Jeb Bush 'More Than Likely' to Consider 2016 Run, Son Says
WASHINGTON— -- Will another member of the Bush family dynasty make a run for the White House? In an interview in College Station, Texas, this week, George P. Bush told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl he thinks his father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will “more than likely” run for president in 2016.
“I think it’s actually, I think it’s more than likely that he’s giving this a serious thought in moving forward,” George P. Bush told Karl aboard his campaign bus in College Station, Texas.
“More than likely that he'll run?” Karl asked.
“That he'll run,” Bush said. “If you had asked me a few years back, I would've said it was less likely.”
Bush said his family will support his father “a hundred percent” should he decide to launch a bid for the White House.
While his father still assesses a bid for the presidency, George P. Bush is making his first run for elected office, campaigning for the position of Texas land commissioner. The position carries a portfolio ranging from managing the state’s land and mineral resources to administering programs for veterans. It also oversees the Permanent School Fund, which is the nation’s largest educational endowment at $37.7 billion.
Though this is his first run for office, Bush was immersed in Republican politics at a young age. When he was 12 years old, he recited the pledge of allegiance at the 1988 Republican National Convention, which nominated his grandfather, George H.W. Bush. In his 20s, he campaigned for his uncle George W. Bush’s presidential run.
George P. Bush, whose mother Columba was born in Mexico, has also led a crusade to expand the Republican Party’s appeal to Hispanics, young people and moderates. He’s launched two groups aimed at fulfilling that mission -- Maverick PAC and the Hispanic Republicans of Texas.
In the weeks before the November election, the 38-year-old has crisscrossed the state on a campaign bus as he makes his pitch for the land commissioner post. At stops in San Antonio, Victoria, Goliad and College Station this week, voters repeatedly approached Bush to talk about his famous grandparents, father and uncle, a constant reminder that he’s following in the family’s political footsteps.
“It’s an overall positive for me,” Bush said of the Bush family name. “But I said from day one of my campaign, 23 months ago, that I am a man of my own right, who stands on my own two feet with my vision. And I need folks to evaluate me based on what I bring to the table.”
Prior to seeking elected office, Bush taught high school history, worked as an attorney, deployed to Afghanistan as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserves and now runs his own investment firm focusing on the oil and gas business. He and his wife Amanda, whom he met in law school at the University of Texas, have one son, Prescott.
If he wins next Tuesday, George P. will hold the distinction of being the only Bush to win their first campaign. Though it’s unclear what other political office he might pursue in the future, Bush is often mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for governor in Texas and maybe one day a candidate for the White House – a position he says he’s never considered.
“I haven’t, actually. I actually haven’t,” Bush said. “I’ve thought about service, but I never really understood how it would manifest itself.”
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