does a presidential candidate have to be born in the u s
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite who is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in the 2016 election, was born in Calgary, Canada. Because his mother was a citizen of the United States, Cruz has maintained he also is a natural born citizen of the United States.ou don't have to be born in the United States to be eligible to serve as president of the United States as long as one of more of your parents were American citizens at the time of birth, it is commonly held. The Congressional Research Service concluded in 2011 :