◼ Cruz convincingly defeated the Republican establishment favorite, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in Texas' runoff election Tuesday, capturing the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as fiercely conservative voters shook one of America's reddest states to its political core. - AP via FOX
The race had been closely watched nationally as one of the nation's most-vivid contrasts between the GOP mainstream and grassroots, conservative activists. But as results began to pour in, it turned out to be no contest. Cruz grabbed early leads in key cities around the state where Dewhurst had once enjoyed stronger name recognition, fundraising and political organization just weeks earlier....
Cruz got millions from national tea party groups and other conservative organizations including the Washington-based Club for Growth. He was endorsed by ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, radio talk show host Glen Beck, U.S. Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Kentucky's Rand Paul, as well as former GOP presidential hopeful and Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
At a morning campaign stop in Houston, Cruz said he heard from voters statewide interested in changing what they view as insider-politics in Washington.
"That's the way the democratic process is supposed to work. It's not supposed to be a bunch of guys in a smoky room in Austin picking the next senator," Cruz added.
◼ TEA PARTY VICTORY: TED CRUZ TAKES TEXAS SENATE RUNOFF - Dana Loesch/Breitbart (image source)
When they ask when the walls began to crumble for the GOP establishment, politicos will point to this race. Ted Cruz, the underfunded, under-famed grassroots conservative took on the abundantly funded, well-known Texas Lieutenant Governor and won....
This latest victory is arguably the biggest victory of the tea party movement, who've racked up an impressive cache of wins. Each candidate ran a good race, and the primary was as negative as expected, but this is politics, and politics is a blood sport.
It's no longer enough anymore to have an "R" after your name; to win a GOP primary you ought to have a conservative record and platform to boot. Gone are the days when big spending Republicans could coast through elections because the people didn't realize that they had choices. Ted Cruz positioned himself as a stark contrast to the status quo and was elected because of it.
The sleeping giant is awake.
