Is Ted Cruz Eligible to Run for President?

In a testament to Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s (R) star power, Politico recently questioned whether Cruz would ever be eligible to run for president.

It is a question many have asked after Cruz started to gain momentum in his Texas Republican Senate primary against Texas Lieutenant Gov. David Dewhurst. 

Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother (who was born in Delaware and had lived in the country for at least ten consecutive years) and a father who was born in Cuba. 

There is no legal precedent for Cruz’s case, which is why people on the right, left, and in legal circles have been curious about whether Cruz would be in fact eligible to run for president. 

The U.S. Constitution states that only a “natural born Citizen” can be eligible to run for president. 

As Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman told the publication, “The question ultimately is, What do we mean by a natural born citizen?”

“The problem is, no one knows what a natural born citizen is,” agreed University of California, Davis law professor Gabriel Chin, who argued in 2008 that Sen. John McCain was not eligible to be president.

Advisers to Cruz told the publication that “because his mother had U.S. citizenship at the time of his birth, it transferred to him on foreign soil.”

“Ted is a U.S. citizen by birth, having been born in Calgary to an American-born mother,” a Cruz spokesperson told the publication. 

Temple University law professor Peter Spiro told the publication Cruz would have a “very strong argument” that he qualifies under the definition.