Ted Cruz Fast Facts

Here’s a look at the life of Ted Cruz, Republican senator of Texas and former 2016 presidential candidate.

Personal

Birth date: December 22, 1970

Birth place: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Birth name: Rafael Edward Cruz

Father: Rafael Cruz, pastor

Mother: Eleanor Darragh, computer programmer

Marriage: Heidi (Nelson) Cruz (2001-present)

Children: Caroline and Catherine

Education: Princeton University, B.A. in Public Policy, 1992; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1995

Religion: Southern Baptist

Other Facts

His father, Rafael Cruz, left Cuba as a teenager in 1957 amid the nation’s revolution. During the Cuban revolution, Rafael Cruz sided with Fidel Castro against dictator Fulgencio Batista, but later became a critic of Castro’s.

While at Harvard Law School, was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and founder of the Harvard Latino Law Review.

First Hispanic US Senator from Texas.

Was a dual citizen of Canada and the United States until he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014.

Timeline

1996-1997 – Clerks for US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

1997-1999 – Attorney with the Washington, DC-based law firm Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal.

1999-2000 – Domestic policy adviser during George W. Bush’s first presidential campaign.

2001 – Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice.

2001-2003 – Director of the Office of Policy Planning, with the Federal Trade Commission.

2003-2008 – Solicitor General of Texas. He is the first Hispanic to hold the position. He is also the longest serving solicitor general in Texas’ history.

2004-2009 – Adjunct law professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

2008-2012 – Attorney with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Houston.

May 29, 2012 – Wins enough votes in the Texas GOP senatorial primary to force a runoff.

July 31, 2012 – Defeats Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the runoff election for the Republican Senate nomination, by a vote of 57% to 43%.

November 6, 2012 – Elected US senator from Texas by defeating Democrat Paul Sadler, 56% to 41%.

November 14, 2012 – Named vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

January 3, 2013 – Sworn in as the 34th US senator from Texas.

September 24, 2013 – Reads Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham” as a bedtime story for his children during a 21-hour speech aimed at derailing President Barack Obama‘s health care reform law.

June 2014 – His spokeswoman confirms that Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship, and is no longer a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.

March 23, 2015 – Cruz announces his candidacy for president in a 30-second video message posted on Twitter shortly after midnight. Later in the day he announces he is running for president during a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

April 27, 2016 – Cruz formally names Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate — a last-ditch move to regain momentum after being mathematically eliminated from winning the GOP presidential nomination outright.

May 3, 2016 – Cruz announces he is suspending his presidential bid after losing the Indiana primary.

May 10, 2016 – Ending speculation about whether he would take a break from Congress to prep for another presidential run in 2020, Cruz announces that he will campaign to keep his Senate seat in 2018.

September 23, 2016 – Cruz endorses Donald Trump for the presidency, surprising many after a contentious primary filled with nasty personal attacks and Cruz’s dramatic snub of Trump at the Republican National Convention, where he pointedly refused to endorse the nominee.

November 6, 2018 – Cruz defeats Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke 50.9% to 48.3% in the race for Senate in Texas, holding off the progressive online fundraising sensation.

March 15, 2019 – A watchdog group discloses that Cruz’s campaign has been fined $35,000 by the Federal Election Commission for failing to accurately report more than $1 million in loans that helped underwrite his first Senate bid in 2012.

July 13, 2020 – China announces sanctions against US officials, including Cruz, in retaliation for measures revealed on July 9 by the US Treasury Dept. over Beijing’s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

January 6, 2021 – Cruz objects to Arizona’s Electoral College results during the joint session of Congress.

February 17, 2021 – Cruz travels to Cancun, Mexico for vacation as a winter disaster in his home state leaves millions without power or water. He later says the trip “was obviously a mistake” and that “in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it.”