AUSTIN, Texas — Even though Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush was successful in denying Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton an outright win in the Republican primary, he still faces an uphill battle in the runoff. Paxton received nearly double the vote, and has President Trump’s endorsement.
“It’s simple math, with 57% of Republicans looking at their ballot and seeing their indicted attorney general, they decided to go in a different direction,” said Bush during an interview on Capital Tonight. “One candidate in this race is an indicted felon … and you got another candidate who’s a military veteran, who’s ready to start this job on day one.”
But while Bush is keeping his campaign focused on Paxton’s many legal issues, he’s now facing a controversy of his own.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said this week that the Texas General Land Office discriminated against minority communities when it doled out federal relief funds following Hurricane Harvey. The GLO initially awarded Houston and Harris County none of the over $1 billion in federal relief funds, despite bearing the brunt of the storm damage. After a bipartisan outcry, Bush promised to allocate $750 million to the county, but that promise has still not been fulfilled.
The agency said in a letter to Bush that his office violated federal law, and that if he doesn’t comply, they may refer the case to the U.S. Department of Justice. Bush, however, says the move is all about politics.
“It’s disappointing the Biden Administration has decided to politicize the billions of dollars that should be on the streets of Houston helping them recover,” he said. “The Biden Administration has decided they are going to sue me, and I’m looking forward to that day in court where I can prove to the people of Texas that I’ve been fighting since day one to make sure they get as many dollars as possible to recover and prepare for the next big storm.”
Despite this, Bush is confident he’ll come out on top in the May 24 runoff. Bush pointed to the Paxton’s absence at the Spectrum News primary debate.
“[Paxton] is running a Joe Biden style campaign from his basement instead of engaging grassroots Republicans,” he said. “If you stand before the people of Texas and ask for their support, you actually have to show up. And he hasn’t.”