AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz will be among the "headliners" addressing the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus (ryens PREE'-bus) said Wednesday that the former state solicitor general will address the Aug. 27-30 convention along with four other conservative notables, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Cruz is a tea party darling who upset Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the Republican nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Dewhurst was backed by Gov. Rick Perry and much of the Texas GOP establishment but lost a July 31 runoff election to Cruz by 13 percentage points.
Cruz advances to the November election against Democratic former state Rep. Paul Sadler. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
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