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Texas General Land Commissioner George P. Bush has said that he plans to challenge current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary for attorney general.
Bush, who succeeds two presidents, a vice president, a senator, two governors and a congressman and is the last of the Bush political dynasty points to Paxton's controversies and told Fox News he is "a conservative advocate for the state of Texas but without the baggage."
"Damn right! It's time for a completely new kind of corruption. No more bribes and self-dealing. We need more modern corruption, like treating the safety of six million people like a personal political asset," state Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) wrote in a tweet.
Wu was referencing Texas General Land Office's (GLO) recent omission of Houston and Harris County from a list of jurisdictions selected to receive Harvey federal funding. Though Bush said that Houston and Harris County will receive funds during the second round, and did this so that the city and county did not have to compete with others for relief funding.
Bush, who is the grandson of the late President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush made his aspirations to be the state's lead legal counsel known, claiming he has "less baggage" than his intra-party rival, as reported by Fox News.
Currently, Paxton is under investigation and is facing felony securities fraud charges that dates back nearly six years, though he denies all wrongdoing and charges, claiming it is all politically motivated, Fox News reported. Paxton has also been the focus of a different FBI investigation for allegedly abusing his office to benefit financially from wealthy donors.
"For many years now, Texans know that their top cop has been under securities fraud indictment and very concerned about that, and last November it became clear with eight of his top lieutenants alleging everything from bribery to corruption that many at the grassroots level in our state want a change in leadership," Bush said in an interview on Fox & Friends, as reported by Fox News. "I believe Texas Republicans should have a choice when it comes to their top cop."
Bush said he is better suited for the position because he has more "moral high ground of issues."
"This is about the fitness, the competence of running the state’s most important law firm," Bush said, as reported by Fox News. "It requires somebody to be above reproach. It’s really hard to claim the moral high ground on issues like human trafficking and illegal immigration and backing the thin blue line in our state if you yourself are facing significant criminal investigations and allegations."
During Bush's announcement, he went as far to say, "Enough is enough, Ken. You've brought way too much scandal and too little integrity to this office. It's time to go," Fox News reported.
Bush, who claims residency of Fort Worth, currently makes $140,000 annually and worked as an energy investment consultant before becoming land commissioner.