Claim: Ted Cruz is an American male.
Evidence: Rafael Edward `` Ted '' Cruz -LSB- ˈkruːz -RSB- -LRB- born December 22 , 1970 -RRB- is an American politician and attorney , who has served as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013.
He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.
From 1999 to 2003 , he served in various political appointee positions : the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission -LRB- FTC -RRB- , an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice , and a Domestic Policy Advisor to George W. Bush on the 2000 George W. Bush Presidential campaign.
He was the first Hispanic , and the longest-serving , Solicitor General in Texas history.
From 2004 to 2009 , Cruz was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin , Texas , where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation.
He defeated former State Representative Paul Sadler in the November 2012 general election , winning 56 -- 41 %.
He is the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. Senator representing Texas , and is one of three senators of Cuban descent.
President of the United States	President of the United States	2016 election	United States presidential election, 2016
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In November 2012 , he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
During the primary campaign , his base of support was strongest with `` women , white evangelical Protestants , people over the age of 50 , and those who identified themselves as conservatives '' , though he had crossover appeal to other factions within his party , including libertarian conservatives and millennials.
He eventually emerged as the main challenger to frontrunner Donald Trump.
He suspended his campaign for president on May 3 , 2016 , after losing the Republican primary in Indiana to Trump.