James Talarico, the Democratic state representative locked in a tight, high-profile race for U.S. Senate in Texas, is getting some support from the daughter of a former Republican President.
Barbara Bush, the 44-year-old daughter of George W. and Laura Bush, donated to Lone Star Rising, a political action committee supporting Talarico, Federal Election Commission records show. Campaign finance records indicate a $2,500 contribution from Bush on Sept. 23.
While Bush’s gift is small potatoes amid the hundreds of millions that have poured into Talarico’s campaign, political lawyer Andrew Cates told Houston Public Media, which broke the news on Oct. 16, that it nonetheless could hold symbolic value.
"It’s not like Elon Musk money, obviously," he said,
"but it is it is interesting and maybe potentially a little bit telling on where the center GOP establishment is leaning and where they feel like the race is headed."
Cates, a campaign finance expert, noted that Bush didn’t try to keep her contribution under the radar.
"I would imagine that somebody in such a prominent political family, if she wanted to ensure that her contribution was anonymous or not visible, that any number of lawyers that they probably have at their disposal could have told her how," he said.
The Bush family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s not the first time the former president’s daughter has tilted across party lines. In 2024, Bush campaigned in Pennsylvania for Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Bush, the twin sister of Jenna Hager Bush, is currently senior vice president of social impact and inclusion for the National Basketball Association. She's supported abortion and reproductive rights, addressing a rally for Planned Parenthood in 2017. In 2010, she told People magazine she didn’t identify with either party.
She’s also co-founder of Global Health Corps (GHC), an organization mobilizing young leaders to address critical health issues.
Her namesake and late grandmother, former first lady Barbara Bush, told USA TODAY in an interview months before her death in 2018 she "probably" would not still consider herself a Republican. The prominent GOP family matriarch blamed President Donald Trump for making the party unrecognizable to her.
According to Susan Page’s biography The Matriarch, Barbara Bush wrote in her 1990 private diaries that Donald Trump was greedy, selfish, and ugly.
Polls generally show Talarico and his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, statistically tied or indicate Talarico has a slight edge.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Barbara Bush openly donates cash to Democrat James Talarico
