Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016

Cruz for President
Campaign Republican primaries
U.S. presidential election, 2016
Candidate Ted Cruz
U.S. Senator from Texas 2013-
Affiliation Republican Party
Headquarters Houston, Texas
Slogan Courageous Conservatives,
Reigniting the Promise of America
Website
Cruz for President

The Ted Cruz presidential campaign of 2016 began when Ted Cruz, junior United States Senator from Texas, announced through social media on March 23, 2015, that he would be running for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican Party primaries.

He formally announced his candidacy at Liberty University's Convocation on Monday, March 23, 2015.

Background

Senator Cruz speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.

Leading up the 2016 presidential election cycle, commentators expressed their opinion that Cruz would run for President in 2016.[1][2][3] On March 14, 2013, he gave the keynote speech at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.[4] He tied for 7th place in the 2013 CPAC straw poll on March 16, winning 4% of the votes cast.[5] He performed even more strongly in the 2014 CPAC straw poll, coming in second with 11% behind Kentucky senator Rand Paul.[6] In the 2015 CPAC poll, he came in third with 11.5% behind Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Paul.[7] In October 2013, Cruz won the Values Voter Summit Presidential straw poll with 42% of the vote, which was the highest percentage of any winning candidate in that poll's history.[8] A year later, he won the same poll again by a smaller margin of 25%, becoming the first person to ever win more than one VVS straw poll.[9] He came in first place in the two most recent Presidential straw polls conducted in 2014 with 30.33% of the vote at the Republican Leadership Conference[10] and 43% of the vote at the Republican Party of Texas state convention.[11]

Cruz spoke at events in the summer of 2013 across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, early primary states, leading to speculation that he was laying the groundwork for a run for President in 2016.[12] On April 12, 2014, Cruz spoke at the Freedom Summit, an event organized by Americans for Prosperity, and Citizens United.[13] The event was attended by several potential presidential candidates.[14] In his speech, Cruz mentioned that Latinos, young people and single mothers, are the people most affected by the recession, and that the Republican Party should make outreach efforts to these constituents. He also said that the words "growth and opportunity” should be tattooed on the hands of every Republican politician.[13]

Campaign

Cruz announced his campaign for the presidency on March 23, 2015, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, during the student convocation.[15][16] He is the first announced major Republican presidential candidate for the 2016 campaign.[17][18]

Fundraising

Cruz raised nearly $4 million in the first eight days after he announced his presidential campaign.[19] 95% of the donations to Cruz's campaign came in contributions of less than $100.[19] On April 8, 2015, it was reported that super PACs backing Cruz had raised $31 million in a week, one of the biggest fundraising surges in modern presidential-race history to date.[20]

Eligibility concerns

Cruz was born in Canada and was automatically issued an authentic Canadian birth certificate. This fact prompted some commentators, including the Austin American-Statesman[21] and the Los Angeles Times,[22] to discuss plausible scenarios under which his legal status could be understood as being a natural-born citizen. Because he was automatically eligible to become a U.S. citizen at birth, after also already receiving Canadian citizenship (his mother was a U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years as required by the Nationality Act of 1940), many consider him eligible to serve as President of the United States.[23][24][25][26]

According to a memo from the Congressional Research Service "The weight of scholarly legal and historical opinion appears to support the notion that 'natural born Citizen' means one who is entitled under the Constitution or laws of the United States to U.S. citizenship 'at birth' or 'by birth,' including any child born 'in' the United States, the children of United States citizens born abroad, and those born abroad of one citizen parent who has met U.S. residency requirements."[23]

Endorsements

References

  1. ↑ Cillizza, Chris (September 13, 2013) "Rand Paul, 2016 Republican front-runner", The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ Bump, Philip (September 25, 2013) "Ted Cruz's First 2016 Campaign Ad Is Over 21 Hours Long", The Atlantic Wire. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Metzler, Rebekah (September 27, 2013) "Poll: Ted Cruz Leads 2016 GOP Field", U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ Romano, Lois (March 14, 2013). "CPAC 2013: Marco Rubio, Rand Paul fight for the future of the GOP". Politico. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ Montanaro, Domenico (March 16, 2013). "Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll; Rubio close second". NBC News. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ "CPAC 2014: The final scorecard". POLITICO. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Ben Schreckinger (February 28, 2015). "Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll, with Scott Walker right behind". POLITICO.
  8. ↑ Rayman, Noah (October 13, 2013). "Ted Cruz Dominates Republican Straw Poll". TIME. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Cruz clinches straw poll gold again". TheHill.
  10. ↑ Finnegan, Conor (May 31, 2014). "Ted Cruz wins presidential straw poll at Republican Leadership Conference". CNN. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ Jeffers, Gromer (June 7, 2014). "Ted Cruz wins Texas GOP’s presidential straw poll, Rick Perry finishes distant fourth". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ Ashley Killough (July 21, 2013). "Cruz tries to sidestep 2016 question". CNN. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are the big draws at the Freedom Summit". Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Freedom Summit draws GOP hopefuls to N.H.". Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ Martin, Nathan; Maggie Haberman (22 March 2015). "Ted Cruz Hopes Early Campaign Entry Will Focus Voters' Attention". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Ted Cruz Announces Presidential Bid". NBC News. March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  17. ↑ Schleifer, Theodore (March 21, 2015). "Ted Cruz to announce presidential bid Monday". Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas). Retrieved March 22, 2015. Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.
  18. ↑ Corasaniti, Nick & Healy, Patrick (March 23, 2015) - "Ted Cruz Becomes First Major Candidate to Announce Presidential Bid for 2016". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Willis, Derek (April 2, 2015). "In a Short Time, Ted Cruz Has Raised Big Money From Small Donors". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ Costa, Robert; Zezima, Katie (April 8, 2015). "Groups Backing Ted Cruz Raise $31 Million in a Single Week". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ Herman, Ken (August 7, 2012). "Could there be a President Ted Cruz?". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  22. ↑ West, Paul (August 1, 2013). "Questions about the qualifications of Ted Cruz, the GOP's newest star". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Graham, David A. (May 1, 2013). "Yes, Ted Cruz Can Be Born in Canada and Still Become President of the U.S.". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  24. ↑ Catanese, David (January 7, 2013). "Ted Cruz draws presidential buzz, but is he eligible?". Politico. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  25. ↑ Katyal, Neal; Clement, Paul (March 11, 2015). "On the Meaning of "Natural Born Citizen"". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  26. ↑ Camia, Catalina (March 16, 2015). "Top lawyers: 'No question' Canada-born Cruz eligible for presidency". USA Today. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Race is on for 2016 endorsements". TheHill.
  28. ↑ http://www.mofopolitics.com/2015/02/05/michael-savage-endorses-rand-paul-and-ted-cruz-2016/
  29. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/17/adam-carolla-i-love-me-some-ted-cruz/
  30. ↑ "R. Lee Ermey says he’s gonna vote for TED CRUZ". The Right Scoop.
  31. ↑ "Welch: 'As Of Today, I'm a Ted Cruz Guy' - Breitbart". Breitbart.

External links