In 2016, Cruz sought the Republican presidential nomination, emerging as a serious competitor to front-runner Donald Trump in a primary marked by intense, often personal, exchanges. Cruz initially withheld his endorsement after Trump secured the nomination, but became a strong supporter duringTrump's first term. In 2021, Cruz objected to thecertification of Joe Biden's victory in the2020 presidential election.
At the time of his birth, Ted Cruz's parents had lived in Calgary for three years and were working in the oil business as owners of aseismic-data processing firm for oildrilling.[9][18][19][20][21] Cruz has said that he is the son of "two mathematicians/computer programmers".[22] In 1974, Cruz's father left the family and moved to Texas.[23] Later that year, Cruz's parents reconciled and relocated the family toHouston.[5] They divorced in 1997.[24] Cruz has two older half-sisters, Miriam Ceferina Cruz and Roxana Lourdes Cruz, from his father's first marriage. Miriam died in 2011 from a drug overdose.[24][25][26]
After high school, Cruz studiedpublic policy atPrinceton University.[33][3][34] While at Princeton, he competed for theAmerican Whig-Cliosophic Society'sDebate Panel and won the top speaker award at both the 1992 U.S. National Debating Championship and the 1992North American Debating Championship.[35] In 1992, he was named U.S. National Speaker of the Year and, with his debate partnerDavid Panton, Team of the Year by theAmerican Parliamentary Debate Association.[35] Cruz and Panton later represented Harvard Law School at the 1995 World Debating Championship, losing in the semifinals to a team from Australia.[36][37][38] Princeton's debate team named their annual novice championship after Cruz.[38] At Princeton, Cruz was a member ofColonial Club.[39] His 115-page senior thesis at Princeton investigated the separation of powers; its title,Clipping the Wings of Angels: The History and Theory Behind the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, was inspired by a passage attributed toJames Madison from the51st essay of theFederalist Papers: "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." Cruz argued that the drafters of the Constitution intended to protect their constituents' rights, and that the last two items in theBill of Rights offer an explicit stop against an all-powerful state.[11][40] Cruz graduated from Princeton in 1992 with aBachelor of Artscum laude.[41]
After his Supreme Court clerkship, Cruz worked in private practice as an associate at the law firm Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal (nowCooper & Kirk, PLLC) from 1997 to 1998.[49] At the firm, Cruz worked on matters relating to theNational Rifle Association and helped prepare testimony for theimpeachment proceedings against PresidentBill Clinton.[50] In 1998, Cruz was briefly one of the attorneys who represented RepresentativeJohn Boehner during his litigation against RepresentativeJim McDermott over the alleged leak of an illegal recording of a phone conversation whose participants included Boehner.[51][52]
In 2003, Texas Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott appointed Cruz to be thesolicitor general of Texas.[48][54][32][43] The office was established in 1999 to handle appeals involving the Texas state government, but Abbott hired Cruz with the idea that Cruz would take a "leadership role in the United States in articulating a vision ofstrict constructionism". As Texas solicitor general, Cruz argued before the U.S. Supreme Court nine times, winning five cases and losing four.[50] He authored 70 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and presented 34 appellate oral arguments.[44][48][55] His nine appearances before the Supreme Court are the most by any practicing lawyer in Texas or current member of Congress.[56] Cruz has said, "We ended up year after year arguing some of the biggest cases in the country. There was a degree of serendipity in that, but there was also a concerted effort to seek out and lead conservative fights."[56]
In 2004, Cruz was involved in the high-profile case surrounding a challenge to the constitutionality of public schools' requiring students to recite thePledge of Allegiance (including the words "under God", legally a part of the Pledge since 1954),Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow.[44][43] He wrote abrief on behalf of all 50 states that argued that the plaintiff, a non-custodial parent, did not have standing to file suit on his daughter's behalf.[60] The Supreme Court upheld the position of Cruz's brief.[61]
Cruz served as lead counsel for the state and successfully defended the multiple litigation challenges to the 2003 Texas congressional redistricting plan in state and federal district courts and before the U.S. Supreme Court, which was decided 5–4 in his favor inLeague of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry.[43][62]
InMedellín v. Texas, Cruz successfully defended Texas against an attempt to reopen the cases of 51 Mexican nationals, all of whom were convicted of murder in the United States and on death row.[44][43][48][55] With the support of the George W. Bush administration, the petitioners argued that the United States had violated theVienna Convention on Consular Relations by failing to notify the convicted nationals of their opportunity to receive legal aid from the Mexican consulate.[50][63] They based their case on a decision of theInternational Court of Justice in theAvena case, which ruled that by failing to allow access to the Mexican consulate, the United States had breached its obligations under the convention.[64] Texas won the case in a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court holding that ICJ decisions were not binding in domestic law and that the President had no power to enforce them.[50][63]
Michael Wayne Haley was arrested for stealing a calculator from Walmart in 1997.[65] Because of Haley's previous criminal convictions, he was sentenced to16+1⁄2 years in prison under the Texas habitual offender law. After Haley had exhausted his appeals, it became known that Haley's robbery offense occurred three days before one of his other convictions was finalized; this raised a question about the applicability of the habitual offender statute in his case. As Solicitor General, Cruz declined to vacate Haley's sentence, saying, "I think justice is being done because he had a full and fair trial and an opportunity to raise his errors."[66] The Supreme Court later remanded the case to lower courts based on Haley'sineffective assistance of counsel claim. During oral argument, Cruz conceded that Haley had a very strong argument for ineffective assistance of counsel since Haley's attorney failed to recognize the sentencing error and that he would not move to have Haley re-incarcerated during the appeal process.[66] After remand, Haley was re-sentenced to "time served".[67]
In 2008American Lawyer magazine named Cruz one of the 50 Best Litigators under 45 in America,[54][68] andThe National Law Journal named him one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America.[69][70] In 2010Texas Lawyer named him one of the 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century.[71][72]
Return to private practice
After leaving the Solicitor General position in 2008, Cruz joined the Houston office of thePhiladelphia-based law firmMorgan, Lewis & Bockius, often representing corporate clients.[11][43][73] At Morgan Lewis, he led the firm's U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.[73] In 2010, he abandoned a bid for state attorney general when incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott, who hired Cruz as solicitor general, decided to run for reelection.[16]
At Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Cruz representedPfizer in a lawsuit brought by a group of public hospitals and community health centers, who accused Pfizer of overcharging.[74]Linglong Tire was found guilty of marketing versions of tires that were based on blueprints stolen by a former employee of a Florida businessman and ordered to pay $26 million to the Floridian. Cruz worked on the Chinese company's appellant brief. The appeals court denied the appeal and affirmed the jury's award.[75] Cruz represented drug manufacturerB. Braun before theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after the company was found guilty of wrongfully discharging a former employee. Cruz asserted that she had failed to prove that B. Braun had directed her to violate the law and that she had not presented sufficient evidence that her refusal to violate the law was why she had been fired. The appeals court rejected Cruz's argument and affirmed the $880,000 award.[75] Cruz representedToyota in an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court in astatute of limitations case, where a judge wanted to investigate Toyota forcontempt after a former Toyota in-house lawyer accused Toyota of unlawfully withholding documents in aproduct liability case.[76] Cruz unsuccessfully argued the judge's jurisdiction expired 30 days after the case was dismissed following an out-of-court settlement, but later won a second appeal using the same argument.[77]
Cruz defended two record-setting $54-million personal injury awards inNew Mexico at the appellate level, including one that a lower court had thrown out.[78] He represented a mentally disabled man who was allegedly raped by an employee of the facility where he lived, and the family of a 78-year-old resident of anAlbuquerque nursing home who died of internal bleeding.[78][79] The settlements were sealed in both cases.[78][79]
Cruz ran as aTea Party candidate in the 2012 Republican primary,[80][81][82] andThe Washington Post called his victory "the biggest upset of 2012 ... a true grassroots victory against very long odds".[83]
Cruz won the runoff for the Republican nomination by a 14-point margin over Dewhurst, support for Dewhurst having plummeted while Cruz's vote total dramatically increased from the first round.[97] Cruz won despite being outspent by Dewhurst, who held a statewide elected office,[98] $19 million to $7 million.[98][99]
In the November 6 general election, Cruz facedDemocratic nomineePaul Sadler, an attorney and a former state representative fromHenderson, Texas. Cruz won with 4.5 million votes (56.4%) to Sadler's 3.2 million (40.6%). Two minor candidates garnered the remaining 3% of the vote.[100] According to a poll by Cruz's pollster Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, Cruz received 40% of the Hispanic vote, outperforming Republican presidential candidateMitt Romney among Hispanics in Texas.[101][102]
AfterTime magazine reported that Cruz might have violated ethics rules by failing to publicly disclose his financial relationship with Caribbean Equity Partners Investment Holdings during the 2012 campaign, he said his failure to disclose the connection was inadvertent.[103]
In January 2016,The New York Times reported that Cruz and his wife had taken out nearly $1 million in low-interest loans from Goldman Sachs (where she worked) and Citibank, and failed to report them onFederal Election Commission disclosure statements as required by law.[104] Cruz disclosed the loans on his Senate financial disclosure forms in July 2012, but not on the FEC form.[105] There is no indication that Cruz's wife had any role in providing any of the loans, or that the banks did anything wrong.[105] The loans were largely repaid by later campaign fundraising. A spokesperson for Cruz said his failure to report the loans to the FEC was "inadvertent" and that he would file supplementary paperwork.[104] But Cruz intentionally missed the deadline for repayment in order to challenge the law that only $250,000 in personal loans can be repaid with money raised after an election. In May 2022, the Supreme Court inFEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate sided with Cruz, allowing him to ask donors to help repay $555,000 he loaned to his campaigns: $545,000 he loaned to his 2012 campaign, plus $10,000 he loaned to his 2018 campaign that was over theexisting limit of $250,000.[106][107]
Cruz in 2012 with his predecessor-to-be (Sen. Hutchison at right) and his future fellow senator from Texas (Sen. Cornyn at left)
Cruz ran for reelection to a second term in 2018.[108] The primary elections for both parties were held on March 6, 2018,[109] and he easily won the Republican nomination with over 80% of the vote.
Cruz faced the Democratic nominee, U.S. RepresentativeBeto O'Rourke, in the general election.[110] The contest was unusually competitive for an election in Texas, with most polls showing Cruz only slightly ahead. The race received significant media attention[111] and became the most expensive U.S. Senate election in history up to that point[112] (until the2020–21 Georgia special election between incumbentKelly Loeffler andRaphael Warnock).On November 6, 2018, Cruz defeated O'Rourke by a slim margin, 50.9% to 48.3%.[113]
Cruz ran for a third Senate term.[114] On November 5, he defeated Democratic nomineeColin Allred, a formerNFL player and U.S. representative,[115] 53.1% to 44.5%.[116]
Legislation
Cruz presents a U.S. flag to World War II veteranRichard Arvin Overton during opening ceremony for outpatient clinic inAustin on August 22, 2013.
As of November 2018, Cruz has sponsored 105 bills of his own, including:[117]
S.505, a bill to prohibit the use ofdrones to kill citizens of the United States within the United States, introduced March 7, 2013
S.729 and S. 730, bills to investigate and prosecute felons and fugitives who illegally purchase firearms, and to prevent criminals from obtaining firearms through straw purchases and trafficking, introduced March 15, 2013
S.1336, a bill to permit States to require proof of citizenship for registering to vote in federal elections, introduced July 17, 2013
S.2170, a bill to increase coal, natural gas, and crude oil exports, to approve the construction of theKeystone XL Pipeline, to expand oil drilling offshore, onshore, in theNational Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, and in Indian reservations, to give states the sole power of regulatinghydraulic fracturing, to repeal theRenewable Fuel Standard, to prohibit theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulatinggreenhouse gases, to require the EPA to assess how new regulations will affect employment, and to earmark natural resource revenue to paying off the federal government's debt, introduced March 27, 2014
S.2415, a bill to amend theFederal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to eliminate all limits on direct campaign contributions to candidates for public office, introduced June 3, 2014
Government shutdown of 2013
EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:
Cruz has consistently denied any involvement in the 2013 government shutdown, even though he cast several votes to prolong it and was blamed by many in his party for prompting it.[133][134]
Under the headline "A bipartisan message to Iran", Cruz thanked PresidentBarack Obama for signing S. 2195 into law. The letter, published in the magazinePolitico on April 18, 2014, starts with "Thanks to President Obama for joining a unanimous Congress and signing S. 2195 into law". Cruz also thanked senators from both political parties for "swiftly passing this legislation and sending it to the White House".[139][140][141]
Committee assignments
In his first two years in the Senate, Cruz attended 17 of 50 public Armed Services Committee hearings, 3 of 25 Commerce Committee hearings, and 4 of the 12 Judiciary Committee hearings, and he missed 21 of 135 roll call votes during the first three months of 2015.[142]
In a November 2014 Senate speech, Cruz accused President Obama of being "openly desirous to destroy the Constitution and this Republic".[144] In the same speech, Cruz invoked the speeches of the ancientRoman senatorCiceroagainst Catiline to denounce Obama's planned executive actions on immigration reform.[144] Classics Professor Jesse Weiner, writing inThe Atlantic, said that Cruz's analogy was "deeply disquieting" because "In casting Obama in the role of Catiline, Cruz unsubtly suggests that the sitting president was not lawfully elected and is the perpetrator of a violent insurrection to overthrow the government ... In effect, he accuses the president of high treason. Regardless of one's views on immigration reform and the Obama administration at large, this is dangerous rhetoric."[144]
Cruz has repeatedly said that the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran "will make the Obama administration the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism".[145] In response, Obama called Cruz's statements an example of "outrageous attacks" from Republican critics that crossed the line of responsible discourse: "We've had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for President, suggest that I'm the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Maybe this is just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines, but it's not the kind of leadership that is needed for America right now."[145] Former Republican presidential nomineeMitt Romney also criticized Cruz's remarks, writing that although he, too, opposed the Iran agreement, Cruz's statement connecting Obama to terrorism was "way over the line" and "hurts the cause".[146][147]
After the death ofAssociate JusticeAntonin Scalia, Cruz said that the winner of the2016 U.S. presidential election, rather than Obama, should appoint a new Justice.[148] In June 2016, Cruz blamed the Obama administration for theOrlando nightclub shooting, reasoning that it did not track the perpetratorOmar Mateen properly while he was on the terrorist watch-list.[149] Following theterrorist attack onNice, France, Cruz said in a statement that the country was at risk as a result of the Obama administration having a "willful blindness" to radical Islamists.[150] With the death ofFidel Castro in November, Cruz charged Obama with celebrating and lionizing Castro in public statements he made addressing the death.[151] On December 28, afterSecretary of StateJohn Kerry gave a speech defending the U.S.'s decision to allow a U.N. resolution to pass that condemned Israeli settlements "on land meant to be part of a future Palestinian state", Cruz denounced the speech as "disgraceful", and said that history would remember Obama and Kerry as "relentless enemies of Israel". Cruz also accused the Obama administration of having a "radical anti-Israel agenda".[152]
Cruz was one ofDonald Trump's most vocal critics during the 2016 presidential campaign, with the two often exchanging heated comments directed at each other, and Cruz's family.[153]
After several contentious personal exchanges, on May 3, 2016, Cruz said of Trump:
This man is a pathological liar. He doesn't know the difference between truth and lies. He lies...practically every word that comes out of his mouth. And in a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying.[154]
