Sarah Palin Backs Ted Cruz for Texas U.S. Senate Race

Ted Cruz has received a high-profile endorsement in his race for the U.S. Senate in Texas Thursday. Former Alaskan Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Cruz on Thursday for his bid to be the Republican nominee in November to replace retiring Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The endorsement was confirmed by Campaign manager John Drogin by email to Yahoo News that the endorsement "has added HUGE buzz to our campaign.

Palin wrote in a letter to Cruz, "We’re proud to join conservatives in Texas and throughout the nation in supporting your campaign to become the next Senator from the Lone Star State.” Cruz is a former Texas solicitor general and appellate lawyer and has won endorsements from many national tea party leaders and conservative economic groups, among them the Club for Growth.

Cruz is hoping to force a run-off with front-runner and long time Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst has been endorsed by most Texas Republican groups and political action committees and has large war chest of funding for the campaign, but Cruz has closed the gap in the past few months with more total donors than Dewhurst. The other two candidates in the race have consistently polled in the single digits and include former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, former ESPN football analyst Craig James, and Glenn Addison.

Dewhurst touts his experience in business and state politics while Cruz has emphasized his conservative views. As of late, Dewhurst has tried to tie Cruz to a patent lawsuit involving the firm Cruz has worked for and a Chinese company, but recent polls show that has had little effect on the race.