Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz
Republican
· TX Senate · 116th Congress
Senate Committee on Commerce (Chair) · and Transportation (Chair) · and Innovation (Chair) · Agency Action (Chair) · and Federal Rights (Chair) · Joint Economic Committee · and Fisheries · and Broadband · and the Internet · and Data Privacy · Climate Change · and Manufacturing · and Competitiveness · and Weather · and Safety · Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · the Pacific · and International Cybersecurity Policy · South Asia · Central Asia · and Counterterrorism · International Operations · and Bilateral International Development · Transnational Crime · Civilian Security · Human Rights · and Global Women's Issues · Senate Committee on Rules and Administration · Senate Committee on the Judiciary · and Border Safety
Influence Score
69.2
Highly exposed
↑ +12.9
vs 118th (62.5)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
12.0
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
2.9
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$1,724,197
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$1,184,567
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.7
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
0.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
< 0.1
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
12.6
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
1.9
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
8.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.6
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$34,139 direct
NORPAC
$23,400 direct
CITIZENS ORGANIZED POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$10,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $57.46M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $115K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 69.2 | Highly exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 60.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 62.5 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 75.4 | Highly exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
CFF
Total money from this network
$23,522,212
Number of funding networks contributing
1
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Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
Share from this one network
11.9%
Amount from this network
$244,431
Total from all networks
$2,044,867
Networks contributing
331
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Who funds Cruz
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$60,430,364
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
66.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
31.7%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
28
Money that arrived near votes
$67K
Distinct donors
39
Distinct employers
19
Share of their total fundraising
0.13%
Biggest clusters of timed money
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
$10K
HIGH PLAINS ACRES LLP
$7K
MASSEY MOTOR FREIGHT
$7K
ALLEN HONDA
$3K
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$3K
DELTA AIR LINES
$3K
DELTA AIR LINES
$3K
DELTA AIRLINES
$3K
GIBSON DUNN AND CRUTCHER
$3K
LANIER LAW FIRM
$3K
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.43M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.33M
HOMEMAKER
$5.56M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$3.02M
TARGETED VICTORY
$2.68M
BOEING
$2.04M
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$1.88M
INTERACTIVE BROKERS
$1.31M
UNITED AIRLINES
$1.30M
WOODFOREST NATIONAL BANK
$1.27M
NIRVANA TECHNOLOGY
$1.20M
COZEN O CONNOR
$1.16M
VALERO SERVICES
$1.15M
HARRIS
$1.09M
TRT
$1.05M
BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK
$1.05M
ENTERGY SERVICES
$1.03M
UNITED AIRLINES
$1.00M
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
$1.00M
VISA U S A
$881K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$12.14M
Disclosed outside spending
$8.28M
Dark-money outside spending
$3.87M
Share that is dark money
31.84%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$332
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
TRUTH AND COURAGE PAC
$3.86M
SAVE OUR COUNTRY
$1.70M
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
$1.47M
DEMOCRACY PAC
$1.37M
RED SENATE
$914K
DEFEND THE BLUE DOT PAC
$655K
GOA VICTORY FUND
$620K
VOTER AWARENESS PROJECT
$405K
NRDC ACTION VOTES
$325K
VIGOP (VIRGIN ISLANDS REPUBLICAN PARTY)
$314K
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$230K
END PREDATOR ABUSE PAC
$173K
SAVE WESTERN CULTURE
$150K
THE L & C COALITION
$111K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$102K
Groups that hide their donors
$3.86M
1 smaller group under $500
$332
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
JEFFREY J KOLOZE
$8K
GEORGE ERBACHER
$3K
THOMAS MORRIS
$2K
EDWIN BOTERO
$300
TIMOTHY MELLON
$12.00M
SENATE LEADERSHIP FUND
$3.75M
PAUL ELLIOTT SINGER
$3.00M
JEFFREY W KELLER
$1.57M
BRUCE WAGNER
$1.50M
TRANSWEST AUTOMOTIVE
$1.47M
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
615 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $7.92M to Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz across 1,660 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$7.92M
Shared contributors
615
Contributions
1,660
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20 | 92 | $1.02M |
| 2024 | 597 | 1,431 | $5.75M |
| 2026 | 26 | 137 | $1.15M |
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Revolving Door
2 former staff members
who worked for Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAMANTHA MCLEAN | Senior LA, Senator Cruz (2018-2023); LA, Senator Cruz (2016-2018); Leg Aid, Sena… | FORBES-TATE | 23 | 24 | 2023–2025 |
| JAMES CHRISTOFERSON | DCOS for Sen. Cruz, Appropriations Committee Professional Staff, Deputy COS for … | JPC STRATEGIES, LLC | 1 | 1 | 2023–2025 |
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Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz's file shows clear influence markers across multiple categories for the top funding network, placing them in the upper range of this Congress. The pattern runs above what coincidence would produce, and the methodology page documents what each category requires.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required