WASHINGTON — Senator Ted Cruz is laying groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid, viewing it as a "do-over" from his 2016 primary run and a platform to pull the Republican Party toward small-government conservatism.
"It's no secret that I want to be president," Cruz said on a podcast last month. In a 2023 interview in his Senate office, he told the Washington Examiner that his 2016 campaign outraised George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney combined, secured 8 million votes and won 12 states — more than any Republican except Trump.
Cruz beat Trump in Iowa in 2016, preventing what could have been an early coronation for the New York real estate develo. Trump rebounded with wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Cruz characterized that campaign as "very, very close to winning" and "the most fun I've ever had in my life."
Conservatives rallied to Cruz in 2016, seeing him as their last genuine shot at the nomination against the Republican establishment. Jeb Bush, the presumed front-runner before Trump entered, was widely viewed as beatable. The field included Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Rand Paul and Ben Carson.
Cruz refused to endorse Trump at the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland, citing Trump's public attacks on his wife and father. Senator Mike Lee also withheld his endorsement initially. Both eventually backed Trump in all three general elections.
Now Cruz is staking a claim to lead an ideological reckoning within the GOP. "We're in the midst of a debate about who our party is and what we believe, and I think economically we've got to debate: Are we a small-government, free-market conservative party? Are we a big-government, nanny-state party?" he said on MS NOW last month.
Cruz's move positions him as the first prominent Republican outside Trump's orbit to hint at a 2028 race—setting up a direct clash with Vice President JD Vance, who represents a harder-edged populism and nationalism. Vance has the advantage of entering electoral politics without Trump's decades of celebrity baggage.
When asked about Cruz, Vance told an interviewer: "Ted is a very authentic and likable guy."
On Meet the Press on Aug. 30, Cruz said "there will be a time" to decide on 2028 but stressed his current focus is campaigning "nonstop" for other Republican candidates before the midterm elections.
