8 Republicans, 4 Dems to vie for Bush vacancy
Eight Republicans and four Democrats are running to succeed Land Commissioner George P. Bush as head of the Texas General Land Office, setting up two of the most crowded contests to appear on next year’s statewide March primary ballot.
Bush, a Republican first elected in 2014, is giving up his seat to run for attorney general against incumbent Ken Paxton and two other Republicans.
The Republican land commissioner field is led by state Sen. Dawn Buckingham, an eye surgeon from Lakeway who has served in the Texas Senate since 2017. Since announcing her candidacy in early June, Buckingham has received the endorsements of former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former Gov. Rick Perry, along with those of most of her GOP Senate colleagues.
She had more than $1.6 million in her campaign account at the end of June, the most recent date covered by public campaign finance reports, giving her a major fundraising head start over the other candidates.
Among the other Republicans running for the seat are Weston Martinez, a conservative activist from San Antonio who is being backed by Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Martinez has run twice unsuccessfully for the Texas Railroad Commission.
Republican candidates include Houston business consultant Ben Armenta, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Victor Avila, Rufus Lopez, attorney Don Minton, heart surgeon and former Houston congressional candidate Jon Spiers, and pastor and former congressional candidate Tim Westley.
The Democratic field, meanwhile, includes conservationist Jay Kleberg and Austin lawyer Jinny Suh. Kleberg, whose family owns the massive King Ranch property in South Texas, previously ran as a Republican for an El Paso state House seat in 2010.
Democrats Michael Lange and Sandragrace Martinez also have filed.
The General Land Office, the oldest state agency in Texas, has been under Republican control since 1999, with Bush most recently defeating the 2018 Democratic nominee by about 10.5 percentage points.
The office has historically acted as a stepping stone for higher office. Each of Bush’s four predecessors, dating back to the 1970s, gave up the seat to run for either governor or lieutenant governor.
Long considered one of the state’s more obscure agencies, the Land Office has become known in Houston and other parts of Southeast Texas for its role administering the state’s disaster recovery following major storms, including Hurricane Harvey. It also manages the state’s millions of acres of public land, many of which are leased to oil, gas and mining companies, who in turn pay royalties to the state that go toward public education.
The agency also oversees the Alamo and manages Texas’ nine state-run veterans homes, while providing low-interest loans to veterans for purchasing land and houses.
Bush and the agency have come under fire for a handful of controversies during his tenure, including after a 2019 Houston Chronicle investigation found that Texas’ public school endowment — a $44 billion fund fueled by oil and gas royalties — had lost out on billions in potential revenue and paid out less to schools over the past decade, adjusted for inflation, even as its overall size has grown.
A separate Chronicle investigation found that GLO-run veterans homes had recorded nearly double the COVID-19 death rate compared to other nursing homes in Texas. And Bush has faced criticism within his party for his plan to redevelop the Alamo, including a proposal to relocate the revered Cenotaph to what he said would be a more “historically accurate” location.
The Texas Historical Commission voted last year to keep the Cenotaph in place. On her campaign website, Buckingham touts her opposition to Bush’s plan, writing that she “fought alongside the grassroots and led the charge that ultimately resulted in the Cenotaph staying in its rightful place of honor.”
Most recently, the Land Office faced criticism from Houston officials for its plan to distribute more than $4 billion in federal flood mitigation aid allotted to Texas after Hurricane Harvey. The agency initially proposed sending nothing to Houston and Harris County, before deciding to send $750 million to the county — a sum local officials still called inadequate.
The agency has criticized Houston’s handling of other resources for Harvey recovery, arguing the city is a poor steward of federal funds.