Ted Cruz

**Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, Jr.** (born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and lawyer who has been the junior United States Senator from the state of Texas since 2013. He is the first person of Cuban, Hispanic, or Latino descent to hold the office. Cruz is a member of the Republican Party. He ran for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016.

## Early life

Cruz's parents are a Cuban father, Rafael Cruz, and an American mother, Eleanor Darragh. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His parents, who worked in the oil business at the time, were in Calgary on business. He started using the name Ted when he was thirteen years old. Cruz graduated from Second Baptist High School as a valedictorian. He then went to Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

## Early career

Cruz was the domestic policy advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign. He helped defend them in the case _Bush v. Gore_. He also recruited future Chief Justice John Roberts to Bush's legal team.

He served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to May 2008, after being appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.  He was the first Hispanic, the youngest and the longest-serving solicitor general in Texas history. Cruz was also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, from 2004 to 2009. While there, he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation. Cruz is one of three Latinos in the Senate; the others—also Americans of Cuban ancestry—are fellow Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

## U.S. senator

Cruz was the Republican nominee for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. On July 31, 2012, he defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff, 57%–43%. Cruz defeated former state Representative Paul Sadler in the general election on November 6, 2012. He won to 56%–41% over Sadler. Cruz openly identifies with the Tea Party movement and has been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus.

On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cruz has been a leading opponent of Barack Obama's healthcare reform plan known as Obamacare. He has led efforts to repeal the law, including a filibuster in 2013.

## 2016 presidential race

On March 23, 2015, Cruz announced he would run for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. He made his announcement at Liberty University.

On February 1, 2016, Cruz won the first primary state of Iowa, beating Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. This made him the first Hispanic person to win a caucus. Cruz then won Alaska, Texas, and Oklahoma on "Super Tuesday". He got the most votes in all of the 254 Texas counties except six. On April 27, 2016, Cruz named former GOP candidate and businesswoman Carly Fiorina as his running mate.

On May 3, 2016, after losing the Indiana primaries to Donald Trump, Cruz suspended his campaign.

## Personal life

He married Heidi Nelson on May 27, 2001. They have two daughters named Caroline and Catherine.

Cruz is a Southern Baptist.

## Other websites

- U.S. Senator Ted Cruz – official website
- Ted Cruz for President – campaign website
- Ted Cruz collected news and commentary at _The Texas Tribune_

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Ted Cruz
- **image**: Ted Cruz official 116th portrait.jpg
- **caption**: Official portrait, 2019
- **jr/sr**:  
- **state**: Texas
- **alongside**: John Cornyn
- **term start**: January 3, 2013
- **predecessor**: Kay Bailey Hutchison
- **office1**: Solicitor General of Texas
- **governor1**: Rick Perry
- **term start1**: January 9, 2003
- **term end1**: May 12, 2008
- **predecessor1**: Julie Parsley
- **successor1**: James Ho
- **birthname**: Rafael Edward Cruz, Jr.
- **residence**: Houston, Houston, Texas, U.S.
- **children**: 2
- **party**: Republican Party (United States), Republican
- **alma mater**: Princeton University
Harvard Law School, Harvard University
- **website**: [http://www.tedcruz.org/ Ted Cruz for Senate]
[http://www.cruz.senate.gov/ Senator Ted Cruz]
- **signature**: Tedcruzsig.svg