The TX Tribune: “But now, as Bush is projected to lose a runoff for Texas attorney general, his place in that political dynasty proved an obstacle in a party now in thrall to a different famous surname.
“It’s tough running in Texas as a Bush. I think it’s the end of the line,” said Richard Murray, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “Bush is a four-letter word right now in Texas far-right politics.”
…Texas has been the Bush family’s adoptive homeland ever since 1948, when George H.W. Bush, a Connecticut blue blood, senator’s son, combat pilot and Yale graduate, moved with his wife and young son to the Midland oil fields. For eight years when George W. Bush was in the White House, his ranch in Crawford served as a presidential getaway. And the state is home to two presidential libraries, an international airport, schools, roads and parks all bearing the same storied name.
George P. Bush ran with 100 percent name recognition, but the name was amonghis biggest weakness, according to political observers in the state. Forty percent of Texas Republican primary voters said they’d never vote for Bush, with two-thirds of them saying the reason was his name, according to a March survey by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. (The second biggest complaint was about Bush’s handling of the Alamo historic site as Texas land commissioner, though most voters weren’t exactly sure what he did wrong, according to Mark P. Jones, a Rice University politics professor who conducted the survey.)
The result about the Bush family name echoed an alarming finding early in the 2016 presidential campaign of Bush’s father, Jeb. When the campaign’s internal pollsters asked voters what they didn’t like about the candidate, about 40 percent gave an answer that amounted to the fact that his name was Bush, according to Tim Miller, who worked as the campaign’s spokesman.”