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'''Rafael Edward Cruz''', known as '''Ted Cruz''' (born December 22, 1970, in [[Calgary]], Canada) is the junior [[United States Senator]] from [[Texas]], having won the seat vacated by [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] in 2012. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], Cruz was a Solicitor General of Texas, the chief lawyer for the state before the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>Cruz has been listed as an author of more than eighty U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued in nine before the U.S. Supreme Court, plus another 31 before other courts. He graduated ''[[magna cum laude]]'' from [[Harvard Law School]] and served as an editor of the ''[[Harvard Law Review]]''.</ref> A [[globalist]], Cruz supported the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, also known as "Fast Track").<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/11/11/senator-ted-cruz-did-support-tpa/</ref> Cruz attends the secret [[Koch brothers]]' meetings and advances their agenda without admitting to doing so.<ref>Robillard, Kevin. [https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/24/koch-brothers-pence-trump-239928 "Koch network ramps up political spending while trying to push Trump team"], Politico, June 24, 2017.</ref> He pandered to the Koch brothers by at first refusing to endorse [[Donald Trump]] for president.
Senator Cruz was the first candidate to announce for president in 2016, He formed multiple political organizations to support his candidacy prior to the official nomination of Trump in the summer of 2016. Cruz considers himself the political heir of [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[[Ronald W. Reagan]] lost the Republican nomination for president in 1976, but then won the nomination and the presidency in 1980.</ref> Cruz initially refused during his televised address at the Republican National Convention in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], to endorse Trump. He was loudly booed by the audience for his stance.<ref>[http://www.conservativehq.com/node/23643 Analysis by Richard Viguerie, a former Cruz supporter]</ref> Eventually, Cruz did endorse Trump,<ref>https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ted-Cruz-Endorses-Donald-Trump/2016/09/23/id/749888 Retrieved September 24, 2016</ref> but not before becoming the recipient of anger and disdain from many for his hesitation.