Bush Brother Tosses Fundraiser in Maine Governor's Race

The younger brother of former President George H.W. Bush is helping Maine gubernatorial candidate Mary Mayhew build up her campaign war chest.

On Tuesday, Jonathan James Bush, a former investment banker with Riggs Investment, hosted an invitation-only fundraiser for Mayhew at his summer home on North Haven Island, 12 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Mayhew, a former commissioner of Maine's Health and Human Services, is the only Republican in crowded field of candidates that include eight Democrats, two Green Party members, a Libertarian and an independent.

That crowd may grow larger if Sen. Susan Collins throws her hat in the ring. The Republican lawmaker says she'll make a decision in the fall.

Bush is no stranger to political fundraising. During the 2000 presidential campaign of his nephew George W. Bush, he was a major contributor and fundraiser and was named a "Bush Pioneer" for raising more than $100,000.

He also is the father of TV personality Billy Bush, who got the ax from NBC's “Today” show last year after the release of 2005 videotape in which he and Donald Trump are overheard in an X-rated conversation about women. On the tape, Trump talks about kissing women and grabbing women without their consent as Bush eggs him on.

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