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Ted Cruz

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, Jr. (born December 22, 1970) is an American politician. He is serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas. He is the first Cuban American or Latino to hold the office.[4][5][6]. He ran for President as a Republican in 2016.

Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz, official portrait, 113th Congress.jpg
Cruz in 2013
United States Senator
from Texas
Assumed office
January 3, 2013[1]
Serving with John Cornyn
Preceded byKay Bailey Hutchison
Solicitor General of Texas
In office
January 9, 2003 – May 12, 2008[2]
GovernorRick Perry
Preceded byJulie Parsley
Succeeded byJames Ho
Personal details
Born
Rafael Edward Cruz, Jr.

(1970-12-22) December 22, 1970 (age 52)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Heidi Nelson (m. 2001)
Children2
ResidenceHouston, Texas, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University (A.B.) (1992) (cum laude)[1]
Harvard University (J.D.) (1995) (magna cum laude)[1]
WebsiteTed Cruz for Senate
Senator Ted Cruz

Early life

Cruz was born to Cuban parents in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His parents, who worked in the oil business at the time, were in Calgary on business. His father, Rafael Cruz, was born in Cuba and had been fighting against dictator Fulgencio Batista alongside Fidel Castro. Rafael Cruz would later be against Castro after he became a dictator himself. He was raised in Wilmington, Delaware and in Houston, Texas. Cruz studied at Princeton University and at Harvard Law School.

Early career

Between 1999 and 2003, Cruz was the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an associate deputy attorney general at the United States Department of Justice, and as domestic policy advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign.

He served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to May 2008, after being appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.[1] He was the first Hispanic,[7] the younger[8] and the longest-serving solicitor general in Texas history.[9] Cruz was also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, from 2004 to 2009.[10] 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.[11]

U.S. senator (2013-present)

Cruz was the Republican nominee for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison.[12] On July 31, 2012, he defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff, 57%–43%.[13] Cruz defeated former state Representative Paul Sadler in the general election on November 6, 2012. He won to 56%–41% over Sadler.[13][14] Cruz openly identifies with the Tea Party movement and has been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus.[15]

On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.[16] Cruz has been a big opponent of Barack Obama's healthcare reform plan known as Obamacare. He has led efforts to repeal the law.

2016 presidential race

Main page: Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016

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. Since then, Cruz has won Alaska, Texas, and Oklahoma on "Super Tuesday". On April 27, 2016, Cruz named former GOP candidate and businesswoman Carly Fiorina as his running mate.

On May 3, 2016, after loosing the Indiana primaries to Donald Trump, Cruz suspended his campaign.[17]

Personal life

Cruz has been married to Heidi Suzanne Nelson. They have two children.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "CRUZ, Rafael Edward (Ted) – Biographical Information". Bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved April 27, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ↑ Texas Solicitor General R. Ted Cruz to Join Morgan Lewis to Help Lead U.S. Supreme Court and National Appellate Practice, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  3. ↑ Hartfield, Elizabeth (July 31, 2012). Ted Cruz Wins In Texas GOP Senate Runoff. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/ted-cruz-wins-in-texas-gop-senate-runoff/. Retrieved December 28, 2012. 
  4. ↑ U.S. Senator Ted Cruz at U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC 10th Annual Luncheon, Biltmore Hotel (Miami, FL), US-Cuba Democracy PAC, March 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ Editorial: Texan of the Year finalist Ted Cruz. Dallas, Texas: A. H. Belo. December 20, 2012. http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20121220-editorial-texan-of-the-year-finalist-ted-cruz.ece. Retrieved April 15, 2014. 
  6. ↑ Loyola, Mario. Exile and the Revolution, Like all Cuban-Americans, Ted Cruz belongs to a family of exiles., National Review, November 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ Russ, Hilary (April 5, 2010). Rising Star: Morgan Lewis' R. Ted Cruz. https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/Cruz_Law360RisingStar_05apr10.pdf. Retrieved August 17, 2013. 
  8. ↑ "The Honorable Ted Cruz". Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Fox News Latino Prospective 2016 Presidential Candidates Start Testing The Waters; 7 April 2014 "he was Texas' longest-serving solicitor general, between 2003 and 2008."
  10. ↑ Office of the Registrar (2006), University of Texas School of Law Catalog, Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, Ted Cruz, Adjunct Professor; AB, Princeton, 1992; JD, Harvard, 1995
  11. ↑ "Explaining the Senate's growing conservative Latino caucus". WBEZ91.5. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Ted Cruz Makes it a New Game for U.S. Senate in Texas". RedState. January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 State of Texas (July 31, 2012). Election Results. http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe. Retrieved 17 August 2013. 
  14. ↑ U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Austin American-Statesman
  15. ↑ Planas, Roque (July 16, 2012). Ted Cruz Puts Dewhurst on Defensive in Last Debate Before Texas Runoff. Fox News. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/18/ted-cruz-puts-dewhurst-on-defensive-in-final-debate-before-texas-primary-runoff/. Retrieved September 30, 2012. 
  16. ↑ Gillman, Todd J. (November 14, 2012). Ted Cruz to help Senate GOP with "grassroots" outreach. http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/11/ted-cruz-to-help-senate-gop-with-grassroots-outreach.html/. Retrieved August 17, 2013. 
  17. ↑ Martin Flegenheimer (May 3, 2016). "Ted Cruz Suspends His Campaign For President". Retrieved May 3, 2016.

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