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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rick Tyler
News Release Catherine Frazier
December 10, 2015  

Iowa’s Influential Bob Vander Plaats Endorses Cruz for President

The President and CEO of the FAMiLY LEADER is joined by Robert Cramer and Chuck Hurley

HOUSTON, Texas — Bob Vander Plaats, President and CEO of the FAMiLY LEADER, today announced his endorsement of Ted Cruz for President. The influential conservative leader, who has lent his support to the last two winners of the Iowa Caucus, is considered by many to be a key endorsement amongst Iowa Caucus goers, particularly with evangelicals and strong conservatives.

According to Vander Plaats, “Today is the culmination of a months long process that was deliberative, intensive, and covered in prayer from start to finish. I am confident that Ted Cruz is the right man for the job, and look forward to working with Iowans in every corner of the state to help him win the Iowa Caucus on February 1st.”

Joining Vander Plaats at the announcement was FAMiLY LEADER Vice President and Chief Counsel, Chuck Hurley, along with Board Chairman and former Congressional Candidate Robert Cramer. Together, the trio represent a constituency that is highly coveted in the competitive Caucus process.

“This is an endorsement that simultaneously sends a signal to political observers and motivates active Caucus voters,” said Cruz. “It’s more evidence that our campaign has momentum and is gaining ground heading into the final weeks of the Caucus. This endorsement also speaks to the grassroots activists who have delivered for the past couple of Iowa Caucus winners, that the time has come for us to coalesce. If we as conservatives come together in Iowa, and across the country, we will win.”

Vander Plaats, Hurley, and Cramer join Congressman Steve King and Steve Deace as key Iowa political and thought leaders who have publicly endorsed Cruz.
 

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Facebook posting from Bob Vander Plaats
December 10, 2015

Vander Plaats Endorses Ted Cruz for President

Here in Iowa, we take the political process very seriously. In particular, we understand the great responsibility and the heavy burden associated with going first in the presidential nominating process.

After nearly 8 years of the Obama administration, our nation and world are in desperate need of principled leadership in the Whitehouse. Not only are we ready to reignite the promise of America, but the world is suffering because we as a nation continue to fail in our international leadership role.

This environment produced what may be the strongest field of Republican candidates to simultaneously seek the office since the founding of the party. Most of these candidates are people I have had the opportunity to get to know on a personal level, and many have become close friends. While personal loyalties and longstanding relationships are valuable, we are in desperate need of a bold leader who will stand on principle, and can articulate a message that will cut through the noise.

When picking a candidate for president, I have long stated that I’m looking for someone who has the character to withstand the attacks that inevitably come during a campaign, has proven himself competent, surrounds himself with the company of trustworthy advisors, and who has demonstrated the ability to raise enough campaign cash to go the distance. Many of the candidates running met several of these criteria, but only one brings all four to the table. That man is Ted Cruz.

Ted Cruz has proven to be a man of character who is trustworthy in all areas. He is a dedicated husband and father, and a proven public servant. Not only that, he is the son of a godly man that many of us here in Iowa have grown to love and respect in his own right. Ted Cruz has repeatedly stood in the gap on principle when political expediency would have caused a lesser man to compromise and capitulate. I believe this is exactly the sort of consistent conservative we will need to lead us when President Obama leaves office.

What’s more, weather as Texas Solicitor General arguing before the Supreme Court, in the United States Senate, or as a candidate for President, Ted Cruz has proven himself up to the challenges before him. His competence is not in question, and as a matter of fact, his proven record of conservative accomplishments is a testament to his ability to move an agenda in a hostile environment.

The team of people that he has surrounded himself with speaks volumes about Ted Cruz. Both his official and campaign staff are serious professionals who have been refined by fire, and are ready to stand with him in the months and years of challenges that lie ahead. I am confident that the day he takes the oath of office, Ted Cruz will have a team of loyal advisors, associates, and employees that will immediately set about righting the ship of state.

Finally, Ted Cruz has shocked the political establishment by raising more money than they ever thought possible. With more cash on hand at the end of the last quarter than any other campaign on the Republican side, Ted Cruz has proven that the grassroots can and does show up to support a candidate who truly represents them. He has built an organization that stretches not just to New Hampshire and South Carolina, but through the March primary states and beyond. Unlike years past where we worked so hard to elevate a conservative candidate only to watch that momentum stall for lack of resources, Ted Cruz offers us an opportunity to launch a candidate who has what it takes to win the nomination and ultimately to become the next President of the United States.

It is for those reasons, and so many more, that I have today announced that I will fully engage in the campaign of Ted Cruz, and do everything I can to help see him become the next president.

I am calling on conservatives from every corner of the state to join me and support Ted Cruz. If we coalesce and work together, we have a very real opportunity to elevate someone who not only shares our values, but who has a proven track record of actually doing what he says he will do. I trust Ted Cruz. I am asking the people of Iowa to join me on February 1st as we go to Caucus and cast our votes for the next President of the United States, Ted Cruz.



Iowa Democratic Party

Statement from IDP on Bob Vander Plaats’ Endorsement of Ted Cruz

DES MOINES—Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Sam Lau released the following statement on Bob Vander Plaats’ endorsement of Ted Cruz:
 
“Ted Cruz may have won the coveted Bob Vander Plaats endorsement, but the sad truth is that it’s Bob Vander Plaats’ divisive, regressive policies that are dominating the 2016 GOP Presidential field. Just like Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bob Vander Plaats would deny gay couples the ability to marry, restrict a woman’s access to health care, and pursue xenophobic policies that only strengthen terrorist organizations abroad. This endorsement might be a win for Cruz, but the shared backwards Republican policies are a loss for Iowa’s families.”