But Cruz eventually became an important Trump ally in the Senate.[155][156] In late January 2017, Cruz praised Supreme Court nomineeNeil Gorsuch as "brilliant and immensely talented" in a written statement.[157] On February 23, while speaking at the 2017CPAC, Cruz showed interest in Trump's nomination of a young justice in the mold of Scalia andClarence Thomas.[158] On March 1, he called Trump'sjoint address to Congress the previous day "positive" and "unifying".[159] Cruz said that during his visit to theMar-a-Lago estate on March 18, he spoke with affiliates of Trump while negotiating theAmerican Health Care Act.[160] On April 6, shortly after theShayrat missile strike, he released a statement displaying his interest in having Trump appeal to Congress to take "military action inSyria" to prevent Islamic terrorists from acquiring weapons stored in Syria.[161]
In April 2018, in the copy accompanying Trump's entry on theTime 100 most influential people of 2017, Cruz wrote, "President Trump is doing what he was elected to do: disrupt the status quo."[162] Cruz's authorship was criticized by Charles Pierce ofEsquire,[163] Jay Willis ofGQ,[164] and CNN'sChris Cillizza.[162]
Cruz endorsed Trump for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.[165]
Friction with fellow Republican members of Congress
Cruz has used harsh rhetoric against fellow Republican politicians, and his relationships with various Republican members of Congress have been strained.[166][167] In 2013, he called Republicans he considered insufficiently resistant to Obama's proposals a "surrender caucus".[166] He also called fellow Republicans "squishes" on gun-control issues during a Tea Party rally.[166] Cruz's role in the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 in particular attracted criticism from a number of Republican colleagues.[167] Republican SenatorJohn McCain was reported to have particularly disliked Cruz; in a Senate floor speech in 2013, McCain denounced Cruz'sreference to Nazis when discussing theAffordable Care Act.[167] In March 2013, McCain also called Cruz and others "wacko birds" whose beliefs are not "reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans".[167] During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, John Boehner described Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh";[168] in an interview, Lindsey Graham said, "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."[169]
In a heated Senate floor speech in July 2015, Cruz accused Senate Republican LeaderMitch McConnell of telling "a flat-out lie" over his intentions to reauthorize theExport-Import Bank of the United States, which Cruz opposes. "What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what he told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again was a simple lie", Cruz said.[170] His "incendiary outburst" was "unusual in the cordial atmosphere of the Senate", according toReuters.[170][171] In the same speech, Cruz assailed the "Republican majority in both houses of Congresses" for what he called an insufficiently conservative record.[171] His speech, and especially his accusation against McConnell, was condemned by various senior Republican senators, with McCain saying that the speech was "outside the realm of Senate behavior" and "a very wrong thing to do".[172]Orrin Hatch expressed a similar opinion: "I don't condone the use of that kind of language against another senator unless they can show definitive proof that there was a lie ... And I know the leader didn't lie."[173] Cruz alleged that McConnell scheduled a vote on the Ex-Im Bank as part of a deal to persuade Democrats likeMaria Cantwell to stop blocking a trade bill; McConnell denied there was any "deal", and that denial was what Cruz called a "lie". Hatch said McConnell did pledge to help Cantwell get a vote on the Ex-Im Bank.[174]
Among Cruz's few close allies in the Senate isMike Lee of Utah.[175][176] Cruz has expressed pride in his reputation for having few allies, saying in June 2015 that he has been vilified for fighting "the Washington cartel".[177]
When Boehner resigned from the House in September 2015, Cruz expressed his concern that before resigning Boehner might have "cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of its tenure".[178] The next month, the budget agreement passed in the House by a vote of 266 to 187, with unanimous support from Democrats and Boehner, lifting the debt ceiling through March 2017. Cruz called the agreement "complete and utter surrender".[179]
Cruz is one of the Senate Republicans in favor of the "nuclear option", "to speed up consideration of President Trump's nominees". Changing the Senate's rules to a simple majority vote would "ensure a quicker pace on Trump's court picks".[180]
U.S. Supreme Court
In September 2020, Trump included Cruz on ashortlist, alongside fellow SenatorsTom Cotton andJosh Hawley, for possible appointment to the Supreme Court. Cruz declined consideration for the position.[181]
2020 presidential election
Cruz backed a failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court attempting tooverturn or nullify the2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania filed by U.S. RepresentativeMike Kelly, which argued that thePennsylvania Constitution requires in-person voting except in narrow and defined circumstances; theSupreme Court of Pennsylvania had already rejected this argument.[182][183][184] The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case or issue an injunction and Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes were cast for Joe Biden.[185] Cruz later led an effort by a group of Republican senators to refuse to count Pennsylvania'sElectoral College votes,[186][187] citing baseless allegations of fraud.[188] He attacked critics of his attempts to challenge the election results for using "angry language", suggesting that they were increasing tensions amid a volatile situation.[189]
Electoral College vote count and storming of the United States Capitol
As part of theattempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost, Texas attorney generalKen Paxton fileda suit with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to have election results in four states nullified. Cruz, who had previously argued nine cases before the Supreme Court, agreed to Trump's request to argue the Paxton suit should it come before the Court, though it did not. Cruz also garnered the support of ten other senators for a plan by his decades-long friend, Trump attorneyJohn Eastman, to delay the January 6 electoral vote certification for ten days to allow Republican legislatures in six key states Biden had won to consider submitting slates of Trump electors, based on false allegations of widespread voting fraud. Cruz said he was he was "leading the charge" to prevent Biden's certification as president.[190][191]
On January 6, 2021, during the debate about whether Congress should accept Arizona's electoral votes, Cruz said that 39% of Americans believed the 2020 presidential election was rigged, but that "I am not arguing for setting aside the result of this election".[192] Some observers think Cruz knew claims about fraud in the election were inaccurate and that this speech and his earlier statements were attempts to mislead for political gain.[192] 39% of Americans said they "strongly" or "somewhat agree" that "I am concerned that the election is rigged"; an Ipsos spokesman noted that only 28% agreed the outcome was "the result of illegal voting or election rigging".[193][194]
Congress's counting of the Electoral College votes was interrupted by aninsurrectionist mob thatstormed the United States Capitol after a rally near the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.[195]
When Congress reconvened that evening to continue the count, Cruz voted to object to Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes.[196] The Senate rejected these objections by 93–6 and 92–7, respectively.[197] TheTexas Democratic Party called on Cruz to resign, saying that his efforts to block Biden's lawful victory empowered the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol.[198] The Texas Democratic Party also called on theU.S. Department of Justice to open an official investigation into Cruz for inciting sedition and treason.[199][200][201] TheHouston Chronicle called for Cruz to resign.[202] TheSan Antonio Express-News called for Cruz to beexpelled from the Senate.[203] Thousands of lawyers and law students called for him to be disbarred for inciting the insurrection.[204] President-elect Biden and Republican senatorPat Toomey both said Cruz was complicit in the "big lie" of Trump's allegations ofvoter fraud.[205] Republican operative Chad Sweet, the chair of Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign, denounced Cruz for "assault on our democracy".[206] Several corporations halted donations to Cruz and other Republicans who voted to overturn the election based on Trump's false claims.[207][208][209] Lauren Blair Bianchi, Cruz's communications director, resigned.[210]
On May 28, 2021, Cruz voted against creatingan independent commission to investigate the riot.[211] On the eve of the anniversary of the attack, he was recorded on video calling it a "violent terrorist attack", which drew sharp criticism from Fox News hostTucker Carlson on his program that night. Cruz appeared on Carlson's program the next night to apologize for that comment as "frankly dumb" and "sloppy". The next day CNN reported that Cruz had characterized the attack as terrorism at least 17 times during the preceding year.[212][213][214] Despite his attempts to downplay the incident, Cruz was widely condemned bypro-Trump Republicans—especiallyMatt Gaetz andMarjorie Taylor Greene[215]—for his comments.
