Trump ended Jeb Bush's presidential campaign with two words in 2016.
This month, Maine Republicans put the final nail in the dynasty his family built.
They just buried the last serious Bush candidacy – and the way it happened tells you everything about why the Bush dynasty is finished.
Jonathan Bush Ran Out of Rounds
Jonathan Bush – nephew of President George H.W. Bush and cousin of President George W. Bush – entered Maine's Republican gubernatorial primary as a credentialed outsider.
He had a famous name.
He had a tech fortune.
He had a pitch that he would reverse Maine's liberal drift.
What he didn't have were votes.
Bobby Charles won the Republican nomination outright with nearly 60,000 votes after seven rounds of ranked-choice tabulation.
Bush was eliminated in round six – outlasting five other candidates before the numbers finally caught up with him.
His first-round finish of 20 percent put him well behind Charles, who entered ranked-choice tabulation sitting on a 20,000-vote lead that no amount of second-choice ballots could close.
The baggage didn't help.
An aggressive investor takeover attempt at Athenahealth – the healthcare software company Bush founded and ran – forced allegations back into public view in 2018 that he had physically attacked his first wife and created a hostile work environment for female employees.
Bush admitted to the spousal assault.
He resigned from Athenahealth the same week.
Running for governor eight years later, he bet Maine Republican voters would overlook it.
They just ranked someone else first.
The Pattern Has Been Clear Since 2016
The Bush name started crumbling when Trump walked into that first presidential debate.
Trump labeled Jeb Bush "low energy," called him "Bush III," and watched him finish in single digits in South Carolina – a state where both his father and brother had won decisive primary victories.
Jeb suspended his campaign days later.
George P. Bush – the last family member to hold office – lost the Texas attorney general primary in 2022 to Trump-backed Ken Paxton by a wide margin despite spending years trying to align himself with the former president.
That Texas loss was seen at the time as the likely end of a four-generation dynasty that began when Prescott Bush entered Connecticut politics in the 1950s.
Jonathan Bush's Maine run was supposed to be the reboot.
He positioned himself as a tech-world outsider who just happened to share a bloodline with two former presidents.
It wasn't enough.
What Maine Republicans Chose Instead
Bobby Charles is a lawyer and former U.S. assistant secretary of state who ran a Trump-style campaign from the first day.
He didn't ask voters to rank a dynasty.
He asked them to fight – going on social media after Election Day to raise money for attorneys and poll watchers to keep watch over every round of tabulation.
Maine Republicans rewarded him with 37 percent of first-choice votes and a 20,000-vote lead that a seven-round tabulation couldn't touch.
Not that a Bush lost.
That Republican voters in a blue-leaning New England state looked at a famous name, a tech fortune, and a fake outsider pitch – and chose the guy who fights like Trump instead.
The Audit the Bush Name Never Asked For
Here is what the Republican base has understood since 2016 that the Bush family still hasn't.
The name is not an asset anymore.
It is a reminder.
Two wars.
Open borders.
The Iraq WMD failure.
The TARP bailout.
Fifteen years of Republican voters watching the establishment they were handed choose Wall Street over Main Street – and now the Bushes want credit for having the family name on the door.
Maine Republicans just conducted that audit without being asked.
They looked at a Bush and decided the account was overdrawn.
The last Bush to hold political office left the Texas land commissioner post in 2023.
Maine just confirmed that wasn't the end.
It was the conclusion.
Sources:
- Lowell Cauffiel, "Bush Dynasty and Influential Senator's Namesake Suffer Losses in Maine Governor's Race," Breitbart, June 20, 2026.
- "Maine governor, congressional nominations decided after ranked choice voting," WABI, June 18, 2026.
- "Maine Secretary of State's Office announces ranked choice tabulations," Maine Secretary of State, June 18, 2026.
- "Jonathan Bush Resigns from Athenahealth," Fortune, June 6, 2018.
