Associated Press
Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to attend a Lone Star-studded fundraiser in Dallas on Wednesday for his brother Jeb Bush.
The former president and former first lady Laura Bush are the special guests to appear with the former Florida governor, who is expected to announce in the coming months his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Texas Republicans said Monday.
It would be the first time former President Bush — a former Texas governor and current resident of Dallas — has attended a fundraiser for his brother, who has been aggressively raising money for his political action committee from some of the GOP’s top donors for three months. It also comes as Jeb Bush nears the end of what is expected to be a successful fundraising quarter for the PAC.
The guest list also includes big names in Texas and national GOP fundraising circles, including Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who is chairman of BP Capital Management, and real estate and home-building magnate Woody Hunt of El Paso.
Texas is among the nation’s top Republican fundraising venues, along with markets in California, Florida, New York and Chicago. Several likely Republican candidates are claiming a stake in Texas, including Texas’ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who announced his candidacy Monday, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to announce his second bid for the nomination.
While he lives in south Florida, Jeb Bush campaigned in Texas last year, including deep into the plains of west Texas, for his 38-year-old son George P. Bush, who was elected to the statewide office of land commissioner in November.
Jeb Bush was born in Midland, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. His father, George H. W. Bush, also a former president, lives in Houston.
Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
