Ted Cruz's campaign now has a 'prayer team'

Ted Cruz plans to have people pray for him and the country.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

As Republicans compete for the coveted evangelical vote in Iowa, Ted Cruz has a secret weapon at his disposal: a national prayer team.

Set to launch in December, the team will be made up of members who will receive prayer requests via email and invitations to participate in a 20-minute prayer conference call once a week. "I don't have a political or tactical angle on it. It is what it is. It's a group of people who wanted to get together and pray for Ted and his wife and the nation as a whole," Cruz's spokesman, Rick Tyler, told The New York Times.

A prayer or two might come in handy for Cruz right about now: Ben Carson currently leads the polls among evangelicals and is considered a "strong contender" for the important endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa Christian leader, The New York Times reports. Fifty-seven percent of Republican caucus goers in Iowa are evangelicals, compared to 25 percent of the overall U.S. population.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.