September 30, 2015 5:52 PM

HK: Cruz legislative endorsements a double edged sword with a dash of speaker politics for good measure

Even after Rick Perry withdrew from the race, two-thirds of GOP lawmakers are not now endorsing the only Republican presidential contender who lives in Texas

The surprising thing about Sen. Ted Cruz’s announcement of endorsements by Texas legislators was not that he scored those endorsements. No, the significant thing is that he only scored 41 out of 97 Republicans in the Texas House and 20 in the Senate. That means two-thirds of GOP legislators have not endorsed the only Republican running for president who lives in Texas. Yes, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul have Texas ties but Cruz is now the Texas candidate in this contest.

Some polling suggests Cruz is the second most popular Republican among primary voters following only Greg Abbott. So, the fact that only about a third would lend their names to his campaign should actually be troubling to the Cruz camp. In theory, there should be little downside to an endorsement given Cruz’s presumptive coattails.

But does he have coattails in a presidential year with a possible record-setting Texas GOP primary?

By Harvey Kronberg