Barbara Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, sent $2,500 to a super PAC boosting Democrat James Talarico in Texas, extending her break from the Republican side.
Federal Election Commission records show the contribution landed on September 23, 2026. The money went to Lone Star Rising PAC, the super PAC supporting Talarico’s run for U.S. Senate against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Austin American-Statesman flagged the filing Friday. Breitbart News then laid out the same FEC details: Bush’s name as donor, Lone Star Rising as recipient, the $2,500 amount, and the September date.
Talarico serves as an Austin state representative. Lone Star Rising has already spent millions promoting him and hitting Paxton. Democrat megadonor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman poured $10 million into the same PAC, a figure Bloomberg tied to earlier FEC filings and that Breitbart covered in July.
This is not Barbara Bush’s first turn away from her father’s party. In October 2024 she spent time campaigning for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania. Harris later lost to Donald Trump.
She has also advocated for abortion and said she does not identify with either political party. The $2,500 check to a PAC openly working to defeat a Republican attorney general fits that record.
The donation was never hidden. FEC rules make super PAC contributions public. Political attorney and campaign finance expert Andrew Cates pointed out she had other options if she wanted secrecy.
Cates told Houston Public Media she could have routed the money through a different vehicle.
"She didn’t give it to a [501] (c)(4), in which her contribution would have been completely anonymous. She gave it to a PAC that reports all the money in and out,"
He added that a donor from a family with ready legal help would know how to stay off the public list if that were the goal.
"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."
Recent polling has shown Paxton narrowly ahead of Talarico. Texans will decide the race in the November midterms. Paxton’s campaign website states the choice in plain terms.
"This election will determine whether Texas remains the conservative stronghold that leads America or becomes another state controlled by the radical left."
Lone Star Rising’s spending aims to reverse that lead. Hoffman’s $10 million and Bush’s smaller public gift both feed the same effort: elect a Democrat who would shift the state’s Senate seat leftward.
George W. Bush remains a former Republican president. His daughter’s check sits on the opposite side of the ledger, recorded in black and white on the FEC site for anyone to read.
Voters in Texas can see the names, the amounts, and the PAC’s target. Money talks. So does the public record.
