Ted Cruz
Republican
· TX Senate · 119th 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
75.4
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
5.2
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
6.0
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$17,907,696
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$5,813,743
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
6.8
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
1.1
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.2
/ 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
12.7
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
5.9
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
9.5
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.8
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$40,098 direct
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$18,217 direct
NORPAC
$7,000 direct
CITIZENS ORGANIZED POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$5,000 direct
CITYPAC
$1,250 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
— ◊ —
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
$18,827,801
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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
HOMEMAKER
$1.13M
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$783K
ENTREPRENEUR
$511K
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$349K
HOMEMAKER
$293K
ENTREPRENEUR
$190K
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$91K
HOMEMAKER
$61K
RDV
$59K
SOROBAN CAPITAL
$56K
BLACKSTONE
$53K
SILVA SILVA PA
$53K
DELTA AIR LINES
$46K
CEO
$43K
ENTREPRENEUR
$41K
REPUBLIC CLOTHING
$36K
LYON LIVING
$33K
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$33K
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
$33K
DUTY FREE AMERICAS
$32K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against 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
$7.73M
SAVE OUR COUNTRY
$3.40M
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
$2.98M
DEMOCRACY PAC
$2.75M
RED SENATE
$1.68M
DEFEND THE BLUE DOT PAC
$1.31M
GOA VICTORY FUND
$1.25M
VOTER AWARENESS PROJECT
$809K
VIGOP (VIRGIN ISLANDS REPUBLICAN PARTY)
$720K
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$689K
NRDC ACTION VOTES
$650K
END PREDATOR ABUSE PAC
$376K
THE L & C COALITION
$333K
SAVE WESTERN CULTURE
$300K
WORKING ASSETS FUNDING SERVICE
$183K
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 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 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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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