The Hill’s 2012 New Members Guide

Texas

Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

DATE OF BIRTH: Dec. 22, 1970

BIRTHPLACE: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

RESIDENCE: Houston

OCCUPATION: Lawyer

EDUCATION: A.B., Princeton University; J.D., Harvard

PREVIOUS OFFICE HELD: State solicitor general (Note: This is an appointed position)

FAMILY: Wife, Heidi; two children

Ted Cruz has replaced retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as the second Republican senator from Texas. 

The Tea Party favorite went through a vigorous process to get to Washington: first he had to win a top-two spot in the Republican primary, which advanced him to a run-off election, where he beat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Formerly the state’s longest-serving solicitor general, along with being the youngest solicitor general in the nation, Cruz made a name for himself in legal circles arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, such as Medellin v. Texas. 

He has been recognized repeatedly for his professional excellence; American Lawyer magazine named him one of the 50 best litigators under 45, and Texas Lawyer named him one of the 25 Greatest Lawyers of the past century. He was also the first Hispanic to ever clerk for a chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, under former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Cruz also was a well-regarded debater in college. At Princeton he won accolades such as U.S. National Speaker of the Year.