Bush’s Right to Cast Vote in Texas Backed by Official

HOUSTON — Vice President George Bush, who long has boasted of being a naturalized Texan but who tried to save on taxes by claiming his home is in Maine, today had his right to vote in Texas affirmed.

County Tax Assessor-Collector Carl Smith, who oversees voter registration in Harris County, ruled Bush legally can vote in Houston.

Smith decided the question of Bush’s residency largely on the basis of an Internal Revenue Service ruling that Bush could not use the purchase of a home in Kennebunkport, Me., to avoid capital gains taxes on the sale of his house in Houston.

Bush, a heartbeat away from the presidency and 1,300 miles from Houston, has said he intends to return to Houston when he ends his political career. Bush and his wife sold their Houston home in 1980, and the only home they now own is the one in Maine.

Bush lives at an exclusive hotel when visiting Houston and claims it as his legal residence.

“I find it very offensive that someone would suggest that this is not our home,” his wife, Barbara Bush, said during an unrelated appearance in Houston. “Obviously there’s no question we have a right to vote here. This is our home.”

Bush in part wants to be considered a Texan because of the state’s political clout should he decide to run for the presidency.