On November 5, 1977, Bush married Laura Welch. In 1978, Bush tried to get elected to Congress in West Texas, but lost. After that, he ran some oil companies and was one of the owners of the Texas Rangers baseball team. He thought about trying to become the commissioner of Major League Baseball, but went into politics instead. Bush is a Methodist. In 1994, he was elected to be Governor of Texas, defeating incumbent Democratic Governor Ann Richards.