Matthew Dowd, a former top aide to former President George W. Bush and a longtime political strategist, is mulling a potential independent campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is up for re-election in 2018.
Dowd, who works as a political analylst for ABC News, told the Texas Tribune that he is giving the idea of a run “some thought” after some members of each party reached out to him about the possibility.
“I am giving it some thought. I haven’t made a decision,” Dowd said. “I don’t know what I will do. But I am giving it some thought, and I appreciate the interest of folks.”
Dowd’s political career began in Democratic politics, having worked for former Sen. Lloyd Bentson, D-Texas, before becoming a Republican in 1999 and ultimately working for Bush as his chief strategist on his successful 2004 re-election campaign. Dowd had a change of heart in 2007 over the Iraq War, leading to him identifying as an independent and becoming a vocal opponent of the two-party system.
“I would caucus with neither party … I think the system is broken,” Dowd said about who he would caucus with, adding that he is not necessarily in a rush to make a decision.
“It’s not an immediate thing,” Dowd said. “At some point, I have to obviously decide because this was a major adjustment in my life.”
Mark McKinnon, a former fellow Bush operative and longtime political hand, told the Washington Examiner he believes Dowd could be a “big x factor” in a potential bid against Cruz, adding that voters are “hungry for something different.”
“Dowd is a smart guy with a lot of experience analyzing American politics and working in successful campaigns. We know from the recent presidential campaign that voters are hungry for something different,” McKinnon wrote in an email. “And voter identification with the traditional parties has fallen off dramatically in recent years. So, who knows. If he runs, it would certainly make the race more interesting and he could be a big x factor.”
He is the latest name to surface as a possible challenger to the incumbent Republican and conservative firebrand, which includes fellow Republican Rep. Michael McCaul and Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, a potential general election opponent.
Cruz opened himself to a potentially bruising primary campaign after he decided against endorsing President-elect Trump in his speech before the Republican National Convention in July. However, he ended up endorsing him nearly two months later.
A Cruz spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
