Ted Cruz secures the state of Arizona and its 11 Electoral Votes, putting him over the 270 Necessity
11:15 PM, New York City, NYTed Cruz has finally done it. He won the US Presidency. He's had a long and arduous journey to the Presidency. In 2012, he managed to win the GOP nomination for the US Senate in Texas to replace retiring Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. He became a conservative firebrand and ran for the U.S. Presidency in 2016. He came close, and was able to beat other big names in the race- Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and a crowd of more then a dozen others. However, there was one who he could not beat- Donald Trump. Trump went on to win the US Presidency, while Cruz remained in the Senate. In 2018, he narrowly fought off a challenge from then-US Representative Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke revived the Texas Democratic Party. In 2021, Cruz challenged the electoral college votes of 6 states (including Arizona, the state that now puts him over the top) on the electoral college certification on January 6th, 2021- a day that would live in infamy as the pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. Cruz has been called many things- a libertarian and a fascist, a hardcore conservative and a flip-flopper, and even the Zodiac Killer. However, it seems voters have picked Cruz over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Over the course of the night, we saw state after state leave the Biden coalition in favor of Cruz- or in opposition to Harris. Harris's unpopularity outside the Democratic Party earned her eire in the primaries. Despite the fact that Harris was always the frontrunner in the race, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear offered a more moderate view. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York Senator Alexandria Oscario-Cortez each considered a run from Harris's left. Even Biden considered running until his stroke in early 2023.
However, Cruz's field was much larger. Candidates included Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, former Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey and former Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Utah Senator Mike Lee, and others. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was an early frontrunner, however after his car accident in Iowa, he no longer was a viable candidate. Cruz and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley then became the frontrunners. After Cruz secured the nomination, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott was selected as Cruz's running mate- the first African-American on a GOP ticket. Additionally, Cruz seemed to of participated in identity politics- the 2024 Republican ticket is the first all-minority ticket.
Cruz thus far has won key swing states of the night, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, and Cruz's home state of Texas. Arizona puts him over the top, and this is without any call in the state of Nevada yet. Cruz is up by several million votes in the popular vote, however this will likely change as Harris's home state of California begins to be counted. However, it is possible that Harris may not do very well in her home state- California has now elected a Republican governor both in a recall of former Governor Gavin Newsom and later in the 2022 Regular election- Kevin Faulconer. Regardless, the task for Cruz now goes to the governance of the nation, building a cabinet, and, of course, the certification of the electoral college votes, in which Vice President Harris will be forced to certify her defeat.
