Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has reportedly encouraged Rep. Michael McCaul to mount a primary challenge against Sen. Ted Cruz for his Senate seat in 2018.
According to the Texas Tribune, Perry has “strongly encouraged” McCaul to make a run in late summer after Cruz publicly decided against endorsing Donald Trump during his speech before the Republican National Convention in July, citing two GOP sources familiar with the discussions.
“Rick Perry holds Michael McCaul in the highest esteem,” Perry spokesman Stan Gerdes told the Tribune in an email, declining to say whether Perry has encouraged a run from McCaul.
In an interview last week, McCaul criticized Cruz for spending the majority of his first four years in the U.S. Senate with an eye toward the White House.
“I think he’s spent a lot of time since Day One running for president,” McCaul said. “I think we deserve somebody in the Senate who is going to be representing the interests of the state of Texas.”
“I do think after this election cycle that he has come home, that he realizes … you have to mind the store back home, and I do think he has traveled the state in an effort to get that back on track,” McCaul said.
Perry and Cruz have had an up-and-down relationship over the past few years. Although Cruz endorsed his presidential bid in 2012, Perry supported then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to replace the retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012. However, Cruz beat Dewhurst in a runoff that year.
During the presidential campaign, Perry was a frequent critic of Cruz’s, arguing that he was not ready for the presidency. However, months after dropping his own 2016 bid, Perry endorsed Cruz and campaigned for him prior to the Iowa caucuses in January.
