Sen. Ted Cruz is soliciting campaign cash with dodgy 'Summons Enclosed' letters


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) may not actively encourage lawn signs in his campaign to fend off a competitive challenge from Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), but he's found other ways to get the attention of Texas voters in their homes. Like this official-looking letter purporting to be a "summons" from Travis County voting officials, shared by Austin resident Sean Owen.
The Cruz campaign confirmed to Newsweek that it has sent out hundreds of thousands of those mailers, saying the campaign has received only a few complaints from people confused by the letter's provenance. Owen told Newsweek that while he's "used to ignoring junk mail with URGENT or FINAL NOTICE written on it," Cruz's mailer "fooled even me for a moment, as it plainly wants us to think it's from our county government when it isn't. ... It made me mad because my grandmother suffered from some dementia, and could easily have followed the urgent request inside to send money."
The mailer may be dodgy but it doesn't appear to be illegal. "No doubt, the fundraising letter, itself, is effective," the San Antonio Express-News said in an editorial in late May, when Cruz sent out similar mailers. "But certainly his campaign can do that without making it look like a legal threat, right?" Cruz used some questionable mailers in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, too, PolitiFact reminds us. When called out on those letters, Cruz said he "will apologize to no one for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
Why are military experts so interested in Ukraine's drone attack?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Zelenskyy government's massive surprise assault on Russian airfields was a decisive tactical victory — could it also be the start of a new era in autonomous warfare?
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media