On a 17-state bus tour, Ted Cruz is campaigning, but for what?
AUSTIN, Texas — Since early October, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been on a 17-state barnstorming bus tour, accompanied by his father, Rafael Cruz, to rally support for GOP House and Senate candidates for the midterm elections — and, it’s very clear, to help himself.
Is the Texas Republican running for president, in an early tryout for 2024? Is he running for reelection to the Senate? (His second term will expire in 2024; he’s sponsored legislation to limit senators to two terms, but it hasn't passed.)
Or is he running for both?
Cruz downplays a potential second presidential run, at least until the intentions of former President Donald Trump, whom he has closely supported, to seek another term are clear.
“Right now my focus is on 2022, and it’s why we are spending virtually the entire month on the road, helping other candidates,” Cruz said.
Still, there is a lot of political gamesmanship at play, besides trying to win control of the House and Senate. There’s the branding of the “Take Back America” bus tour, which echoes Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan, and is sponsored by Cruz’s Truth and Courage PAC.
In the process, Cruz is laying the foundation for a national run, raising money for candidates (he's raised more than $500,000 for 32 candidates), forging relationships with county and party officials in key states, collecting chits from winning candidates, keeping his name in the media, and courting controversy — such as enjoying jeering from some fans in Yankee Stadium on Oct. 23 in the final playoff game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. (The Astros swept.)
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And he could decide to seek both seats since he has said he does not believe in “unilateral” term limits for lawmakers.
Under a Texas law known as the LBJ Law, named for former President Lyndon B. Johnson, candidates from Texas can run for the presidency or vice presidency and the U.S. Senate (or another office) at the same time. It was passed in 1959 so that then-Senate Majority Leader Johnson, a Democrat, could run for reelection and for president or vice president. U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat, also took advantage of the law in 1988, running for vice president and the Senate simultaneously.
Cruz isn’t saying, but the speculation is roiling Texas politics as Republicans try to figure their strategy if the seat opens up.
“I don’t think it’s politically viable for Cruz to run for both,” said James Henson, executive director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. Donors would resist contributing to two races, and there’s pressure from the GOP establishment for candidates to be able to move up.
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“People would come out of the woodwork,” Henson said, offering an early list of potential candidates: Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager; U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, a Republican; Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush; and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican.
“I think there’s a lot of people thinking about it,” said Dave Carney, a political consultant for Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection campaign and the top adviser to former Gov. Rick Perry when he ran for president in 2012 before being ousted.
“Running for president is a full-time job. I think it’s enormously difficult to do both.”
Carney sees Cruz as focused “like a laser beam” on the goal he puts before himself. And that could be running for president. Or for Senate. “I’d be shocked if he did both,” he said.
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Carney estimated that a dozen candidates would file for the Senate seat if Cruz doesn't run, predicting that the list won't include statewide officeholders but would include members of the U.S. House.
Ben Barnes, a former Texas lieutenant governor who’s an adviser to top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has a counter view on Cruz possibly running for both offices.
“Cruz doesn’t give up his seat,” Barnes said. “He depends on it for raising money.”
Bill Miller, an Austin consultant who advises candidates in both parties, agreed.
“As a senator, you’ve got leverage. When you leave office, you leave leverage,” Miller said.
Not showing his hand
Cruz isn’t showing his hand and might not well into 2023 — the Texas filing deadline is in December — though observers think it will be clear by June.
On his bus tour, Cruz has appeared at multiple events in Arizona, Ohio, Iowa, Virginia, Georgia and Florida and will cross the finish line in Selma, outside San Antonio, Texas, on Friday to support Cassy Garcia, a former aide, in a U.S. House race.
In the process, he’s gotten media attention, both fawning from conservative outlets and brutal from social media and late night comedians, when he was heckled with plenty of expletives at the Astros' game.
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And he just dropped a book, “Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System” — something of a prerequisite for presidential candidates.
Cruz has not talked about his ambitions but has stayed on message during his tour, bashing Democrats and predicting that on Election Day, “we’re not just going to see a red wave; we’re going to see a red tsunami.”