Missouri lawmaker backs Cruz

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) has thrown his support behind Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) presidential bid. 

 “I have personally seen Ted Cruz stand up and fight on the issues that matter the most to conservatives, even when it wasn’t popular in Congress,” Graves said in a statement released Monday by the Texas senator’s campaign.

{mosads}“We must secure our borders and restore the rule of law, and more than anyone running, Ted Cruz has fought to make this nation secure, while protecting our constitutional rights.”

The eight-term Missouri lawmaker is a subcommittee chair on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He previously served as chairman of the Small Business Committee.

He becomes Cruz’s 12th Congressional endorsement, the third most behind Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, according to FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement tracker.

Cruz has jumped into a tie for second in the RealClearPolitics average of recent national polls, and one Iowa poll released Monday showed him ahead of Donald Trump by 5 percentage points.