In a Twitter post, just after midnight on Monday, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas announced his intention to run for president in the 2016 race.Cruz is one of nearly a dozen members of the Republican Party considered to be potential candidates. He is a self-declared Conservative, which sets him apart from more moderate candidates like former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush.
Congressman Tom Reed (R) of New York’s 23rd District says the party has enough room for all types of contenders.
“As long as we go into this process in a way where we respect each member of the party, where we have a constructive debate not a destructive debate. And I think at the end of the day if you adhere to those principles, we’ll have a stronger party that’s bringing people together as we go into 2016,” said Reed.
Despite a good deal of maneuvering by the potential candidates over the past months, Cruz is the first to make his campaign official. Reed says there’s no definite advantage to announcing first.
“Senator Cruz was trying to get the headlines and get the buzz going, but this is a long campaign but this is a long campaign and I think any short-term benefit will be far outweighed by the long campaign trail that is ahead of him and others that are now going to enter the race,” Reed said.
Cruz spoke later in the day to an audience at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he said he envisioned “courageous conservatives rising up to re-ignite the promise of America.”
