[44]
In April 1989, Bush arranged for a group of investors to purchase a controlling interest in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise for $89 million and invested $500,000 himself to start. He then was managing general partner for five years.[45] He actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans.[46] Bush's sale of his shares in the Rangers in 1998 brought him over $15 million from his initial $800,000 investment.[47]
Prior to his eventual gubernatorial campaign, Bush briefly considered a candidacy to become the Commissioner of Baseball in the early to mid-1990s.[48][49][50]

Early political involvement
In the 1978 elections, Bush ran for the House of Representatives from Texas's 19th congressional district. The retiring member, George H. Mahon, had held the district for the Democratic Party since 1935. Bush's opponent, Kent Hance, portrayed him as out of touch with rural Texans, and Bush lost the election with 46.8 percent of the vote to Hance's 53.2 percent.[51]
Bush and his family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1988 to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.