Former President George W. Bush has appeared at a major Republican fundraising event supporting multiple GOP midterm candidates, but not Ken Paxton, Donald Trump’s pick in the Texas Senate race.
Bush was a special guest in Dallas on Monday night at a campaign event hosted by fellow Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost to Paxton in what was the most expensive GOP Senate primary ever, The New York Times reported.
The event for the Maintain the Majority fundraising committee aimed to give a midterm boost to a number of GOP Senate incumbents and candidates in states including Iowa, Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota and Maine.
However, the event, filled with old-guard Republicans, opted not to publicly back Texas Attorney General Paxton, the scandal-hit MAGA candidate who is so controversial that a Democrat could pick up a Senate seat in the Lone Star State for the first time in decades on Nov. 3.
Multiple polls show Democrat James Talarico leading Paxton in what is one of the most closely watched and vital Senate races. If Talarico beats Paxton, it would go a long way toward helping Democrats flip the Senate, with the GOP also widely expected to lose control of the House in November.
A number of Republicans have expressed fears that Paxton will torpedo the GOP’s chances of retaining what is usually a solid-red Texas Senate seat.
Paxton was impeached by the Republican-controlled Texas House in 2023 after being accused of corruption, bribery and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted by the Texas Senate but continued to face scrutiny over allegations of corruption. His wife also filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds,” after rumors of an affair surfaced.
![Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico speaks during the Texas Democratic Convention]](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/TVQAKMLPSJCWLBWUJQKMJHV4LI.jpg?auth=747b52ac9899b7532f4090bfd261a27d66e84d9c8c72f4c4a233cc5065a0d79a&width=800&height=533)
Establishment figures, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, endorsed Cornyn in the Texas primary over Paxton, believing the veteran incumbent had a much better chance of retaining the seat and appealing to crucial moderate and independent voters than the MAGA candidate.
This is not the first time Paxton has had to fight against the Bush dynasty during his political career. In 2022, Paxton defeated George P. Bush, the former president’s nephew, in the Republican primary for Texas attorney general.
Bush is also not the only Republican openly snubbing a MAGA figure in Texas.
Last week, Karl Rove, the veteran GOP strategist behind Bush’s successful campaigns for governor and president, said he would vote for Democrat Jon Rosenthal over Republican Bo French in the race for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission.
Rove said he was voting against French after he shared a photo of non-white University of Texas students celebrating a college football victory on X with the caption: “The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
“The GOP has a growing number of Bo Frenches—and not only in Texas,” Rove wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal.
“There are ‘just asking questions’ Jew-haters, misogynists who worship hypermasculinity, conspiracy nuts seeking clicks for profit, and religious bigots who won’t differentiate between Muslim terrorists and Muslim American patriots.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Ken Paxton’s office for comment.
