Heidi Cruz Speaks at Concordia for Ted Cruz Campaign

by Jacy Johnston

Heidi Cruz, wife of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, stopped by Concordia University during the lunch hour on Tuesday, April 26 and attended chapel, spoke to attendees, and greeted the students, faculty and community members in attendance. Cruz’s tour around Nebraska included a number of stops before the upcoming primary on May 10.

“The state of Nebraska still can make a difference in the primary, which led to a national campaign wanting to make an appearance in Seward,” Dr. Brent Royuk said. “When they looked for a location, we were willing to host them.”

In a phone interview after the event, Heidi Cruz said today’s visit to Concordia allowed the Ted Cruz campaign to encourage everyone to vote and connect with the millennials.

After attending chapel, Nebraska State Senator John Murante introduced Heidi Cruz to the audience.

“It’s not very often that here in Nebraska we have very many presidential candidates or their spouses to visit,” Murante said.

Murante spoke to the character of Heidi Cruz in introducing her as the next first lady of the United States.

Heidi Cruz campaigns full time with her husband’s presidential campaign. Before this election, she worked for Goldman Sachs in the financial industry, attracting clients to the firm with a superior product and model. Her job as a campaigner is similar.

“My job is to attract people to our platform—Ted—and what he is running for, because I really believe in it,” Heidi Cruz said.

Heidi Cruz began by introducing the purpose behind her husband’s campaign and their servant leadership motto.

“We are certainly not in (politics) for ourselves,” Heidi Cruz said.

In the post-interview, Heidi Cruz spoke of the sense of urgency within this election cycle and a cultural crisis surrounding the nation.

At first, Heidi Cruz was unsure about her husband’s campaign. After praying about it, Heidi Cruz said she quickly got on board to create a campaign full of character and principle.

Heidi Cruz was raised by a Seventh-day Adventist missionary family, but now she and her husband and two daughters attend the First Baptist Church in Houston.

Heidi Cruz tells the campaign staff, “not to pray for victory, ultimately, but to pray for God’s will done in this country.”

After speaking of her faith’s importance, Heidi Cruz transitioned into explaining her husband’s platform to the audience in attendance. She cited three main points for the campaign: jobs, the Constitution and security. Heidi Cruz illustrated the complexity of the tax code and her husband’s plan to establish a flat tax across the nation, while abolishing the Internal Revenue Service.

To address the Constitution, Heidi Cruz pointed to Ted Cruz’s proven track record working in the legal system for over 20 years. Heidi Cruz described her husband as a Republican with strong libertarian leanings.

“I thought it was incredible that she came, and I think it is a really strong platform as long as they stick with what they said,” said freshman Anne Jesgarz.

Before opening up to audience questions, Heidi Cruz encouraged all in attendance to remember their importance as a single voter.

“Always tell yourself that one individual can make a huge difference,” said Heidi Cruz. “I think today this Republican Party has changed because of a number of people…that have…said we’re going have a government that is going to work for the people, not the other way around.”

After her concluding remarks, Heidi Cruz fielded audience questions from a variety of topics before taking pictures and speaking individually to those in attendance.

Heidi Cruz left campus to attend to her next event held in Lincoln later in the day.