Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz is the junior U.S. Senator from Texas, and has recently surged in popularity to become second in national polls, with 20.7%. Though Senator John McCain has called him “Wacko Bird” and many in the Republican establishment dislike him, Cruz maintains a strong hold on his position in the polls, which show him leading the race in the Iowa Republican primaries. In March, 2015 via Twitter, Cruz became the first major candidate to announce his run for presidency. After the Dallas Morning News pointed out Cruz’s dual Canadian-American citizenship, he applied to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship on May 14, 2014.

Keep on reading for a quick overview of his ideas and beliefs:

Background: Cruz was born on December 22, 1970 in Calgary, Canada to Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson and Rafael Bienvenido Cruz. His mother had American citizenship at the time, so most legal scholars believe he can still run for President since Cruz was given American citizenship at birth. When he was four, Cruz and his family moved to Texas, where he went on to attend Second Baptist High School. He obtained a BA in public policy at Princeton University, and in 2003, served as Texas’s Solicitor General until 2008 to become the first Hispanic to occupy that position, as well as the longest-serving solicitor general in Texas.

Foreign Policy:

• Wants to vigorous sanctions against Russia.
• Supports ending Obama’s illegal amnesty via Congress’ checks & balances.
• Suggests arming the Kurds to fight ISIS, with US air support.
• Believes that US has a responsibility to defend our values abroad.

• Proposes a balanced budget amendment to stop bankrupting our country
• Believes executive actions override Congress & the Constitution.
• Wants to abolish the IRS.
• Supports raising Social Security’s retirement age; cap increases to inflation rate.

Domestic Issues:

• Opposes unreasonable and burdensome gun restrictions.
• Supports death penalty.
• Thinks net neutrality is ObamaCare for the Internet.
• Voted NO on protecting ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems.

Social Issues:

• Helped lead the 2013 government shutdown by insisting that the government could only be funded if Obamacare was repealed.
• Threatens to shut down government again if Congress didn’t defund Planned Parenthood.
• Believes that education decisions are best made at local level.
• Wants to overturn Supreme Court with anti-gay marriage Amendment.

Quotes:

“Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, ‘Accept the Nazis. Yes, they’ll dominate the continent of Europe, but that’s not our problem. Let’s appease them. Why? Because it can’t be done. We can’t possibly stand against them.”

“You know, back in the ‘70s — I remember the ‘70s, we were told there was global cooling. And everyone was told global cooling was a really big problem. […] The problem with climate change is there’s never been a day in the history of the world in which the climate is not changing.”

“The Obama economy is a disaster, Obamacare is a train wreck, and the Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind — the whole world is on fire. The world is on fire. Yes! Your world is on fire!”

Muppet he most resembles: Abby Cadabby. Cruz is, as Mr. Santorum claims in his political ad, apparently very good at reading children’s fairy tales on the Senate floor.

Sources: ontheissues.org and realclearpolitics.com