{"id":228294,"date":"2026-10-22T04:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T04:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/bushs-brother-crosses-party-lines-to-vote-for-james-talarico-for-senate-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T04:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T04:12:11","slug":"bushs-brother-crosses-party-lines-to-vote-for-james-talarico-for-senate-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/bushs-brother-crosses-party-lines-to-vote-for-james-talarico-for-senate-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Bush\u2019s brother crosses party lines to vote for James Talarico for Senate – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican Neil Bush says he was \u2018deeply troubled\u2019 by Ken Paxton\u2019s conduct and \u2018enormously impressed\u2019 with Talarico
US politics live \u2013 latest updates<\/a>
Neil Bush, a son of former president George HW Bush<\/a> and a lifelong Republican, announced on Tuesday<\/a> that he crossed party lines to vote for James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas.
In a Facebook post, Neil Bush said he chose to vote early for Talarico over Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate and current Texas<\/a> attorney general, because he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by Paxton\u2019s conduct and was \u201cenormously impressed\u201d by Talarico\u2019s principles.
As a moderate Republican, Neil Bush\u2019s statement on the competitive Senate race<\/a> in Texas reflects views from a faction of the party that often disagrees with Donald Trump<\/a> while holding traditional conservative views. It comes just two weeks before the midterms, when Democrats and Republicans are battling for the seat in Texas.
\u201cI have been deeply troubled by Paxton\u2019s conduct as Texas Attorney General, particularly his decision to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in other states in an effort to help Donald Trump<\/a> remain in power,\u201d Neil Bush, 71, wrote.
The former president\u2019s son and brother of George W Bush<\/a> expressed concern about Paxton\u2019s past controversies<\/a>, including Paxton\u2019s 2023 Texas state legislature impeachment and acquittal, as well as Paxton\u2019s loyalty to Trump.
\u201cI have been a Republican for most of my life, and I still believe deeply in many traditional Republican principles. But character matters more than party affiliation. Our democracy depends on leaders who respect our institutions, tell the truth, accept accountability, and seek to unite rather than divide,\u201d Neil Bush wrote.
His departure from the party\u2019s nominee comes amid the Bush family\u2019s distancing from Trump\u2019s influence on the party. The former president George HW Bush was vocal about his dislike of the president, and voted<\/a> for Hilary Clinton in 2016. Another former president George W Bush, meanwhile, has not voted for or endorsed Trump in any of his elections. The family exception appears to be George P Bush, a Trump supporter who who lost to Paxton in a bid for Texas attorney general in 2022.
Neil Bush said he sees Talarico as \u201ca principled, pragmatic leader\u201d who has a \u201cwillingness to listen to those with whom he disagrees\u201d.
\u201cHe speaks with respect, seeks common ground, and seems genuinely interested in bringing people together rather than driving them apart. His faith appears to be a deeply rooted source of humility, compassion, and conviction rather than a political weapon,\u201d Neil Bush wrote.
Talarico, a progressive liberal candidate who uses faith-based messaging, is the Democratic party\u2019s latest hopeful to flip the seat<\/a> in the deep red state. No Democrat has secured the Senate seat in Texas since the 1980s.
\u201cToday, I voted against a style of politics that I believe has damaged our country. More importantly, I voted for the kind of character and leadership I hope will help heal it.\u201d
The Guardian has asked the Talarico campaign for comment.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican Neil Bush says he was \u2018deeply troubled\u2019 by Ken Paxton\u2019s conduct and \u2018enormously impressed\u2019 with TalaricoUS politics live \u2013 latest updatesNeil Bush, a son of former president George HW Bush and a lifelong Republican, announced on Tuesday that he crossed party lines to vote for James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas.In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}