Ted Cruz

About

Ted Cruz is a Republican Senator from Texas known for being the first Hispanic American to serve as a senator from the state. In March 2015, the senator announced his bid to run for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 United States Presidential election.

Political Career

In 1999, Cruz served as a policy advisor for the George W. Bush presidential campaign. From 2003 to 2008, Cruz held the office of Solicitor General of Texas. In 2012, Cruz was elected as the first Hispanic and Cuban American to serve as a senator from Texas in the United States Congress.

Online History

2013 Government Shutdown

On September 24th, 2013, Cruz began a filibuster in protest of the Affordable Care Act to prevent a resolution designed to prevent a government shutdown, promising he would speak until he was “no longer able to stand.” During the marathon speech, Cruz read from the Dr. Seuss children’s book Green Eggs and Ham (shown below).

Position on Net Neutrality

On November 10th, 2014, Cruz posted a tweet^[3] comparing net neutrality to Obamacare, gathering more than 3,400 retweets and 1,600 favorites in the next four months (shown below).

That day, The Oatmeal^[4] posted an open letter to Cruz to address his perceived misconceptions about the way net neutrality works (shown below). On November 14th, the Texas Tribune^[1] livestreamed an event where Cruz gave remarks on his opposition to Internet regulations and the net neutrality digital rights movement.

TedCruz.com

In 2008, Arizona attorney Ted Cruz registered the site TedCruz.com.^[5][6] In December 2014, the site began displaying the message “Support President Obama. Immigration reform now!” (shown below).

Presidential Campaign

On March 23rd, 2015, Cruz declared his bid for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. That day, The Onion^[2] published an article titled “Who is Ted Cruz,” featuring several satirical “facts” about the Republican senator.

Search Interest

External References