Ted Cruz to visit NC in April as presidential campaign gets underway

North Carolinians will likely be seeing more of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and his presidential campaign in coming months — starting in just three weeks.

Cruz announced his run for presidency at Liberty University on Monday, becoming the first official candidate of the 2016 race. The Texas conservative will be in Raleigh on April 13 to give a speech about policy — and Cruz might be back soon, due to North Carolina's now earlier presidential primary.

Cruz is one of many possible candidates competing for the Republican nomination, and he's not necessarily a household name yet, according to political analysts.

Mitch Kokai, spokesman for the right-leaning John Locke Foundation, said like many of the candidates, Cruz is not particularly well known and will have to educate people about his stances and policies. Cruz's visit to North Carolina in April is being sponsored by the foundation. 

“There’s a range of opinions about Ted Cruz, but you have to remember that when it comes to even the average Republican voter, much less the average voter overall, most people really don’t know much about him,” Kokai said.

Cruz has only been in the Senate since 2012, after overcoming long odds and beating David Dewhurst, the former Texan governor and favored candidate for the seat. Since then, Cruz has made bold moves — like spearheading the 2013 government shutdown by reading from Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham during a 21-hour filibuster.

He's painted himself as a forthright candidate, Kokai said — a strategy that could win the hearts of Republican voters who want a candidate who means what he says and says what he means. 

“If you look at Ted Cruz, probably the main thing he has going for him at this point is that in his national role as a U.S. senator, he has been pretty vocal about speaking out on the issues that he supports,” said Kokai.

But Cruz’s race will not be without obstacles, said Geoffrey Skelley, political analyst for the UVA Center of Politics. Cruz does not have “friends in high places” or the Republican establishment’s favor, Skelley said, which will make fundraising difficult.

“Someone like Cruz might do a better job getting support from the base, which could make up for some of his money problems," Skelley said.

Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College, said Cruz still has the opportunity to shape his controversial image.

“What he has to present is more of a sense of, 'Here’s what I would do,' rather than, 'Here’s what I want to stop,'” Bitzer said.

The UNC College Republicans are among the groups already gearing up for next year's Republican primaries. Administrative Vice Chair Will Rierson said the group is excited for what Cruz and the other candidates will do for the party.

“Sen. Cruz has made himself a powerful voice for conservatism in Washington, serving his Texan constituents well,” Rierson said.

It's questionable, though, whether Cruz’s policy ideas will satisfy less conservative members of the GOP.

“He said Monday that if they could just encourage more social conservatives to show up, that he could win,” Bitzer said. “I’m not convinced that the country as a whole and particularly the battleground states that decide presidential politics will be persuaded by that hard right conservative philosophy.”

But Skelley was hesitant to count Cruz out yet.

“I think Cruz has shown a tendency to beat expectations,” Skelley said. “He may be the most dynamic individual in the entire Republican field.”

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