Senator Ted Cruz has heightened tensions within the Texas GOP by endorsing and filming an advertisement for Steve Toth’s primary challenge against Representative Dan Crenshaw, marking a significant break between two prominent conservative figures.
In a surprising intraparty escalation ahead of the 2026 Texas primaries, Senator Ted Cruz has endorsed state Representative Steve Toth’s campaign to unseat incumbent U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw, even appearing in a new ad for the Alamo Freedom Fighters PAC. Describing Toth as an “unwavering fighter” with a “strong record of standing up for limited government,” Cruz’s endorsement highlights a deepening rift between the two high-profile Republicans despite their shared Reaganite foreign policy views and mutual disdain for the GOP’s isolationist wing.
Cruz has previously signaled his ideological alignment with Toth’s “no-nonsense” approach, while both he and Crenshaw have historically feuded with media figures like Tucker Carlson, whom Cruz once labeled “dangerous” for going down a “very dark path.” Despite this common ground, Cruz is now actively working to replace Crenshaw, who has faced sharp criticism from the party’s right flank, including Carlson’s derogatory “Eyepatch McCain” label a jab at the injury Crenshaw sustained as a Navy SEAL that the congressman famously dismissed by calling Carlson a “cowardly, know-nothing elitist who is full of shit.”