Ted Cruz presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016
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- See also: Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
In August 2015, National Review reported that part of Ted Cruz's pitch to potential donors was based on the absence of a large campaign staff. According to the journal, Cruz promised not to "run a traditional campaign with a bunch of D.C. consultants who are fleecing donors out of their money."[1] This, for the most part, described the campaign staff. They were not typically from the Republican Party's base of consultants, and they approached campaigning in a more direct and engaging manner.
The highest profile member of Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign staff was the campaign manager, Jeff Roe. Roe more than any other staffer came to stand in for many of the campaign's messages and tone. But Roe's forthright campaigning techniques, which he called "ruthless," showed in other areas of Cruz's staff as well.[2] Josh Perry, the new media director, aggressively pushed digital messaging and engagement.[3] Chief strategist Jason Johnson—dubbed the "political brain" of Cruz's campaign—relied heavily on "behavioral micro-targeting," a technique that documented individual voters' behaviors and retail activity to understand the most effective campaign appeals. [4][5]
As the potential for a contested convention increased, Cruz stuck with this staffing approach. While both Donald Trump and John Kasich hired convention managers and delegate strategists, Cruz's campaign leveraged existing campaign staff in each state to "organize aggressively at state conventions and stack each state’s Cleveland delegate roster with Cruz loyalists," according to the Boston Globe.[6]
After losing the Indiana Republican primary to Donald Trump, Cruz suspended his presidential campaign on May 3, 2016.[7]
Key staff and advisors
The following tables detail the 11 key staff and advisors for Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign at the time of the campaign's suspension in May 2016. These staffers had worked on a total of 11 presidential campaigns. Three staff members worked together on Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign, and three worked together to help elect Cruz to the Senate in 2012 as well.
These staff tables are divided based on campaign roles. The leftmost column indicates the individual staff member or advisor. The middle column details that individual's relationship to Cruz's 2016 campaign. The final column indicates the individual's experience prior to working on Cruz's campaign. More detailed profiles of individuals can be found by clicking the links in the leftmost column.
Management and strategy
| Individual | Role | Previous Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Roe | Campaign manager | •Sam Graves 1994 Missouri State Senate and 2000 U.S. House •Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential •Allen West (R-Fla.) 2010 U.S. House •Richard Mourdock (R-Ind) 2012 senate •Rick Perry 2012 presidential |
| Jason Johnson | Chief strategist | •Todd Staples 1999 Texas State Senate •Greg Abbott 2002 Texas attorney general •Nathan Macias 2008 Texas House •Bryan Daniel 2008 Texas House •Mark Shelton 2008 Texas State Senate •Connie Scott 2011 Texas House •Ted Cruz 2012 U.S. Senate |
| Chad Sweet | Campaign chairman | •Ted Cruz 2012 U.S. Senate |
| Mark P. Campbell | Political director | •George H.W. Bush 1988 presidential •George W. Bush 2000 presidential •Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential •Others |
Communications
| Individual | Role | Previous Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Stewart | Communications director | •Mike Huckabee 2016 presidential •Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential •Michele Bachmann 2012 presidential •Rick Santorum 2012 presidential •Mitt Romney 2012 presidential |
| Catherine Frazier | National press secretary | •Rick Perry 2012 presidential •Rick Perry 2010 gubernatorial |
| Jason Miller | Senior communications advisor | •Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) 2006 U.S. Senate •Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) 2004 U.S. Senate •George Allen (R-Va.) 2006 U.S. Senate •Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential •Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) 2013 U.S. Senate |
| Josh Perry | New media director | •Ted Cruz 2012 U.S. Senate |
Policy and advisors
| Individual | Role | Previous Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Austen Furse | Policy director | Austen Furse 2008 Texas State Senate |
| Nick Muzin | Senior advisor | •George W. Bush 2004 presidential re-election •John McCain 2008 presidential •Tim Scott (R-S.C.) 2010 congressional |
| Victoria Coates | National security advisor | •Rick Perry 2012 presidential |
Departures
Rick Tyler
On February 22, 2016, Rick W. Tyler resigned as national spokesman for Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign. The requested resignation was in response to a video Tyler posted of Marco Rubio (R). According to CNN, the video "shows Rubio walking into a hotel lobby past Cruz's father Rafael and a staffer reading the Bible, and subtitles in the video misquote Rubio as saying, 'Got a good book there, not many answers in it.'"[8] Tyler later apologized to Rubio, stating that Tyler's previous post "misquoted a remark the Senator [Rubio] made to the staffer. I assumed wrongly that the story was correct. According to the Cruz staffer, the Senator made a friendly and appropriate remark. Since the audio was unclear, I should not have assumed the story was correct."[9]
Other campaign staff members
The following is a list of other staff members who were working on Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign at the time of its suspension in May 2016.[10]
- Chris Wilson: Wilson was Ted Cruz's director of analytics and research. Formerly, the Oklahoma-based pollster had served as the executive director of the Republican Party of Texas.
- Willie Langston: Langston has worked for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and is a co-founder of Avalon Advisors.[11] He was a Cruz donor as well as Cruz's campaign finance chairman.
- Brian Phillips: Phillips was Cruz's rapid response director; he had previously served as Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) communications director.
- Lauren Lofstrom: Lofstrom was Cruz's finance director. Previously, she worked for the Republican Governor's Association, Rick Perry's 2012 presidential campaign, and as the scheduling assistant to former Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore).
- Ron Nehring: Nehring joined the Cruz campaign after Rick W. Tyler was fired as national spokesperson. Alice Stewart initially filled that role, and Nehring was hired on March 2, 2016.[12]
Campaign support
Independent support
- See also: Super PAC
During the 2016 campaign, Ted Cruz had eight super PACs supporting his candidacy, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Super PACs are not permitted by law to contribute directly to either the candidate or the candidate's campaign. Below is a list of the pro-Ted Cruz Super PACs:
- Take DC Back Action
- Keep the Promise PAC
- Keep the Promise I
- Keep the Promise II
- Keep the Promise III
- Stand for Principle PAC
- Crusaders PAC
- Jruz PAC
Other support
- Jobs, Growth & Freedom: Leadership PAC
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ted Cruz Campaign Staff. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz presidential campaign key staff and advisors experience, 2016
- Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Review, "How Ted Cruz Has Wooed Some of the GOP’s Top Donors," August 18, 2015
- ↑ Kansas City Star, "KC’s Jeff Roe featured as ‘ruthless’ but teary Cruz campaign chief on Fox," January 24, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "#Hillary #TedCruz rule," December 4, 2014
- ↑ Washington Post, "Meet the people who will help Ted Cruz try to get to the White House," March 24, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Ted Cruz’s audacious plan to win the GOP nomination," October 9, 2015
- ↑ Boston Globe, "Ted Cruz gains ground in shadow battle for delegates," April 5, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Ted Cruz drops out of presidential race," May 3, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Cruz asks spokesman to resign over 'inaccurate' Rubio video," February 22, 2016
- ↑ Rick Tyler Facebook Account, "February 21, 2016 post," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "The power players behind Ted Cruz's campaign," April 20, 2015
- ↑ Avalon Advisors, "Willie T. Langston," accessed July 17, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Ted Cruz hires new national spokesman," March 2, 2016
