Ted Cruz says he will run for Senate re-election in 2018

Supporters of Ted Cruz running for president again in 2020 may need to take a breath:  He’s running for Senate re-election first.

On Wednesday, the Texas senator was asked by CNN if he planned to run for his seat in 2018. “Yes,” he responded. Also on Wednesday Ted Cruz for Senate, his campaign committee was reactivated.

“Effective May 4, 2016, Senator Ted Cruz in no longer a candidate for President of the United States. As of this date, his 2018 campaign for the United States Senate and his campaign committee Ted Cruz for Senate have been reactivated.” 

While running for his seat in 2018 obviously doesn't preclude another White House bid two years later, it gives some insight into his plans moving forward after he dropped out of the 2016 presidential race a week ago following his loss in the Indiana primary. Cruz has not endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump yet, and he has not given any indication on whether he will or not.

Cruz ran as an anti-establishment, outsider candidate, and he is not exactly known as someone beloved by his colleagues. It wasn't until March, a year after he launched his campaign, that he secured his first endorsement (Mike Lee of Utah) from a Senate colleague.

Of the other two Republican senators who sought the White House in 2016, Rand Paul is currently running for re-election in Kentucky, while Florida's Marco Rubio is leaving the Senate when his term ends at the end of the year.