Ted Cruz's Lackluster Manhattan Swing
Latest FEC disclosures show the Texas senator underperformed on Juneteenth
Ted Cruz raised $168,400 during his Juneteenth fundraising swing through Manhattan, less than half of what he’d hoped for. The junior senator from Texas was scheduled for seven donor meetings — six in New York City, one in Washington, D.C. — according to briefing documents I found in the Senate Refectory on June 17.
The memos were organized in seven tidy stapled packets of two or three pages each tucked neatly in a blue glossy folder with a gold emblazoned United States Senate logo.
Each packet includes the names, logistics, and political background of donor targets, plus requests for specific dollar amounts. The memos went viral when I posted them unredacted to X, formerly Twitter, at 5:09pm on June 17.
X removed the documents just over two hours (and millions of views) later, because they contained cell phone numbers and addresses, a violation of the platform's content policy.
Soren Dayton at the University of Chicago called the move "thuggery" on account of the death threats Cruz has been known to receive. I lightly redacted the documents in black acrylic paint and posted them to Substack where you can find them here.
Disappointing Beltway Dinner Haul
The first packet was a briefing document for "Capitol Grille Dinner" in Washington, D.C. — a meeting with eight donors who'd pledged $19,500, according to the memo by Fundraising, Inc.
"Total Paid: $0"
The latest FEC filings now show that Kelly Cole of the Wireless Association PAC, and John Ayoth of EAW Group, a firm that specializes "in dealing with disruptive and unexpected events that can harm an organization, its stake holders[sic] as well as foreign governments," have come through for Cruz. The pair contributed a combined total of $2,500 — or just over 12% of the target.
The Pennsylvania Avenue dinner briefing packet was the most extensive by far at four pages, with extensive biographies of the invited. The word "Texas" does not appear anywhere in the document. Midtown Royalty Decline The next six "Briefing Papers" were stapled packets written specifically to "Senator Ted Cruz" describing six top dollar fundraising meetings in Manhattan.
"REQUEST" is a section at the top of six of the fundraising memos, five of which include specific dollar amounts. "Ask if he will contribute $119,200 to your race," said the briefing document for lunch at Cipriani, a swanky Midtown eatery, with Ron Lauder, Ronald Reagan's ambassador to Austria and son of Estée Lauder, founder of the eponymous cosmetics company.
Ambassador Lauder did not donate to Cruz's campaign, according to the latest FEC filings. Neither did Ambassador John Loeb, the Gipper's man in Denmark (1981-83) and Sons of the American Revolution awardee.
“Thank Ambassador Loeb for taking the time to meet with you. Tell John about Ted Cruz Victory Fund. Ask if Ambassador Loeb will contribute $119,200 to your race. Ask John to talk to your team about outside efforts,” said the briefing paper, causing many on social media to question whether this could be a violation of Senate ethics rules governing coordination between candidates and PACs.
The last donor meeting in the Cruz briefings was dinner Dr. James and Barbara Reibel at the elite Knickerbocker Club on 5th Avenue. "Ask if they will contribute $11,600 to your race,” said the briefing paper. The Reibels donated $56,000 each to Cruz, according to the FEC filings.
Cruz Hearts Radio
The fundraising briefings were not the first time Cruz has raised eyebrows about coordinating with PACs aligned with his reelection.
In May, iHeart Media Management Services gave $156,185.72 to a podcast produced by a Pro-Cruz Super PAC, bringing the total revenue from iHeart to about $787,000 since March 2023. The senator’s relationship had been the subject of a 2022 complaint to the Senate ethics committee that was eventually dropped.
The podcast team claims Cruz volunteers his time to iHeart-funded the podcast. Meanwhile, the senator has become one of the biggest booster of a bill that would require AM radio in American cars. “If this bill passed, car manufacturers wouldn’t be able to remove the ability of customers to choose to listen to AM radio in their cars,” said Cruz of his bipartisan bill with Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts progressive.
Cruz was not at the Capitol for votes last week, choosing instead to stay in Texas which has been devastated in the Houston-area by Hurricane Beryl. Meanwhile, the senator remains locked in a closer-than-expected reelection campaign against Democrat Rep. Colin Alred, a history major from Baylor University who played in 32 NFL games over four seasons for the Tennessee Titans.