How Ted Cruz Got Elected to the Senate

[MediumTex]

Any time you are talking about a member of the Senate from a large state, it's easy to assume that no matter what a jackass he might be, at least he has a large base of supporters back home, right?

Back in 2011, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced that she wouldn't be running for re-election, which meant that there would be an open Senate seat up for grabs.

Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was the favorite to take Hutchison's seat.  Dewhurst was a popular politician with access to plenty of cash to run an expensive campaign.  Most people had no idea who Ted Cruz was.  Cruz had been a politically appointed solicitor general in Texas from 2003-2008, where he mostly litigated ideological cases involving things like sodomy laws and death penalty issues, and from 2008-2011 he was in private practice in Houston.  As most people know, Cruz's wife is a Goldman Sachs partner in their Houston office.

In the Republican primary, you can't win with just a plurality, so if you don't get a majority in the primary election, the top two candidates face off in a second runoff election to determine the nominee.

In the primary, Dewhurst got 44.6% of the vote (624,170 votes), while Cruz got 34.2% of the vote (479,079 votes), which sent them to a runoff.  In the runoff, Cruz turned the tables and won with 56.8% of the vote, which came out to 631,316 votes.

In Texas, no Democrat ever wins statewide races, so Cruz was obviously going to win.  He spent $7.6 million on his campaign, while his Democratic challenger spent $108,000.  Cruz coasted to victory in the general election with 56.6% of the vote.  His challenger got 40.5% of the vote. 

In the general election, Cruz spent $1.70 in campaign funds for each vote he received (4,456,599 votes).  His challenger spent 3 cents in campaign contributions for each vote he received (3,183,314 votes).

Even after he was elected in 2012, most Texans still knew almost nothing about Ted Cruz, other than he was a Tea Party guy who gave a a good speech.

The takeaway is that Cruz is in the Senate primarily based on the votes of 631,316 Texans in the 2012 Republican primary runoff, or about 2.5% of the population of Texas, which is about 25 million.  Since he has been in the Senate, he has been campaigning for President in one way or another almost the whole time, and thus hasn't represented Texas in any visible way that I have ever seen.  He rarely comes back to the state to make public appearances, and living here it's very easy to forget that Cruz is supposed to be one of my representatives in Congress.

I just thought people might like to know how Ted Cruz came to be such a media fixture, and how little his support in Texas has had to do with it.  In fact, if he were running for re-election to the Senate today, I don't know if he would be able to get out of the Texas Republican primary.

[Libertarian666]

But other than that, he is a great example of modern democracy at work, right?

[MediumTex]

But other than that, he is a great example of modern democracy at work, right?

Sort of like an American version of those Arab Spring "democrats."

[Austen Heller]

So Cruz and Rubio are both eloquent speakers with no experience in leadership.  After 8 years of Obama, you'd think people would have learned their lesson.  I can't believe that these two clowns, plus The Donald, just finished 1-2-3 in Iowa.  And then I look over at the Dems, with Hillary vs the Socialist.  I am just blown away this year.  America doesn't want to be led, they want to entertained.  The rest of the world is laughing.

[murphy_p_t]

is the Cruz path to national office substantially different than most other senators, etc?

[MediumTex]

is the Cruz path to national office substantially different than most other senators, etc?

A totally unknown candidate winning a Senate primary runoff against a well-financed sitting lieutenant governor with the backing of the party establishment who already got way more votes than the unknown candidate in the first primary election is a little unusual.

[Xan]

As I recall, it was because the RINO establishment was roundly rejected by the voters.  I don't think there's anything strange about it at all.

[MediumTex]

As I recall, it was because the RINO establishment was roundly rejected by the voters.  I don't think there's anything strange about it at all.

I guess I'm just saying that Cruz was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

The opportunity for your very first elected office to be as a U.S. Senator from a large state doesn't come along very often, no matter how good of a politician you are.

[Reub]

You hate Ted Cruz because he is smarter than you,  richer than you,  and more ambitious than you.  Admit it!

[MediumTex]

You hate Ted Cruz because he is smarter than you,  richer than you,  and more ambitious than you.  Admit it!

Yeah, I guess you're right.  Maybe I'm just jealous because everyone who knows Ted Cruz hates him, while I have at least a few people who like me. 

I lust after the toxicity of his personality.  I envy the purity of his assholery.

If Cruz is the Mozart of pomposity, then I am Salieri, always in his shadow, always the forgotten man, unremarkable with my normal personality that prevents me from scaling the heights of universal revile.

Cruz would make a good Disney villain.

***

I heard a good Ted Cruz joke:

Q: Why do most people who work with Ted Cruz take an instant dislike to him?

A: It saves time.

[MachineGhost]

I'm guessing people dislike Cruz because hes an ideological right wingnut religious extremist?  He sounds like one.  Anyone that would specifically take cases arguing against sodomy and for the death penalty is a fucknut.