Cancún controversy and July 2025 Texas flash floods
In February 2021, during ahistoric winter storm, up to 4.3 million Texas residents were left without power and millions of others without drinking water, including Cruz and his family. In the middle of the storm, Cruz and his family were spotted on a plane heading toCancún, Mexico, where they planned to stay at the luxuryRitz Carlton hotel and escape their home, which Heidi Cruz called in a text message "FREEZING".[216][217][218] Cruz requested that the Houston police escort him and his family through the airport.[219]
Cruz left the family poodle, Snowflake, alone inside the house without heat; reporters saw the dog through the window of the front door of the dark and empty house.[220] Later, a self-identified security guard told a reporter he was caring for the dog.[221]
Cruz's political allies and rivals condemned him for leaving Texas during a crisis and traveling internationally during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[216] Cruz initially said he was taking his daughters on a weeklong vacation from school at their request, in an attempt to be a "good dad".[222] Later that day, he returned to Texas, after allowing his family to stay in Mexico, saying that the vacation was a mistake.[223] Protesters calling for his resignation greeted him in front of his house upon his return.[224] After returning from Cancún, Cruz volunteered inHouston to help with recovery efforts.[225]
When theJuly 2025 Central Texas floods began, Cruz was on vacation inGreece. His office said he returned to Texas "as fast as humanly possible" after the flooding began.[226][227] But he was seen visiting theParthenon inAthens with his wife on Saturday, a day after a flash flood along the Guadalupe River in central Texas killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children and counselors at a camp.[228] Cruz inserted language into theOne Big Beautiful Bill Act that eliminated $150 million in funding to "accelerate advances & improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, and dissemination of info to the public" aboutweather forecasting, prompting criticism from environmental groups.[228]
Cruz speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland
As early as 2013, Cruz was widely expected to run for the presidency in 2016.[229][230][231] On March 14, 2013, he gave the keynote speech at the annualConservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC.[232] He tied for 7th place in the 2013 CPAC straw poll on March 16, winning 4% of the votes cast.[233] In October 2013, Cruz won theValues Voter Summit presidential straw poll with 42% of the vote.[234] Cruz finished first in two presidential straw polls conducted in 2014 with 30.33% of the vote at theRepublican Leadership Conference[235] and 43% of the vote at theRepublican Party of Texas state convention.[236]
Cruz did speaking events in mid-2013 across Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, all earlyprimary states, leading to further speculation that he was laying the groundwork for a2016 bid.[237] Legal analystJeffrey Toobin described Cruz as the first potential presidential candidate to emphasizeoriginalism as a major national issue.[50]
On April 12, 2014, Cruz spoke at the Freedom Summit, an event organized byAmericans for Prosperity andCitizens United.[238] The event was attended by several potential presidential candidates.[239] In his speech, Cruz mentioned that Latinos, young people and single mothers are the people most affected by the recession, and that the Republican Party should make outreach efforts to these constituents. He also said that the words "growth and opportunity" should be tattooed on the hands of every Republican politician.[238]
Cruz delivered one of many State of the Union responses in January 2015.[240]
On March 23, 2015, Cruz started his 2016 presidential campaign for the Republican primaries and caucuses, in a morning speech delivered atLiberty University inLynchburg, Virginia.[241] Also, at the same hour, he posted on his Twitter page: "I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!"[242] He was the first major Republican presidential candidate for the2016 campaign.[243][244] During the primary campaign, his base of support was mainly amongsocial conservatives, though he had crossover appeal to other factions within his party, including in particularlibertarian conservatives.[245][246]
HarperCollins published Cruz's bookA Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America on June 30, 2015.[247] The book reached the bestseller list of several organizations in its first week of release.[248][249]
In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Cruz received over 7.8 million votes,[250][251] won 12 states, and earned 559 delegates.[252] He raised nearly $92 million, a record for a Republican primary candidate, much of it from small online donors. The Cruz campaign had more than 325,000 volunteers.[253]
On March 1, 2016, Super Tuesday, Cruz won Texas by 17%, along withAlaska andOklahoma, providing him with four state primary victories total.[259] In theTexas primary, he received the most votes in all but six of the state's 254 counties.[260] On March 5, Cruz won theKansas andMaine caucuses, giving him six statewide wins.[261][262][263]
Cruz won his widest margin up to that point in Kansas, where he beat front-runnerDonald Trump by 25 points.[264] With his victories over Trump in Texas, Kansas, and Maine, he established himself as the candidate with the best opportunity to defeat Trump, the leading contender for the nomination.[265][266]
On March 8, 2016, Cruz won theIdaho primary with 45% of vote—defeating Trump by 17% and earning his seventh statewide victory.[267] He placed second inMichigan,Mississippi, andHawaii.[267] On March 12, Cruz won theWyoming county conventions with 67% of the vote and 9 delegates, giving him his eighth statewide win.[268] On March 22, Cruz won theUtah Caucus with 69.2% of the vote, versusJohn Kasich with 16.8% and Trump with 14%.[269] Because he surpassed the 50% winner-take-all threshold, he won all 40 ofUtah's delegates. This win was his ninth. On April 3, North Dakota elected a slate of delegates dominated by pro-Cruz delegates. Cruz received the support of the majority of the delegates.[270]
On April 6, 2016, Cruz won the Wisconsin primary with 48.2% of the vote to Trump's 35.1%. It was Cruz's tenth statewide win. He won 36 of the 42 delegates available in Wisconsin. Trump received the other six. On April 2 and 7–9, Cruz swept theColorado congressional district and state conventions, taking all 34 delegates.[271][272][273][274] This gave Cruz his 11th state win. On April 16, Cruz won all 14 ofWyoming's at-large delegates in the state convention. This secured the majority of state delegates, giving Cruz his 12th state win.[275] On April 27, he said that, if he were selected as the party's nominee, he would choose formerCEO ofHP andfellow2016 Republican presidential candidateCarly Fiorina as his vice-presidential running mate.[276] Shortly after losing overwhelmingly to Trump in the Indiana primary on May 3, Cruz suspended his campaign.[277]
Cruz has said that when he was a child, his mother told him that she would have to formally requestCanadian citizenship for him, so he and his family had always assumed he was not a Canadian citizen.[278] In August 2013, after theDallas Morning News pointed out that he haddual Canadian-American citizenship,[279][280] he applied to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship and ceased being a citizen of Canada on May 14, 2014.[278][281]
Several lawsuits and ballot challenges asserting that Cruz was ineligible to become U.S. president were filed at the time.[282][283][284][285][286][287][288] None were successful, and in February 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections ruled in Cruz's favor, stating, "The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth."[289]
Shortly after the campaign's end, Cruz indicated that he would restart the bid if successful in the Nebraska primary,[290] which Trump later won.[291]
In the months following, several publications noted that Cruz still had not endorsed Trump,[292][293] Cruz explaining in June that he was "watching and assessing" to determine if he would support him in the forthcoming general election.[294] On July 7, after a meeting with Trump, he confirmed that he would speak at the2016 Republican National Convention.[295]
