Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz
Official portrait, 2019
Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Maria Cantwell
Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee
In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Roger Wicker
Succeeded by	Maria Cantwell
United States Senator from Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013 Serving with John Cornyn
Preceded by	Kay Bailey Hutchison
3rd Solicitor General of Texas
In office January 9, 2003 – May 12, 2008
Appointed by	Greg Abbott
Preceded by	Julie Parsley
Succeeded by	James C. Ho
Personal details
Born	Rafael Edward Cruz (1970-12-22) December 22, 1970 (age 54) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Citizenship	United States Canada (until 2014)[1]
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Heidi Nelson ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2
Relatives	Rafael Cruz (father)
Education	Princeton University (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Signature
Website	Senate office
Ted Cruz's voice Cruz commemorates Juneteenth Recorded June 18, 2021

Rafael Edward Cruz (/kruːz/; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 to 2008. Since 2025, Cruz has served as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee.

After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Cruz pursued a career in politics, eventually serving as a policy advisor in the George W. Bush administration. In 2003, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appointed Cruz to serve as Solicitor General, a position he held until 2008. Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, becoming the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. senator from Texas.^[2] In the Senate, he has taken consistently conservative positions on economic and social policy. He played a leading role in the 2013 federal government shutdown, seeking to force Congress and President Barack Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act. Cruz was reelected in a close race in 2018 against Democratic nominee Beto O'Rourke and decisively won a third term in 2024 against Congressman Colin Allred. In 2025, he drafted and led the effort to pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act; signed into law by President Trump.

In 2016, Cruz sought the Republican presidential nomination, emerging as a serious competitor to front-runner Donald Trump in a primary marked by intense, often personal, exchanges. Cruz initially withheld his endorsement after Trump secured the nomination, but became a strong supporter during Trump's first term. In 2021, Cruz objected to the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.