the 1994 Republican takeover of that chamber.
“On social questions, national defense, economic issues, I’m a strong conservative,” Bush said.
That kind of statement helps make him the latest — and perhaps one of the more unlikely — faces in the parade of Republicans marching even further to the right in already fiercely conservative Texas.
As he takes baby steps away from the Bush legacy, George P. could struggle to convince the party’s far right that he’s really more conservative than either of his elders who have occupied the Oval Office.
“A Bush can’t be a true conservative,” said Morgan McComb, a North Texas tea party activist and organizer.
Bush insists that he’s up to the challenge, noting that he was an early supporter of tea party hero Sen. Ted Cruz, who after less than a year in the Senate has rocketed from relative political unknown to ruler of the Texas GOP.
“That’s something that we bring to the table that’s different,” Bush said. “We’re a mainstream conservative that appeals to all Republicans.”
James Bernsen, Cruz’s former campaign spokesman, said the Bushes “walk in certain circles, and some of those people might put their nose up at Ted sometimes, but George P. tries to cross that divide.”
“George recognizes that it’s a blessing and a curse to have that last name,” Bernsen said. “There’s a reason he’s not really being challenged on the ballot. But he also realizes there’s a lot of people who will be very skeptical of him.”
The Texas land commissioner administers state-owned lands and mineral resources that help pay for public education statewide. The position can be a springboard to higher office. The incumbent commissioner, Jerry Patterson, is running for lieutenant governor. And the incumbent lieutenant governor he’s challenging, David Dewhurst, served as land commissioner before winning his current job.
Squaring off against Bush are former El Paso Democratic Mayor John Cook and Republican East Texas businessman David Watts. But Bush has raked in more than $3.3 million and is expected to cruise to victory both in the Republican primary in March and the November general election.
Republicans have not lost a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
But Bush’s rightward drift comes with risks. It might hurt his image as a next-generation Republican who could reach out to Texas’ booming Hispanic population. Bush is a fluent Spanish speaker whose mother, Columba, was born in Mexico.
Hispanics vote overwhelmingly Democratic, but Bush said many also agree with the GOP on social issues, opposing abortion and large government.
“I’m willing to stand behind this concept, that as conservatives we can win the Hispanic vote without selling out the values,” Bush said. “I don’t think we need to compromise.”
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