New Blog 1: Rafael Edward Cruz

Rafael Edward Cruz

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (born December 22, 1970) is a Cuban American politician and the United States Senator-elect for the state of Texas. A Republican, Cruz defeated the Democrat Paul Sadler in the November 6, 2012 United States Senate election. Cruz is also endorsed by the Tea Party Movement. Cruz won the 2012 nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by his fellow Republican, Kay Bailey Hutchison. On July 31, 2012, he defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff, 57-43 percent, on July 31, 2012. In the general election, Cruz prevailed with 56.6-40.5 percent over Sadler. Cruz was Solicitor General of the U.S. state of Texas from 2003 to May 2008, appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. He was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the United States, and had the longest tenure in the post thus far in Texas history. He is currently a partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he leads the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice. He previously served as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, and as Domestic Policy Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign. In addition, from 2004 to 2009 Cruz was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation. On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican.