U.S. House candidate Harriet Hageman won official support from a significant player in the national Republican Party. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas endorsed her Tuesday morning.
“Harriet will be a rock-ribbed conservative congresswoman who will always defend the Constitution,” Cruz told Fox News Digital Tuesday morning. “She knows the importance of standing up for individual constitutional rights and fighting back against the federal government, which wants to seize more land and prevent people from being able to provide for their families.”
Cruz’s is the second U.S. senator to endorse Hageman. Also giving her support in the Senate is Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Hageman has received more endorsements in the U.S. House, the body she will work in if elected. Most significant of these endorsements has been the support of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Minority Speaker of the House. McCarthy has been at odds with Hageman’s opponent, incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney, due to her unwavering criticism of former President Donald Trump, who has also endorsed Hageman.
McCarthy stripped Cheney from her leadership position in the House in May 2021, replacing her with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who has also endorsed Hageman. Stefanik and McCarthy have both contributed to Hageman’s campaign. Cruz has not donated funds directly to Hageman’s campaign or any related supporting political action committee as of June 30.
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. has not endorsed Hageman.
Hageman supported Cruz in his run for president in 2016 against Trump and worked with fellow delegates in a failed effort to force a vote on the Republican National Convention floor between Trump and Cruz.
Hageman has since said she was manipulated and tricked into taking these actions against Trump.
“The mistake that I made was in not recognizing the lengths to which the Democrats and the press would go in trying to destroy him,” Hageman said in a June interview with Cowboy State Daily.
“We had never seen anything like it before, and I did not fully appreciate that many of the allegations against him were just part of what has been an ongoing and long-term concerted effort to block his candidacy, his Presidency, and his success,” she said.
“A mistake I made was not pushing back harder against the corporate news media in their coverage of the 2016 Republican presidential primary – believe me, I don’t make that mistake anymore,” Hageman said.
Hageman said she came around to support Trump after being initially skeptical that he would understand Wyoming issues.
In a Tuesday press release, Hageman described Cruz as an important ally for Wyoming because of the similar culture and industries it shares with Texas.
“In many ways, Texas and Wyoming face the same struggles against the relentless onslaught of the federal government, and it will be nice to know that I have another ally in the other chamber when I get to Congress,” Hageman said. “Liz Cheney has forgotten all about us here in Wyoming as she readies for a presidential run or a commentator’s seat at CNN or MSNBC.”