In his speech on July 20, the third day of the convention, Cruz congratulated Trump but did not endorse him. He instead told listeners to "vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution". The speech was met with boos and a negative reception among the crowd.[296] The following day at the Texas Republican delegation breakfast, Cruz defended his choice to not endorse Trump: "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi, that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say, 'Thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.'"[297][298] On September 23, 2016, he publicly endorsed Trump for president.[299]
On October 10, after the2005 audio recording of Trump was released and several Republicans retracted their endorsements, Cruz reaffirmed his support, calling Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton "manifestly unfit to be president".[300] On November 15, he met with President-elect Trump atTrump Tower inNew York City. It had been reported that Trump was considering Cruz for the position ofU.S. Attorney General, but the position went toAlabama SenatorJeff Sessions.[301] On November 28, in light of Trump showing a softer tone on his campaign promises, Cruz warned that justified backlash could ensue if he strayed from them.[302]
Cruz was backed by the billionaire Mercer family, includingRobert and his daughterRebekah.[303]
In June 2025, on behalf of thetech industry, Cruz introduced an amendment to theOne Big Beautiful Bill Act imposing a decade-longmoratorium on attempts to regulateAI by the states or the federal government. It was voted down, 99-1.[307]
Communism
Cruz was a critic of theCuban thaw, saying onFox News in December 2014 that the rapprochement was a "manifestation of the failures of the Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy" that "will be remembered as a tragic mistake".[308]
In July 2018, Cruz spoke at the Rally for Religious Freedom inAsia. He said, "It is a pleasure to be here and stand in solidarity for the men and women across this globe who have been persecuted by communists.... We must stand united, in shining light, in highlighting heroism, in highlighting courage, in speaking out for those like my family, like so many millions across the globe who've seen the jackboot of communism firsthand."[309]
Crime, guns, and drug policy
Cruz has called for an end to "overcriminalization, harsh mandatory minimum sentences, and the demise of jury trials".[310] He supports thedeath penalty.[311] In his 2012 Senate campaign, Cruz frequently mentioned his role as counsel for the State of Texas inMedellín v. Texas, a 2008 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that Texas has the right to ignorean order from theInternational Court of Justice directing the U.S. to review the convictions and sentences of dozens of Mexican nationals on death row.[312] He has calledMedellín the most important case of his tenure as Texas solicitor general.[312]
In an interview with radio hostHugh Hewitt discussing the attack that killed three people at aPlanned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Cruz said that "the simple and undeniable fact is the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats", and claimed that Democrats are "soft on crime" because "convicted felons tend to vote Democratic".[315]
In August 2015, in the wake of the ambush death of a Texas police officer who was gunned down while filling up at a gas station, Cruz said that police are "feeling the assault from the President, from the top on down, as we see—whether it's inFerguson or Baltimore, the response from senior officials, the President or the Attorney General, is to vilify law enforcement. That's wrong. It's fundamentally wrong. It's endangering all of our safety and security."[316]
Cruz and PresidentDonald Trump, after signing the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017
Cruz opposeslegalizing cannabis, but believes it should be decided at the state level.[321] After Colorado legalized cannabis, he said, "If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that's their prerogative. I personally don't agree with it, but that's their right."[322]
Economy
Cruz has been described by theCato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies as a "free trader"[323] and as a "free-trade advocate" byThe Wall Street Journal.[324] In 2013, he proposed the abolition of theIRS and the implementation of aflat tax "where the average American can fill out taxes on a postcard".[325] Cruz is "adamantly opposed to a higherminimum wage".[326]
Cruz wants to decrease the size of the government significantly. In addition to eliminating the IRS as described above, he has promised to eliminate four other cabinet-level agencies: the Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Commerce, and Department of Housing and Urban Development.[327]
Cruz voted against theWater Resources Development Act of 2013 that would have created the National Endowment for the Oceans and authorized more than $26 billion in projects to be built by theArmy Corps of Engineers, at least $16 billion of which would have come from federal taxpayers.[336][337] He voted against the bill because it neglected "to reduce a substantial backlog of projects, to the detriment of projects with national implications, such as theSabine–Neches Waterway".[338] Cruz said the Corps' responsibilities were expanded without providing adequate measures for state participation.[338] Proponents of the bill argued that it would provide steady funding to support research and restoration projects, funded primarily by dedicating 12.5% of revenues from offshore energy development, including oil, gas, and renewable energy, through offshore lease sales and production based royalty payments, distributed through a competitive grant program.[339]
In 2017, Cruz was one of 22 senators to sign a letter[340] addressed to Trump urging him to withdraw from theParis Agreement. According toOpenSecrets, Cruz has received more than $2.5 million in campaign contributions from oil, gas and coal interests since 2012.[341] He has a lifetime score of 3% on the National Environmental Scorecard of theLeague of Conservation Voters.[342]
Cruz is a supporter ofTransCanada'sKeystone XL Pipeline,[343] and following the Republican senate whip, was a cosponsor of legislation in support of the pipeline.[344]
Federal Reserve
In a 2014 opinion editorial inUSA Today, Cruz wrote that auditing theFederal Reserve System was a top Republican priority in 2015 and that he supported legislation that would allow theGovernment Accountability Office to evaluate the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Federal Reserve chairwomanJanet Yellen, whose confirmation Cruz tried to prevent, said in her confirmation hearing that she opposed any audit of the Federal Reserve and "for 50 years Congress has recognized that there should be an exception to GAO ability to audit the Fed to avoid any political interference in monetary policy."[345][346]
Cruz said in 2025 that he first ran for Senate in 2012 "with the stated intention of being the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate".[347][348] He has said that "those who hate Israel hate America",[349] and in reference to Genesis 12:3 said: "Biblically, we are commanded to support Israel".[348][350]
In June 2017, Cruz co-sponsored theIsrael Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts againstIsrael andIsraeli settlements in theWest Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[352][353]
In October 2025, Cruz criticized growingantisemitism on the right and warned of a resurgence ofreplacement theology underpinning anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment.[354]
In June 2025, during theIran–Israel war, Cruz told Fox News: "I think it is very much in the interest of America to see regime change", and that there is "no redeeming the Ayatollah".[357] In an interview withTucker Carlson, he said that Iran had tried to assassinateDonald Trump,[358] and that a Bible phrase saying that those who "bless Israel" will be blessed justifies supporting Israel's attacks on Iran.[359][347][360] Cruz was unable to quote the passage or name its location when pressed by Carlson.[347] Carlson criticized Cruz for not knowing the population of Iran, telling him: "You don't know anything about the country whose government you want to overthrow".[358][361] Cruz initially told Carlson, "We are carrying out military strikes today", before appearing to correct himself: "Israel is leading them, but we're supporting them."[362][363] He accused Carlson of having a "weird [...] obsession with Israel",[358] which Carlson took as an allegation of antisemitism.[364]
Cruz has called for collapsing the Iranian regime, comparing it to the Cold War-era strategy used against the Soviet Union, and has criticized the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, pushing for stronger actions against Iran.[citation needed]
Cruz with President Trump andIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in September 2019Cruz with British Foreign SecretaryDavid Cameron in December 2023
