George P. Bush has bragging rights in his famous family: Not only was he elected Tuesday as the Texas land commissioner, but he was the first member of the Bush clan to win his first election. His father, Jeb Bush, lost his first bid for Florida governor; uncle George W. Bush lost his first run for Texas governor, and grandfather George H.W. Bush's first campaign was an unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.
One of George P. Bush's main jobs at the General Land Office will be to negotiate and enforce leases for mineral rights on state-owned land, the Texas Tribune reports, and the royalties collected go into the $34 billion Permanent School Fund. Bush is an oil and gas investment consultant who raised thousands from energy companies, but he said that like previous commissioners, he can accept campaign donations from the industry while still fighting against it if necessary. "My team will be in the courtroom, if I'm elected, to hold private producers accountable," he told the Texas Tribune before the election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for November 22Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include Trump's autopen, war for oil rebranded, and more
-
Hitler: what can we learn from his DNA?Talking Point Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator is the latest documentary to posthumously diagnose the dictator
-
Government shutdown: why the Democrats ‘caved’In the Spotlight The recent stalemate in Congress could soon be ‘overshadowed by more enduring public perceptions’
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
