Jeb Bush ‘would be a great candidate,’ Boehner says

Lobbying former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to run for the White House in 2016 may be working, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hinted Sunday.

“He’s had plenty of opportunities to tell me to stop – and he hasn’t,” Boehner said during an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week” of his encouragements that Bush seek the Republican presidential nomination.

“Listen, I think Jeb would be a great candidate,” the Speaker continued. “We’ve got a lot of good candidates out there.”

Boehner has repeatedly said he would like to see Bush, whose father and brother have both occupied the White House, make a run of his own.

“I’m not endorsing anybody. But Jeb Bush is my friend and, frankly, I think he’d make a great president,” Boehner said during an appearance on “The Tonight Show” in January.

Bush spent much of the past week stumping for Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections, including appearances in North Carolina on behalf of Sen. Kay Hagan’s (D-N.C) challenger, Thom Tillis.

Bush said the campaign events weren’t tied to a possible presidential bid, saying he’d make a decision about a run by the end of the year after consulting with his family.

Next week, Bush is expected to head to Kansas to bolster Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and next month he’ll appear alongside Gov. Nikki Haley (R) in South Carolina. That’s just one of many early voting states Bush has hit this year, also appearing with Republican candidates in Iowa and Nevada.