In August 2018, Cruz and 16 other lawmakers urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials responsible forhuman rights abuses against theUyghurMuslim minority in westernChina'sXinjiang region.[368] They wrote, "The detention of as many as a million or more Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in 'political reeducation' centers or camps requires a tough, targeted, and global response."[369]
American video game companyActivision Blizzard punished aHong Kong-based professional gamer for supporting pro-democracyHong Kong protests. Cruz accused Blizzard andApple ofcensorship.[370] He co-signed a letter to Activision Blizzard CEOBobby Kotick that read, "As China amplifies its campaign of intimidation, you and your company must decide whether to look beyond the bottom line and promote American values—like freedom of speech and thought—or to give in to Beijing's demands to preserve market access."[371]
On July 13, 2020, the Chinese governmentsanctioned Cruz and three other U.S. politicians for "interfering in China's internal affairs" by condemning human rights abuses inXinjiang.[372] On August 10, 2020, the Chinese government sanctioned Cruz and 10 other Americans for "behaving badly on Hong Kong-related issues".[373]
In 2022, Cruz sharply criticized the Chinese government for its detention of Houston residentMark Swidan, who had been held for over ten years. The United Nations and U.S. government considered Swidan wrongfully detained. He was released in 2024.[374]
Beginning during his time as a Dublin, California, city councilman,Eric Swalwell was targeted by a Chinese woman believed to be a clandestine officer ofChina'sMinistry of State Security. Swalwell's general relationship with a suspectedChinese agent, Christine Fang, has been characterized as problematic, particularly given his high-profile role as a member of theHouse Intelligence Committee.[375] Cruz tweeted, "More than once, I've said 'screw the Chinese communists'. Little did I know how closely Swalwell was listening."[376]
In September 2016, Cruz backed the Obama administration's plan to sell more than $1.15 billion worth of weapons toSaudi Arabia.[379]
Cruz has called theNord Stream II natural gas pipeline a threat to the security of Europe and the U.S. In December 2019, he and SenatorRon Johnson wrote a letter toEdward Heerema, the owner of the offshore pipe layerAllseas, to warn him of sanctions if Allseas did not suspend its work on the pipeline, which would delivernatural gas from Russia to Germany.[380] Allseas suspended the work a few days later.[381] In December 2020, the Russian pipelaying shipAkademik Cherskiy continued pipelaying.[382] In January, another pipelayer,Fortuna, joined forces with theAkademik Cherskiy to complete the pipeline.[383] On June 4, 2021, Putin announced that the pipelaying for first line of the Nord Stream II was fully completed. On June 10, the pipeline's sections were connected.[384] The second line was completed in September 2021.[385]
A co-sponsor of the 2019 resolution to commemorate theArmenian genocide, Cruz said that whileTurkey is aNATO ally, "We should never be afraid to tell the truth, and alliances grounded in lies are themselves unsustainable."[386]
In March 2023, Cruz voted against repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq.[392]
Hate crimes
Cruz was one of six Republican senators to vote against expanding the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would allow theU.S. Justice Department to review hate crimes related toCOVID-19 and establish an online database.[393][394]
Health care
Cruz questions US Customs and Border Protection leaders onCOVID-19 preparedness in March 2020.
In 2013, Cruz voted against a bill to provide a package of federal aid to the Northern East Coast for recovery fromHurricane Sandy[399] because, he said, the bill was "filled with unrelated pork" and "two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy".The Washington Post disputed this, writing that "the bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters."[400]The New York Times wrote that "of 23 examples of extraneous spending that a spokesman for Mr. Cruz provided, all but one—$195 million in discretionary funds for the secretary of health and human services—were Sandy-related or sought to mitigate future storms, as the law required."[401]
In 2015, in the wake ofsevere flooding in Texas, Cruz supported federal aid funding; and in 2017, called for federal intervention asHurricane Harvey approached the coast of Texas.[402]
Immigration
Cruz took a "hard-line stance" on immigration issues during the2014 border crisis[403] and opposes comprehensive immigration reform.[50][403] He advocates an increase from 65,000 to 325,000 annually in skilled foreign workers entering the United States using H-1B visas.[404] According toMcClatchy, Cruz staked out "hard-right immigration stances" during his 2016 presidential campaign.[405]
Cruz opposes paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children (DREAMers).[406] In February 2018, he was the sole senator to oppose a Republican motion to begin debate on legislation intended to resolve the question of what to do with DREAMers.[407] He has called for the repeal of the clause of the14th amendment that grants citizenship to those born in the United States.[408] He defends the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents,[409][410] blaming the migrant parents for crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum and claiming that the Obama administration maintained a similar policy.[409][410]
In December 2020, Cruz blocked the Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act, which would give Hong Kongers refugee status, citing the threat of spying by China. He said the law was an attempt by Democrats "to advance their long-standing goals on changing immigration laws".[411]
During a May 2021Senate Rules Committee hearing, Cruz falsely asserted that House Democrats had "designed" theFor The People Act such that it "directs" people "to break the law and register millions of people to vote who are not eligible to vote because they are not United States citizens" and "automatically registers to vote anyone who interacts with the government" regardless of their immigration status. The bill repeatedly states only U.S. citizens would be permitted to register.[412]
In September 2024, Cruz tweeted animage macro of two cats hugging with captions that reiterateda false claim by Donald Trump thatHaitian immigrants steal and eat American citizens' pets.[413][414] Some Twitter users condemned Cruz for perpetuating a racist hoax, with several citing hisCancún controversy to doubt the authenticity of his concern for the safety of Americans' pets.[415][416]
In March 2016, about seven months before the forthcoming presidential election, Cruz argued the Senate should not consider Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court on the grounds that "this should be a decision for the people. Let the election decide. If the Democrats want to replace this nominee, they need to win the election". In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Cruz supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg's death.[417]
During Donald Trump's presidency, Cruz and fellow Texas SenatorJohn Cornyn contributed to the appointment of multiple conservative judges to federal courts with jurisdiction over Texas.[418][419][420][421]
Military
Cruz has criticized the U.S. military for becoming "emasculated" by its recruiting efforts, comparing those efforts unfavorably to the Russian military's.[422][423] He accused Democratic politicians of trying to transform "the greatest military on earth" into "pansies".[422] He has claimed the military is debilitated and its "ability to project power and obtain air superiority is tragically anemic".[424] Blaming "bloated bureaucracy and social experiments", Cruz has proposed reducing the size of the active duty military while increasing spending.[425]
Internet and data policies
Cruz opposesnet neutrality—which prevents Internet service providers from deliberately blocking or slowing particular websites—arguing that the Internet economy has flourished in the United States simply because it has remained largely free from government regulation.[426] He has argued that net neutrality is the "Obamacare for the internet".[427][428] Cruz said that the Obama-era implementation of the principle of net neutrality had the "end result" of "less broadband, less innovation, and less freedom for the American consumer".[428] In December 2017, after the Republican-controlledFederal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, he mocked supporters of net neutrality as "snowflakes" who were misled by "online propaganda".[429]
