Ted Cruz Opens a 'Saving Texas' Headquarters in Austin After the Democratic Sweep

AUSTIN — Sen. Ted Cruz is opening a headquarters in Austin for a new 'Saving Texas' initiative, his office announced Tuesday, a week after Democrats swept most of the state's top offices in the midterm elections. A Cruz-aligned nonprofit office will open in the state capital to establish Republican infrastructure designed to win future elections, according to the statement released by his communications director.

The effort, as Cruz described it, will recruit strong candidates, rebuild the grassroots network and raise money to compete across the state. Cruz is now one of the few statewide elected Republican officials left in Texas after the Nov. 3 election, in which Democrats captured the governor's office, replaced the lieutenant governor, attorney general and comptroller, took one seat on the railroad commission and won a U.S. Senate seat. Democrat James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton for the Senate seat, becoming the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate race since 1988, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott, the first Democratic win in a Texas governor's race since Ann Richards in 1990.

Cruz has been blunt about what he says went wrong. The day after the election, he said Republicans must refocus their message and policies on the economy, named tariffs and the Iran war as reasons voters turned away, and said the party had not done enough to address voters' costs. 'Food is too high, gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, life is too high,' he said. Cruz, who is not up for reelection until 2030, said he had warned on his podcast for weeks that Republicans could lose everything in Texas.

The Austin headquarters puts the Republican rebuilding effort in the same city where the incoming Democratic state leadership will govern from January. No opening date or street address for the headquarters was given in the announcement read this cycle, and the desk claims neither.