Ted Cruz for Senate

Just over a month after Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced she will retire from the US Senate when her current term expires, the field to replace her in 2012 is already getting pretty full. The four Republicans who have formally announced their intentions to run for the seat include former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, Railroad Commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams, and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. Though it is early, the GOP field is already pretty impressive and like so many in Texas.

I’m sure many people have wondered who and what on earth a Solicitor General is. I actually found myself wondering exactly that the first time I heard Mr. Cruz speak at a Cameron County GOP function back in 2008. It turns out that the solicitor general is actually the chief appellate lawyer for the State of Texas and the State’s chief litigator in the US Supreme Court and Texas Supreme Court. In addition, the Solicitor General serves as a top legal advisor to the Attorney General and Ted Cruz served AG Greg Abbott has Solicitor General for five years. I know what you’re thinking, “Great . . . Just what we need--another lawyer.” Well, our Constitution is under attack and none of the before-mentioned candidates understands and has defended our Constitution as well as Ted Cruz. It is this reverence for our Constitution that leads Mr. Cruz to have such an optimistic view for the future of this country. This is what Texas and the nation needs at this critical time, leaders who understand that prosperity derives from liberty and liberty derives from limited governance.

According to Mr. Cruz, when he began as Solicitor General he was instructed by Attorney General Greg Abbot that “Texas will lead the way defending conservative principles.” This is evident in his record as Solicitor General in which he:

• Successfully preserved free speech and religious expression by defending the constitutionality of the Texas Ten Commandments monument in a case that set national precedence, 
• Combated sexual predators by supporting capital punishment for the very worst child rapist, 
• Defended US sovereignty in the Medellin v. Texas case in which the World Court sought to keep the Texas from executing a Mexican national who raped and murdered two young girls, 
• Defended the defenseless by arguing cases in which states sought to limit abortions, 
• Fought government intrusion on individual property rights, 
• And supported efforts to secure our nation’s borders.

Of all the cases that Mr. Cruz argued as Solicitor General, he argues that the most consequential was the Medellin case in which foreign nations sought to usurp the authority of the US justice system and prevent Texas from upholding its own laws. In Medellin v. Texas, Ted Cruz defended the sovereignty of Texas and the United States against ninety nations.

In order to continue serving Texas, Mr. Cruz believes that the Republican Party must stand with principle and defend liberty. For many years Republicans faltered in their conservative principles and were ousted from power in 2006 and 2008, but by promising to return to these conservative principles, Republicans were swept into power in 2010. Ted Cruz understands that personal and fiscal responsibility is what the country not only wants, but needs in these times.