In January 2025, Cruz and SenatorsChris Murphy,Katie Britt, andBrian Schatz introduced theKids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA). SenatorsJohn Curtis,Peter Welch,John Fetterman,Ted Budd,Mark Warner, andAngus King also co-sponsored the Act,[430] which would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding "algorithmically targeted" content to users under 17. Cruz said: "Every parent I know is concerned about the online threats to kids—from predators to videos promoting self-harm, risky behavior, or low self-esteem. Many families have suffered due to Big Tech's failure to take responsibility for its products. The Kids Off Social Media Act addresses these issues by supporting families in crisis and empowering teachers to better manage their classrooms".[431][432][433]
In October 2025, Cruz was the sole senator who objected to the Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act, which would extend the data protections afforded to government officials and their families to all Americans.[434]
Outsourcing of jobs
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Cruz strongly denounced outsourcing American jobs to other countries, alleging that any politician who allowed it to happen was betraying their constituents. He pinned some of his blame on then-President Obama, saying that Obama had overseen outsourcing for the previous seven years. Cruz's denunciation of Obama was criticized byPolitiFact, which found that the modern pattern of American outsourcing, while prevalent during the Obama years, had started earlier.[435] During the campaign, one of Cruz's promises was to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. His choice of running mate, Carly Fiorina, was met with pushback due to her record of outsourcing, but he defended her.[436] In 2022, Cruz voted againstBernie Sanders's proposed measure for theUnited States Innovation and Competition Act, which promised to fundsemiconductor manufacturers amid a shortage of their products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure would block semiconductor manufacturers funded by the bill from outsourcing their jobs and forbid them to dissuade their employees from forming unions.[437][438]
In 2013, Cruz said he wanted marriage to be legally defined as only "between one man and one woman",[443] but also that the legality of same-sex marriage should beleft to each state to decide.[444] In 2015, after the Supreme Court found same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional inObergefell , he called the decision "the very definition of tyranny",[445] accused the court ofjudicial activism, and said it was "among the darkest hours of our nation".[446]
In 2017, the same day that an audio clip resurfaced of Alabama JudgeRoy Moore callingObergefell "worse" than the1857 ruling that upheld slavery, Cruz endorsed Moore for U.S. Senate.[447] He reaffirmed his position in 2022 after comments by JusticeClarence Thomas.[448] While speaking to students at a summit forTurning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses, Cruz joked that his favoredpersonal pronoun is "kiss my ass".[449]
In 2022, Cruz voted against theRespect for Marriage Act.[450] In July 2022, he issued a press release saying that he supported the repeal of the 1845 Texas anti-sodomy law, writing, "consenting adults should be able to do what they wish in their private sexual activity, and the government has no business in their bedrooms."[451][452] Cruz compared the vandalism anddestruction of monuments and memorials in the United States to the 2001 destruction of the giantBuddhas of Bamiyan by theTaliban.[453]
Podcast
Cruz andMichael J. Knowles started a podcast,Verdict with Ted Cruz, on January 21, 2020. The first episodes were summaries of the impeachment hearings of Donald Trump. After the hearings ended the podcast expanded its content to include other topics and interviews, including with Washington politicians such as U.S. SenatorsTim Scott,Lindsey Graham, andMike Lee, Trump administration officials including White House Chief of StaffMark Meadows, then-U.S. Attorney GeneralBill Barr, U.S. Secretary of EducationBetsy DeVos, and actorsJon Voight andIsaiah Washington.[454]
In October 2022,Verdict with Ted Cruz picked up corporate partneriHeartRadio. The podcast also expanded to three times a week andBen Ferguson replaced Knowles as co-host.[455] iHeartMedia introduced the program onto its conservative talk radio stations via its network wing Premiere Networks in 2025, making Cruz the first sitting U.S. senator to host a national radio show.[456] Cruz does not receive payment for hosting the podcast to avoid campaign finance complications.[456]
Books
Cruz, Ted (2015).A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America. Broadside Books.ISBN978-0-06-236561-3.
Cruz, Ted (2020).One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History. Regnery.ISBN978-1-68451-134-1.
Cruz, Ted (2022).Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System. Regnery.ISBN978-1-68451-361-1.
Cruz, Ted (2023).Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America. Regnery.ISBN978-1-68451-362-8.
Personal life
Cruz with his wife, Heidi, at a rally inHouston, March 2015
Cruz has joked, "I'm Cuban, Irish, and Italian, and yet somehow I ended upSouthern Baptist."[462] He is fond of wearingcowboy boots, but he refrained from doing so when arguing before the Rehnquist court.[463] As of 2018, according toOpenSecrets, Cruz's net worth was more than $3.1 million.[464] On March 8, 2020, Cruz began self-isolation after contact with a person infected withCOVID-19 at theACU'sConservative Political Action Conference. Staying at his home in Texas,[465] he avoided contact with colleagues and constituents for 14 days. Cruz said he had been advised that the odds of contracting the virus were very low.[466] In 2023, he cameoed inThe Daily Wire comedy filmLady Ballers.[467]
^Cruz, Ted (2015).A Time For Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America. New York, NY: Broadside Books.ISBN978-0-06-236561-3.
^abcCosta, Robert (August 28, 2013)."The Rise of Rafael Cruz".National Review. RetrievedAugust 28, 2013.Born in Matanzas, Cuba, he grew up in the Cuba middle class in the 1950s, as the son of an RCA salesman and an elementary-school teacher. As a teenager, he grew to detest the regime ofFulgencio Batista. He and some of his schoolmates frequently clashed with Batista's officials. Eventually, he linked up with Castro's guerrilla groups and supported their attempts to overthrow Batista. It's a decision he still regrets. His move toward Castro, he explains, was mostly due to his anger with Batista's government, which at one point imprisoned him and tortured him for his work with the revolutionaries. He says he never shared Castro's Communism, but at the time, it was the best way to fight Batista's oppression. By age 18, in 1957, he knew he needed to get out, and a friend essentially bribed an official to secure him an exit permit.
^abcOlsen, Lise (October 13, 2012)."Cruz's life defies simplification".Houston Chronicle. RetrievedAugust 28, 2013.The ex-revolutionary pastor regularly stumps for his son, whom he's compared to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah – a relentless advocate with "fire in his bones". Ted, he says, is "not going to Washington to compromise"
^Mackey, Maureen (March 23, 2015)."Ted Cruz: 20 Things You Didn't Know About Him".Fiscal Times. RetrievedApril 23, 2015.7: He graduated from Houston's Second Baptist High School in 1988 and was valedictorian of his class. Dunham, Richard (October 15, 2012)."Profile: A man of many contrasts, Ted Cruz defies easy stereotypes".Houston Chronicle. RetrievedApril 23, 2015.Cruz was one of only two Hispanics when he transferred to Houston's Second Baptist School his junior year. He graduated valedictorian in 1988. Miller, Jake (March 19, 2015)."Will grassroots support be enough for Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016?".CBS News. RetrievedApril 23, 2015.He graduated valedictorian of his high school in 1988, attended Princeton University for his undergraduate studies, and received his law degree from Harvard University. Barbash, Fred (March 23, 2015)."Why Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., is the perfect launchpad for Ted Cruz".The Washington Post. RetrievedApril 23, 2015.The last time he spoke there, Cruz made no mention of his Ivy League degrees but recalled fondly his memories of Second Baptist High School in Houston, where he was valedictorian, and how his wife was the daughter and granddaughter of missionaries. "Ted Cruz".Biography.com. 2015. RetrievedApril 23, 2015.The valedictorian of his class at Houston's Second Baptist High School, Cruz went on to Princeton University.
