It would be entertaining, in the way that videos of people getting whacked in the nuts is entertaining.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush said Thursday he is “seriously considering” running for attorney general in 2022 — and detailed how he would challenge the incumbent, embattled fellow Republican Ken Paxton.
“There have been some serious allegations levied against the current attorney general,” Bush said in an interview with Dallas radio host Mark Davis. “Personally I think that the top law enforcement official in Texas needs to be above reproach.”
Bush, the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush and nephew for President George W. Bush, went on to say a Paxton challenge would not be centered on “conservative credentials” but how the incumbent has run his office. “I think character matters and integrity matters,” Bush said.
The land commissioner, currently in his second term, has for months kept open the possibility of running for another statewide office in 2022 — including attorney general — but his remarks Thursday offered the starkest indication yet that he is focused on Paxton. Bush did not give a timeline for a decision on the race beyond saying he is currently focused on the legislation session and will visit with voters afterward. The session ends May 31.
See here for the background. I don’t have a whole lot to add to what I said before, but I do wonder what P Bush thinks his winning coalition looks like in the primary. I mean sure, Paxton is up to his left nostril in scandal, but what evidence is there that the typical Republican primary voter cares about that? Paxton has repeatedly shown his bona fides to Donald Trump. I welcome the avalanche of mud that would be flung between the two of them, but if Vegas ever puts out a betting line on this one, my ten-spot will be on Paxton to win and cover the spread. Maybe if he actually gets arrested by the FBI by then I’ll reconsider, but for now, I don’t see how P beats him. Please feel free to try to convince me otherwise.
(Since someone asked in the comments to the last post, P Bush does have a law degree, according to Wikipedia. The state of Texas does not require the AG to be an attorney, however. It’s not the AG’s job to argue cases – that’s what the Solicitor General and the various deputy AGs do. He’s the manager, no law license required.)
” I mean sure, Paxton is up to his left nostril in scandal, but what evidence is there that the typical Republican primary voter cares about that? Paxton has repeatedly shown his bona fides to Donald Trump.?”
Good assessment, Kuff. That’s exactly how I feel, and I’ll be voting to reelect Paxton. He’s also suing the Biden administration, just like the NY and CA AG’s relentlessly sued Trump’s administration. Paxton is doing the work and speaking truth to power, speaking his truth. He will be reelected.
Abbott is the one you should be looking at to get primaried. He’s the one in danger, because of the blackout, and also the economy closings and mask mandate.
OFFICIAL TEXAS ATTORNEY INFO
It’s not necessary to rely on Wikipedia for license status of Texas attorneys. Each has a State Bar of Texas profile page, with lookup/search functionality on the SBOT website.
Also, cases handled by the AG are routinely litigated by Assistant AGs (AAS) as *attorney-in-charge* in trial courts. TRCP Rule 8. The Solicitor General (SG) would do oral argument, if any, in appellate courts. The current Attorney General’s name is always on the OAG’s equivalent of the law firm/address/signature block regardless of his degree of involvement. He is not *lead counsel* however (which is the analogue of attorney-in-charge in the courts of appeals). Paxton’s filing in the SCOTUS in this bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election was an exception. He filed that one himself. The SG wasn’t on it.
Current info on MR. GEORGE PRESCOTT BUSH:
PRACTICE INFORMATION
Firm: Texas General Land Office
Firm Size: Solo
Occupation: Non-Law-Related Employment
Also interesting, the current [???] info on another lawyer-politician:
MS. SERY ‘SERY’ KIM
Eligible to Practice in Texas
U.S. Small Business Administration
Bar Card Number: 24050876
TX License Date: 11/04/2005
Primary Practice Location:
409 3rd St SW
Washington, DC 20416
Practice Areas: None Reported By Attorney
Statutory Profile Last Certified On: 11/10/2020
https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_A_Lawyer&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=287630
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So, Kim is still representing that she is with the SBA in Washington DC while also running for House District 6 in Texas as a purported local.
Both Kim and Bush are UT law school grads, 2 years apart.
Oops, Freudian slip
Typo correction: Assistant Attorney General is abbreviated AAG, not AAS.
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While we are at it, MR. WARREN KENNETH PAXTON JR. has some rather strange info on his SBOT profile page:
PRACTICE INFORMATION
Practice Areas: Business, Real Estate, Wills-Trusts-Probate
Firm: Office Of Attorney General
Firm Size: 2 to 5
Occupation: Private Law Practice
Statutory Profile Last Certified On: 10/23/2018
https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_A_Lawyer&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=182172 (last visited 4/10/2021)
Bill:
Paxton will lose his suit. Just like Strangeabbott lost the majority of his suits against Obama and wasted millions, MILLIONS, of your and my taxpayer dollars.
But, to “conservatives,” it’s not wasted dollars unless spent on somebody else’s cause.
Here’s the newest Paxton suit, and the reason he will get my vote again:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/547931-texas-sues-biden-for-rescinding-trumps-remain-in-mexico-policy
“The state of Texas sued the Biden administration Tuesday seeking to reinstate a Trump-era policy that forced migrants arriving at the southern border to wait in Mexico while applying for asylum.
President Biden in his first days in office directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a replacement for the policy known as “Remain in Mexico” that forced more than 60,000 asylum seekers south across the border.
“The result of this arbitrary and capricious decision has been a huge surge of Central American migrants, including thousands of unaccompanied minors, passing through Mexico in order to advance meritless asylum claims at the U.S. border,” Texas wrote in its suit, filed alongside Missouri in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.”
I don’t see Mike Collier trying to stop the demographic replacement that his own party is propagating.