Senator Ted Cruz

I went to the state capitol, and I went on to the floor of the House, and I'll tell you, the floor of the House, they actually read a commendation thanking me for my leadership in school choice. School choice for me has been a passion for 30 years. I've spent 30 years fighting for school choice. I believe school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.

I think there is no other domestic policy that matters more, and I believe every child in Texas... And every child in America deserves access to an excellent education regardless of their race, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their wealth or their zip code. And Texas is on the verge.

I think there is no other domestic policy that matters more, and I believe every child in Texas... And every child in America deserves access to an excellent education regardless of their race, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their wealth or their zip code. And Texas is on the verge.

I think there is no other domestic policy that matters more, and I believe every child in Texas... And every child in America deserves access to an excellent education regardless of their race, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their wealth or their zip code. And Texas is on the verge.

of passing the largest school choice program in America and it is historic one out of every 10 school kids in America is in the state of Texas so for Texas to lead is a big big deal and I'll tell you I have been engaging so for the past six years I engage in primaries in the state of Texas against state legislators who oppose school choice. And I'll tell you, there are 100 U.S. senators.

of passing the largest school choice program in America and it is historic one out of every 10 school kids in America is in the state of Texas so for Texas to lead is a big big deal and I'll tell you I have been engaging so for the past six years I engage in primaries in the state of Texas against state legislators who oppose school choice. And I'll tell you, there are 100 U.S. senators.

of passing the largest school choice program in America and it is historic one out of every 10 school kids in America is in the state of Texas so for Texas to lead is a big big deal and I'll tell you I have been engaging so for the past six years I engage in primaries in the state of Texas against state legislators who oppose school choice. And I'll tell you, there are 100 U.S. senators.

To the best of my knowledge, 99 of them stay out of primaries in their own state. And there's a reason for that. When you get involved in a primary in your own state, it's bad politics. It's stupid. It hurts you. Why? Because when you do it, the old rule of thumb is you get half their friends and all their enemies.

To the best of my knowledge, 99 of them stay out of primaries in their own state. And there's a reason for that. When you get involved in a primary in your own state, it's bad politics. It's stupid. It hurts you. Why? Because when you do it, the old rule of thumb is you get half their friends and all their enemies.

To the best of my knowledge, 99 of them stay out of primaries in their own state. And there's a reason for that. When you get involved in a primary in your own state, it's bad politics. It's stupid. It hurts you. Why? Because when you do it, the old rule of thumb is you get half their friends and all their enemies.

So when you jump in the middle, you're making enemies and you're costing yourself votes. I do it anyway. Every cycle, I have my team make an Excel spreadsheet of every vote a state legislator has cast on school choice. And if you're a Republican state rep or state senator, and you voted in favor of school choice, and you're otherwise relatively conservative, you are very likely to get my support.

So when you jump in the middle, you're making enemies and you're costing yourself votes. I do it anyway. Every cycle, I have my team make an Excel spreadsheet of every vote a state legislator has cast on school choice. And if you're a Republican state rep or state senator, and you voted in favor of school choice, and you're otherwise relatively conservative, you are very likely to get my support.

So when you jump in the middle, you're making enemies and you're costing yourself votes. I do it anyway. Every cycle, I have my team make an Excel spreadsheet of every vote a state legislator has cast on school choice. And if you're a Republican state rep or state senator, and you voted in favor of school choice, and you're otherwise relatively conservative, you are very likely to get my support.

But if you haven't, if you voted against choice, the chance of my supporting you is zero. And if you have at all a credible primary challenger, it is very likely I'm going to endorse your primary challenger. And when I do it, I don't do so gently. I come in and I do radio ads. I do TV ads. I do rallies. I campaign.

But if you haven't, if you voted against choice, the chance of my supporting you is zero. And if you have at all a credible primary challenger, it is very likely I'm going to endorse your primary challenger. And when I do it, I don't do so gently. I come in and I do radio ads. I do TV ads. I do rallies. I campaign.

But if you haven't, if you voted against choice, the chance of my supporting you is zero. And if you have at all a credible primary challenger, it is very likely I'm going to endorse your primary challenger. And when I do it, I don't do so gently. I come in and I do radio ads. I do TV ads. I do rallies. I campaign.

And over the last six years, there have been a bunch of Republican state reps who voted the wrong way on choice. And we've come in and beaten them. We brought in someone new who's going to stand for the kids of Texas.

And over the last six years, there have been a bunch of Republican state reps who voted the wrong way on choice. And we've come in and beaten them. We brought in someone new who's going to stand for the kids of Texas.

And over the last six years, there have been a bunch of Republican state reps who voted the wrong way on choice. And we've come in and beaten them. We brought in someone new who's going to stand for the kids of Texas.

And so I was on the floor of the House, and then I went back to the Speaker's office, and I was meeting one-on-one with a whole bunch of state reps and making the case what you're doing right now is a big deal. And I'll tell you, Ben, I announced today I'm spending a quarter million dollars, $250,000.