Cruz Revolutionized Solicitor General Role

During his five years as Texas’s Solicitor General, Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz argued eight cases before the U.S. Supreme Court—far more than his predecessors or successors—and his actions in that role are still the most defining part of his public life. Cruz also signed about 70 amicus briefs sent to the Court, whether or not they had a direct significance to Texas. “He really turned the office into a platform,” said David Bernstein, a George Mason law professor. Whether it was cases over the death penalty, public expression of religion, abortion, or gun control, Cruz “was on a constant watch for opportunities to press a conservative view of the Constitution,” said Jim Ho, the Dallas attorney who succeeded Cruz as Solicitor General. A Politico retrospective of Cruz’s arguments before the Court portray a man seizing an opportunity to take a narrow legal job and turn it into a shining opportunity to raise his national profile.