Ted Cruz Bases His 'Saving Texas' Rebuilding Effort in Austin After the Democratic Sweep

AUSTIN — Senator Ted Cruz is putting the headquarters of the Republican rebuilding effort in the capital city that just voted the other way. Cruz announced Tuesday that Saving Texas, a nonprofit advocacy organization run by his political allies, is establishing a physical headquarters in Austin to coordinate candidate recruitment, grassroots infrastructure and fundraising, the Washington Examiner reported, following Axios's first report of the plans.

"Texas is my home. It's where I've raised my family, where I've fought for conservative principles, and where I've had the extraordinary honor of representing 32 million Texans in the United States Senate," Cruz said in a statement carried by the Examiner. "The work of rebuilding our party begins right here. That's why Saving Texas is establishing its headquarters in Austin, in the capital of the Lone Star State."

The announcement follows last week's midterm elections, in which Democrats swept Texas's statewide offices — Gina Hinojosa defeated Governor Greg Abbott and James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Senate race. Cruz described those losses on his podcast as a "Watergate-level repudiation" and said, "Texas is blue. That is a hard sentence to utter." He has suggested that failures to address voters' cost-of-living concerns drove the defeat, saying Republicans need to "listen and respond" and champion economic policies that make a difference in working people's lives. With Texas's 40 electoral votes considered a must-win for any Republican presidential contender, the Examiner noted, the state's new competitiveness raises the stakes for 2028 — a race in which Cruz is widely expected, in the Examiner's reporting, to be among the possible contenders.