We already brought you part one of our list of 15 things you probably did not know about Ted Cruz, and now we’re back with part two! Check out eight more fascinating facts about the Texas politician and presidential candidate that you definitely (probably) did not know below. You might be surprised by what you find out!
Number Eight: He Was Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist’s First Hispanic Law Clerk. Cruz began working for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in 1996, and he was Rehnquist’s first Hispanic law clerk. He worked for Rehnquist for a year.
Number Seven: He Was in Florida for the Infamous Bush Recount. Cruz worked as a domestic policy adviser for Bush throughout the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000. When the votes were being recounted in Florida, Cruz and his wife went down there to work for Bush’s team.
Number Six: He Was Part of the Biggest Upset of 2012. In April fo 2011, Cruz declared his U.S. Senate candidacy. He won the GOP nomination in July of 2012 against Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and the win was called 2012’s biggest upset by The Washington Post.
Number Five: He Has “Argument Boots.” Cruz reportedly wears black ostrich-skin cowboy boots which he called his “argument boots.” He calls them that because he is often seen wearing them when he argues cases in court.
Number Four: He Watched Porn With Supreme Court Justices. In his memoir-cum-mission statement of a book titled A Time For Truth, Cruz revealed that he watched porn with Chief Justice William Hr. Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. They were reportedly watching the porn while considering a case about online pornography regulation.
Number Three: His Half-Sister Died of a Drug Overdose. Cruz has two half-sisters from his father’s previous marriage, and one of them struggled heavily with drug addiction. She was nine years older than Cruz, went to prison several times for shoplifting, and eventually died of an overdose.
Number Two: His Wife Battled Depression. Cruz revealed in his memoir that his wife, Heidi, had a very serious battle with depression about 10 years ago. He said that he tried to help her, but she eventually went to a Christian retreat to help her recover.
Number One: He Went Bowling With Bo Derek. While Cruz was working on the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, on election day, he went bowling with Bo Derek. Derek was, at the time, dating Josh Bolten, who was the head of the campaign’s policy team.