Cruz’s conundrum: Help GOP save the Senate?
With the Republican Senate majority on the line, Ted Cruz has been politically dormant. Few contributions to colleagues, no campaign appearances with endangered incumbents and little talk of how important a GOP Senate is next year.
On Tuesday, that finally changed.
As Republican insiders began grumbling to POLITICO about Cruz’s lack of activity, Cruz forked over $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He did so at the behest of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who Cruz has described as both a liar and a Democrat. But Cruz’s contributions — representing about a quarter of his Senate funds — produced a rare warm moment between the sometime adversaries.
“Thank you, Ted,” McConnell told Cruz after his donation, according to a source familiar with the exchange.
Building some bridges with a Senate Republican Conference that shunned his presidential run could be mutually beneficial for both Cruz and GOP incumbents. He has national name ID and a massive fundraising network that could aid Republicans up for reelection. And it would be helpful for the Texan to have some establishment love when he’s up for reelection in 2018 and, potentially, if he runs for president in 2020.
In 2014, Cruz barnstormed Georgia on behalf of David Perdue, helping him clear the 50 percent threshold and “avoid a very, very costly runoff,” recounted NRSC Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Wicker said Cruz seems ready to play that role again.
“He understands, like the rest of us, what’s at stake in terms of the [Supreme] Court, in terms of health care policy, in terms of spending levels,” Wicker said. As to where Cruz might campaign this fall, Wicker said: “He and I have not had that conversation, but I wouldn’t read anything into that ... I’m sure he’ll be out there.”
Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Cruz, said the senator “is committed to doing everything he can to maintain the Republican majority in the Senate and he’s going to continue to look for ways he can help his colleagues.”
Some Republicans aren’t holding their breath for Cruz to exert himself this fall — they say Cruz’s rock-ribbed conservatism doesn’t carry much appeal with independent voters that purple and blue-state Republicans need. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) have both said they’re not interested in campaigning alongside Cruz.
“He went around in the campaign saying that he didn’t want people like Bob Dole and John McCain and Mitt Romney. So I can certainly understand why he wouldn’t be supportive of my candidacy,” McCain said on Tuesday. “He believes he is a different kind of Republican. And I do too.”
Cruz has been uncharacteristically quiet of late, steering clear of the presidential race after his monumental non-endorsement of Donald Trump from the floor of the Republican convention in July. His refusal to get behind the party’s presidential nominee could be a liability to GOP senators looking to boost turnout among party-line voters.
“What he did at the convention really hurt him and will be really hurtful him in a future run,” said one Republican senator.
Cruz’s potential 2020 rivals are busy trying to raise their national profiles. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), for one, has been in early states and appeared for McCain in Arizona alongside Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who spent last week stumping for Ayotte.
Cruz is likely to hit the trail in October, but there’s no indication where.
Since ending his presidential campaign, Cruz has endorsed Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), who lost his primary, and stumped for Darryl Glenn, a long-shot in the Colorado Senate race. Republicans predict Cruz can and will do more to defend the party’s 24 seats this November.
“I would suspect you would find he is very interested in seeing Republicans maintain the majority,” said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. “He is very capable and he is a real asset to the rest of us … in terms of his popularity around the United States with our base.”
Despite his donation on Tuesday to the NRSC, Cruz has given only about a third of the amount he donated to the committee in 2014, when he transferred $250,000 in September and spread around nearly $90,000 from his leadership PAC to moderates like Scott Brown and conservatives like Mike Lee.
It’s impossible for Cruz to match some of his colleagues’ contributions this time around: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) transferred $2 million the NRSC last week, about half of all the money donated by the 54 GOP senators, Republican sources said. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has pledged $350,000 to the group.
Cruz’s Senate coffers had about $400,000 at the end of June, while his presidential campaign had $600,000 on hand but the same amount in debt.
There are other ways for GOP senators to make a difference other than direct transfers. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has helped raise $15 million for individual Senate candidates, and several GOP senators have held fundraisers for the NRSC totaling in the millions, Republicans said. Cruz is not on the leader board in either category.
Then again, Cruz is coming off a grueling presidential campaign. And he’s been more generous with the NRSC than some Republicans who are sitting on way more cash.
“I don’t give my money” to the NRSC, said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who had nearly $10 million in his campaign coffers as of the end of June.
But Shelby has given nearly $150,000 to GOP colleagues through his leadership PAC, according to OpenSecrets, and Cruz’s leadership PAC has donated to just one Senate contender this cycle: $5,000 to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. A Cruz aide said more contributions are coming.
That PAC has just under $30,000 on hand, but a few more contributions would go a long way toward reforming his reputation, fellow Republicans say — even if it’s mostly symbolic.
“I wouldn’t say it’s incumbent on him. It’s his choice. But the more resources our candidates can get, the better,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Cruz didn’t endorse Cornyn in his contested primary in 2014, and likewise Cornyn is not supporting Cruz in his 2018 primary. Cruz may face a tough, establishment-backed candidate like Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who is personally wealthy and hasn’t ruled out a bit. If he prevails, Cruz could face a legitimate general election foe. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) has been toying publicly with the race.
Cruz is clearly preparing for a tough 2018. He’s made several urgent solicitations for money this summer, highlighting Castro’s remarks that the race is “winnable.” What Cruz does this cycle for his Republicans colleagues will play a major role in whether they help him — or stand by like they did during his presidential run earlier this year.
“He’s a very bright young man,” Hatch said. But, he added: “It’s always helpful for all of us to make more friends.”