The Return of ‘Cancún Cruz’ in Texas’ Senate Race

Democrats are reminding voters of Ted Cruz’s fraught mid-storm vacation.

Demonstrators stand in front of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's home demanding his resignation.
Cruz faced an uproar in Texas over a 2021 vacation his family took to Mexico during a deadly winter storm. Marie D. De Jesús/AP

There are a ton of legendary mistakes, gaffes and big misses in politics. And Texas Democrats clearly think a particular one can help them come November: that time Ted Cruz went to Cancún during a deadly winter storm that left millions across the state without power.

Rep. Colin Allred’s campaign has plastered Texas with ads about the controversy, deploying the message in most of the major media markets across the state.

“When Texans were freezing in the dark, he jetted off to Cancún,” Allred, who is challenging Cruz, says in one of these ads. “We don’t have to be embarrassed by our senator. We can get a new one.”