^Horowitz, Jason (April 22, 2015)."Ted Cruz Showed Eloquence, and Limits, as Debater at Princeton".The New York Times. RetrievedApril 25, 2015.By the time he was a senior at Princeton University in 1992, Ted Cruz had developed an arsenal of rhetorical skills and theatrical gestures that made him one of the most polished performers on the college debate circuit.
^abcdefghi"R. (Ted) Edward Cruz, Attorney Biography". Houston, Texas: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. March 29, 2011. Archived fromthe original on May 21, 2010. RetrievedDecember 30, 2013 – viaWayback Machine.R. (Ted) Edward Cruz is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and leads the firm's U.S. Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Practice.
^abBatheja, Aman (July 23, 2012)."For Cruz, Supreme Court Work at Heart of Campaign".Texas Tribune. RetrievedAugust 21, 2013.We ended up year after year arguing some of the biggest cases in the country. There was a degree of serendipity in that, but there was also a concerted effort to seek out and lead conservative fights.
^Elk Grove Unified School District and David W. Gordon, Superintendent vs. Michael A. Newdow, et al., No. 02-1624, Amici Curiae Brief (Supreme Court of the United States December 2003) ("Because of Their 'History and Ubiquity', Acknowledgments of Religion in Patriotic or Historical Contexts Are Entirely Consistent with the Establishment Clause.").
^abCunningham, Larry (2005). "The Innocent Prisoner and the Appellate Prosecutor Some Thoughts on Post-Conviction Prosecutorial Ethics after Dretke v Haley".Criminal Justice Ethics.24 (2): 13.doi:10.1080/0731129X.2005.9992185.S2CID145639890.SSRN1152792.
^Lindell, Chuck (August 27, 2010)."Court gets OK for Toyota contempt hearing".Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2016.Under Texas law, the trial court lost all jurisdiction in the case 30 days after Green's lawsuit was dismissed, Toyota's appellate lawyer, Ted Cruz of Houston, told the Supreme Court in briefs.
^abHartfield, Elizabeth (July 31, 2012)."Ted Cruz Wins In Texas GOP Senate Runoff".ABC News. RetrievedMarch 25, 2015.Dewhurst enjoyed a huge financial advantage over Cruz. According toOpenSecrets, Dewhurst poured $11 million of his own personal fortune—he founded a successful energy company called Falcon Seaboard—into his campaign, spending a total of $19 million, as compared to Cruz's $7 million spent.
^State of Texas (July 31, 2012)."Election Results".Office of the Secretary of State. Archived fromthe original on January 9, 2014. RetrievedAugust 17, 2013.
^Manning, Rick (December 27, 2013)."Ted Cruz: 2013 Person of the Year".The Hill. Washington, D.C.: Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. RetrievedDecember 28, 2013.No politician had a greater impact on the past year than freshman U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz came from the Lone Star State not owing the D.C. political establishment anything, after he beat the chosen replacement for Kay Bailey Hutchison in an underfunded, grassroots driven Republican primary election.
^Schleifer, Theodore (March 21, 2015)."Ted Cruz to announce presidential bid Monday".Houston Chronicle.Houston, Texas. RetrievedMarch 22, 2015.Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.
^Cruz, Ted (June 30, 2015).A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America: Ted Cruz: 9780062365613: Amazon.com: Books. HarperCollins.ISBN978-0062365613.
^Thrush, Glenn (July 18, 2016)."Ted Cruz contemplates the unthinkable".Politico.Washington, D.C. RetrievedJuly 18, 2016.The first-term senator won 8 million votes, 600 delegates and 12 states. He raised nearly $92 million — a record for a GOP primary candidate, much of it from small online donors. He ran by far the best ground operation of any GOP campaign this year, with more than 325,000 volunteers flocking to Cruz's call for a grass-roots Republican renewal.
^abCollinson, Stephen (February 2, 2016)."Iowa caucus results: Ted Cruz wins, Hillary Clinton declares victory". Atlanta, Georgia:CNN. RetrievedFebruary 6, 2016.Cruz's victory sets him up as a formidable force in delegate-rich, Southern states to come and offers movement conservatives hope that one of their own can become the Republican nominee for the first time since Ronald Reagan.
^McCullough, Jolie (March 2, 2016)."Cruz, Clinton Grab Most Votes in Almost Every Texas County".Texas Tribune. Austin, Texas. RetrievedMarch 2, 2016.With 100% of precincts reporting, Cruz, came away with 1,239,158 votes, or 43.8% of the total. Donald Trump followed behind with 757,489 votes, or 26.7% of the vote. Cruz, one of the state's two U.S. senators, got the most votes in all but six of the state's 254 counties.
^Martin, Jonathan (March 5, 2016)."Ted Cruz Wins Kansas Caucuses as 5 States Vote on 'Super Saturday'".The New York Times. New York. RetrievedMarch 5, 2016.Senator Ted Cruz scored a hard-fought and decisive win in the Kansas caucuses on Saturday, demonstrating his enduring appeal among conservatives as he tries to reel in Donald J. Trump's significant lead in the Republican presidential race.
^abSvitek, Patrick (March 8, 2016)."Ted Cruz Wins Idaho, Places Second in Three Other States".Texas Tribune. Austin, Texas. RetrievedMarch 9, 2016.U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday night won the Idaho GOP presidential primary while placing second in three other states, continuing to demonstrate viability against frontrunner Donald Trump.
^"Cruz crushes Trump in Wyoming Republican caucus". March 13, 2016. RetrievedMarch 13, 2016.With all votes counted, Texas Senator Cruz won 66.3 percent of the ballots in the western state, far ahead of his nearest rival, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who earned 19.5 percent of the vote.
^Phelphs, Jordyn (July 21, 2016)."Ted Cruz 'Not in the Habit' of Endorsing People Who Attack His Family".ABC News.New York City,New York. RetrievedJuly 21, 2016.Further defending his RNC speech, in which declined to endorse the party's nominee, Ted Cruz said Trump knew the contents of his speech before its delivery, including the absence of an endorsement. "He didn't ask me to endorse, and indeed, three days ago I talked on the phone with him and told him, 'I'm not going to endorse you,'" Cruz said.
^Jacobs, Jennifer (November 15, 2016)."Ted Cruz Considered by Trump for Attorney General".Bloomberg.New York City. RetrievedNovember 16, 2016.President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Texas Senator Ted Cruz to serve as U.S. attorney general, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cruz, 45, was at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday.
^"Why won't Steve Bannon go after Ted Cruz?".NBC News. October 10, 2017. RetrievedOctober 26, 2017.Robert Mercer, the reclusive conspiracy-minded billionaire who spent millions to help both men - and who is closely tied to Donald Trump and thealt-right.
^Cruz, Ted (December 11, 2015)."Scientific Evidence Doesn't Support Global Warming, Sen. Ted Cruz Says".Morning Edition (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Inskeep.Washington, D.C.:NPR. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2016.The scientific evidence doesn't support global warming. For the last 18 years, the satellite data – we have satellites that monitor the atmosphere. The satellites that actually measure the temperature showed no significant warming whatsoever.
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