What is Ted Cruz's net worth? Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) answers a question from MSNBC's Chris Hays during a panel at The Texas Tribune Festival on September 28, 2019 in Austin, Texas. The festival held over a dozen panels and speaking events with democratic presidential candidates as well as prominent Texas republicans. Although he started in the private sector, Cruz quickly made his foray into politics, when he joined the George W Bush presidential campaign in 1999 as the domestic policy adviser, advising then-Governor Bush on a wide range of policy and legal matters, such as criminal justice, immigration, and government reform. During Bush's term, Cruz served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the US Justice Department and as the director of policy planning at the US Federal Trade Commission.