Republican Senator Ted Cruz is currently serving his third term in the United States Senate.
Widely recognized as a grassroots conservative champion, Cruz was overwhelmingly re-elected to a third term this past November—earning broad support, including a majority of Hispanic and Latino voters. Notably, in 2024, Cruz was the first Republican in history to be awarded the key to the city of Laredo.
The Beginning:
Ted grew up in Houston, Texas. The valedictorian of his class at Houston's Second Baptist High School, Ted went on to earn his undergraduate degree from Princeton and his law degree from Harvard Law School. After law school, Ted clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist and then worked in private practice. In 1999, Ted joined George W. Bush’s campaign for president as a domestic policy advisor. The best thing about Ted’s experience on the Bush-Cheney campaign, by far, was meeting Heidi Nelson, who also worked on the policy team. Heidi and Ted married after the campaign.
Representing Texas:
After working at the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission during the Bush administration, Ted moved back home to be the Solicitor General of Texas. As Solicitor General, Ted argued eight cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and defended our freedom of speech, our right to keep and bear arms, and our religious liberty in courts across the nation. Following his service as Solicitor General, Ted returned to private practice, where he continued to litigate high stakes cases and argued his ninth case before the Supreme Court. Ted and Heidi also started their family, welcoming Caroline and Catherine.
U.S. Senator for Texas:
In 2013, Ted was sworn into the United States Senate, where he has been a passionate fighter for limited government, economic growth, and national security. He has authored over one hundred legislative measures that have been signed into law, including expanding 529 college savings accounts to allow parents to save for K-12 public, private, and religious education, repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate, imposing sanctions on terrorists who use civilians as human shields, designating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, targeting Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, reforming NASA, holding dictatorships in South America accountable, and ensuring the availability of additional records to help solve civil rights cold cases.
Ted is honored to serve as the Chairman on the Commerce Committee, a position that gives him the chance to have a far-reaching impact on innovation and growth across the landscape of daily life. As Chairman, he is focused on furthering innovation in the telecommunications space, protecting Americans’ privacy and security, helping Americans travel safely and more efficiently, and ensuring that the U.S. continues to lead the world in space exploration. The panel oversees a number of key White House appointments and a huge range of industries and agencies, including telecommunications, transportation, aviation and the broad category of interstate commerce.
In a massive victory for Texas, Ted has led the fight for the expansion and construction of new bridges in Laredo, Eagle Pass, and Brownsville, which was secured last year. These international bridges were being needlessly delayed, and now, ending those delays will provide immeasurable benefits to the communities of Eagle Pass, Laredo, and Brownsville, as well as to farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small businesses across Texas. These bridges will facilitate the movement of goods and strengthen U.S.-Mexico supply chains, leading to lower prices for millions of American consumers. Building on this success, Ted recently introduced legislation to expedite the presidential permitting process for all international bridges and land ports of entry.