🚫 Not fit for public office. Fewer than three stars, and a critical Article fails (Open Books & Free & Fair Elections). This isn’t a close call. Expect to hear from us — often.
Editorial opinion — our judgment against the Seven Articles, not a legal disqualification or an allegation of any crime. Ratings terms · Challenge this review
1Open Bookscritical
40%☆ not yet
“…the property of the people.” — Cicero, De Re Publica
Own campaign is 4.6% PAC, but Runs the affiliated Jobs, Freedom & Security PAC, a leadership PAC taking PAC/corporate money (OpenSecrets). Running a corporate-funded leadership PAC fails Open Books. (FEC/OpenSecrets 2026)
60
2Free & Fair Electionscritical
35%☆ not yet
“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” — Abraham Lincoln
Voted to overturn the 2020 election (Jan 6, 2021 certification objection). Fails Free & Fair Elections.
60
3The Dignity of the Opponent
30%☆ not yet
“Treat humanity … always as an end and never as a means only.” — Kant
Routinely deploys contemptuous framing of opponents as 'the radical left'; combative, personal rhetoric rather than adversarial-but-respectful.
60
4Fear Is Not Fuel
28%☆ not yet
“…the better angels of our nature.” — Lincoln, First Inaugural
Campaigns heavily on grievance, culture-war alarm, and threat narratives rather than an affirmative governing agenda.
60
5Truth & a Kept Word
32%☆ not yet
“…living within the truth.” A representative owes “his judgment.” — Havel · Burke
Extensive PolitiFact record of false/misleading claims; reversed sharply from anti-Trump to loyalist for political convenience.
60
6Against the Spirit of Party
45%☆ not yet
“The baneful effects of the spirit of party.” — Washington, Farewell Address
Occasionally bucks leadership on spending and once forced a 2013 shutdown, but largely a party-line ideological warrior.
60
7Morality
70%★ earned
“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
No corruption finding; the 2021 Cancun trip during the Texas freeze was a documented judgment lapse, not a legal or ethics violation.
60
Engage Cruz
Every public channel, one click. Hold them to it — warmly, in the register of right speech.
This review is offered freely and openly to correction. A challenge is considered only when it states a specific reason and links to sources that substantiate it — an assertion without evidence is not reviewed.
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Scores are Independent 2026’s own editorial read against the Seven Articles — ≥60% earns the star. The first two Articles are critical: fail Open Books or Free & Fair Elections and there is no seal, whatever else holds. Each Article carries its founding quote as the yardstick. On bias →