Republican Firebrand Ted Cruz Now Courts Democrats to Win Re-Election

CYPRESS, Texas—There are two sides to Ted Cruz, the Republican senator says.

The self-described conservative warrior has opposed most big compromise legislation. He voted against the infrastructure law, the Chips Act and the recent Ukraine-Israel aid package. He has also opposed many of President Biden’s nominees, including almost all of his cabinet picks and his choice for the Supreme Court.

On his popular podcast, he regularly rips into Democrats, particularly on immigration issues and Israel. His latest book was called “Unwoke,” which charges that the Democratic Party is “controlled by Cultural Marxists.”

Yet here in Cypress, over sub sandwiches and cookies in a community clubhouse northwest of Houston, Cruz is rolling out a softer, bipartisan side to try to appeal to independents and Democrats as he faces a competitive challenger this fall in the red-leaning state. His so-called Cul-de-Sac Tour, with 10 planned stops in suburban communities, aims to recast his image as a dealmaking lawmaker who wants to bring jobs to Texas. His campaign even shot ads featuring “Democrats for Cruz.”

“I try very much to have my focus be on the policies and substance rather than going into the gutter with personal or character attacks,” Cruz said in an interview after the event.

How this plays with voters could be crucial to whether the polarizing lawmaker wins a third term, as Republicans try to take back the Senate, where Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority. Cruz, who leads his Democratic rival, Rep. Colin Allred, in opinion polls, is trying to keep his core conservative base while also bolstering it with suburban swing voters, playing up legislative accomplishments on state issues and a sweeping air-travel bill, among others.

It is a tack he hasn’t taken in previous campaigns. Democrats, who have long used Cruz as a hyperpartisan punchline, say the new pitch won’t work.

“I think Ted Cruz isn’t fooling anyone. I think Texans know exactly who he is,” said Allred in an interview. Allred, a former professional football player and Obama administration official who flipped a formerly Republican district in north Dallas in 2018, has made centrism part of his brand. “Let’s be honest: Ted Cruz will never be part of comprehensive immigration reform,” said Allred, who is running on fixing the problems at the southern border.

Allred noted that Cruz opposed the bipartisan Senate deal reached in February that would have made it tougher for migrants to claim asylum. Republicans including Cruz walked away from the deal, saying it didn’t go far enough.

“Look, if there’s a battle where people are pushing a bad policy, I fight incredibly hard against it, and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it,” Cruz said.

Asked if there was a bipartisan solution to be found on abortion policy, another key issue for voters in a state that has a strict law on abortion, Cruz declined to weigh in.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) laughed when asked if Cruz worked well with Democrats. “I think some conservative elected officials have decided to trim their sails a bit as they try to attract voters,” she said.

‘Kittens are breakfast food’

Speaking to the ideologically mixed crowd of about 60 neighbors in Cypress, Cruz recalled growing up the son of a Cuban immigrant and said Houston is a city “where no one cares who your dad is,” while emphasizing his conservative positions on immigration and voter identification laws.

He drew laughs when he joked about the pugnacious nature of politics. Cruz said his opponent will “tell you that I eat live kittens under a full moon at midnight, which is ridiculous. Everyone knows that kittens are breakfast food.”

The senator, in jeans and a blazer, asked staff twice for a basketball to shoot hoops in the parking lot—though no ball was found. He handed a child cash for a raffle ticket for a local fundraiser. Most of the crowd picked up Cruz buttons and pushed him on whether they think the election results could be trusted, his work on immigration and what he thought of Allred.

“This is really a mechanism to get into different communities and have real conversations with real people,” Cruz said afterward.

Joey Graye, 21, asked Cruz about the divisions in America. Cruz told Graye it was a problem. “The right listens to right-wing media, the left listens to left-wing media…I think that’s really harmful for our society,” the senator said.

Later, Graye said he respected the senator for listening to constituents. “Am I going to vote for him? No. Did I appreciate it? Yes.”

Shelly and David Reese, each 70 years old, both said they support Cruz. But they don’t see him as a bipartisan bridge builder.

“I like him to not be too quiet, I like him to speak out a bit and make his presence known,” David Reese said.

The next night, Cruz spoke at a Republican event in downtown Houston. This time wearing a suit and tie, he called independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, “crazy Uncle Bernie,” and said there was no such thing as a moderate Democrat. “They’re all socialists,” he said.

Playing defense in Texas

An April poll by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas had Cruz with a 13-point lead over Allred. Other polls show it closer.

Since entering the race in May 2023, Allred has outraised and outspent Cruz, according to campaign filings. Allred’s campaign ended March with $10.5 million in the bank, compared with $9.4 million for Cruz. The incumbent is also backed by the Truth and Courage PAC, which has raised about $2.1 million this cycle and ended March with $536,000 in cash.

iHeartMedia, which distributes Cruz’s “Verdict” podcast, contributed $630,000 to the Truth and Courage PAC in 2023 and 2024 for revenue from ads, because the PAC owns the podcast.

Cruz’s career has taken turns before. He shot into the Senate on the tea party wave as a star of the political right, saying in 2013: “I don’t think what Washington needs is more compromise.” But he lost a bruising presidential campaign against Donald Trump in 2016 and looked vulnerable in narrowly defeating Democrat Beto O’Rourke to win a second term in 2018. His image took a hit when he decamped to Cancún during a Texas power outage in 2021.

Dealmaking with Democrats

In the interview, Cruz ticked off several dozen pieces of legislation he introduced that passed with bipartisan support, such as the Cadet Act, which changed a law that had forced military-academy cadets who became pregnant to withdraw or give up their children. Many were included in larger packages, or were noncontroversial. In some cases, Cruz didn’t vote for final passage because the bills were contained inside larger measures he didn’t support.

Cruz has “added a side of bipartisanship,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.). Still, she said, he “is still not afraid to unload on the shout shows and in newspapers and throw red meat out to the conservatives.”

Some Democrats offer backhanded praise. In the 2020 Democratic presidential race, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker all used the idea of working with Cruz as an example of how far they would go to get things done. A 2022 campaign ad for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) said some things work surprisingly well together, such as pineapple on pizza, french fries in a chocolate milkshake—or Warnock and Cruz on an interstate highway project.

Cruz continues to take shots at Democrats. He opposed the recent foreign-aid law due to the lack of border provisions, calling it one of the toughest votes of his career. When some Democrats and Republicans waved the Ukrainian flag on the House floor after passing funding for Kyiv, Cruz said it would be “difficult to imagine those same Democrats ever waving an American flag with the same joy.”

Lindsay Wise and Katy Stech Ferek contributed to this article.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected]