Neil Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush, said he voted for Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race, according to a Facebook post reported by Breitbart News. Bush is the latest member of the family to publicly break with the Republican nominee, Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In the post, Bush framed his decision around two considerations: worry about Paxton’s tenure as the state’s top lawyer and what he described as admiration for Talarico’s character. “My vote was motivated by two things: deep concern about Ken Paxton’s record and genuine admiration for the character and principles I see in James Talarico,” he wrote.
Bush, who maintains business interests in China, also praised the Democrat’s approach to difficult subjects, saying he had “been enormously impressed by the way he approaches complicated and controversial issues.” He added that Talarico’s faith “appears to be a deeply rooted source of humility, compassion, and conviction.”
A break with the party — and with Trump
The endorsement came with pointed criticism of the GOP’s direction. Bush claimed President Donald Trump and those who have “enabled him” have “done enormous damage to the Republican Party.” He also said he disagreed with Paxton’s concerns about the conduct of the 2020 election — a dispute that has been a central theme of Paxton’s political identity.
The post makes Neil Bush the second member of the family in recent weeks to back Talarico. Barbara Bush, daughter of the 43rd president, donated to a super PAC supporting the Democrat, per Breitbart. She had previously campaigned for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
George W. Bush himself has not endorsed Talarico. The former president instead headlined a fundraiser for a slate of Republican Senate candidates, including incumbents Susan Collins, Jon Husted and Dan Sullivan, along with open-seat challengers Ashley Hinson, Mike Rogers, John Sununu and Michele Tafoya. Paxton was not among the beneficiaries.
Paxton’s history with the Bush family
The snub is not the first friction between Paxton and the Bush network. In the May 2022 Republican primary runoff for attorney general, Paxton defeated George P. Bush — Neil Bush’s nephew — by a wide margin, 68 percent to 32 percent.
Neil Bush’s own record has drawn scrutiny over the years. He is best known for being sued by the FDIC and federal regulators for “gross negligence” after the collapse of Silverado, a Denver-based savings and loan association. He ultimately paid a substantial fine to settle the matter.
Questions about Talarico’s church
Bush’s praise of Talarico’s faith lands against a backdrop of earlier Breitbart reporting on the Democrat’s Austin church and its pastor, Rev. Jim Rigby. Rigby has said he welcomes atheists to his congregation and once remarked, “If you hate religion, we’re on the same team.” Talarico has described Rigby as “my pastor in every sense of the word” and one of “the biggest influences on me as a Christian, as a human being.” In a separate report, Rigby questioned whether Jesus actually rose from the dead in an Easter sermon.
The Texas Senate contest has drawn national attention as Republicans work to hold the seat and Democrats look for openings in a state that has long voted red statewide. Endorsements from prominent Republican families carry symbolic weight in Texas, where the Bush name remains closely tied to the party’s establishment wing — even as its influence has waned in the Trump era.
Neil Bush’s post did not mince words about where he believes the party has gone wrong, and his vote is the clearest sign yet that the split between the Bush circle and the current Republican nominee in Texas is out in the open.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/21/neil-bush-bush-family-back-far-left-james-talarico-in-texas-senate-race/