Senator Ted Cruz, 50, was back in Texas this week just one day after he flew to Cancun, Mexico for a controversial getaway with his wife Heidi, 48, and their two children, Caroline, 12, and Catherine, 10, during the winter storm crisis that’s left millions in the state without power and/or water. Despite his return, Heidi and the kids decided to stay in the popular vacation spot and were spotted enjoying their time on a beach. All eyes are now on Heidi as she takes in the warmth of the sun at the tropical location while other Texans try and endure the cold temperatures that have been causing issues such as no heat and electricity for almost a week.
Here are five things you should know about Heidi and her background with Ted.
1. What does Heidi Cruz do for a living?
Heidi has worked as an American managing director at Goldman Sachs since 2012. She earned the prestigious position after graduating from Harvard Business School in 2000 with a MBA.
2. She has political experience.
Heidi could easily pull a Hillary Clinton and run for office herself. She worked on George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000, and was the director of the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council from 2003 to 2004, according to Heavy.com.
3. George W. Bush helped her and Ted meet.
Heidi met Ted, whom she can be seen with in the cozy pic below, when they both worked for George W., according to the Washington Times. Ted and Heidi’s first date took place at an Austin bar called The Bitter End. They talked for hours and Heidi recalled, “It was certainly a very warm, lively, mutual conversation, and I was intrigued [that] he asked such insightful, deep questions.” They were married in 2001.
4. Donald Trump threatened her on Twitter.
The former president wrote that he’ll “spill the beans” about her while calling Ted a liar in a tweet after he mistakingly thought the latter was mocking his wife, Melania Trump in Facebook ads in 2016. “Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!” the tweet read. He also shared a photo another Twitter user posted that was insulting the appearance of Heidi.
The picture of Melania was actually posted by an anti-Trump Super Pac and Ted took to Twitter shortly after to call Donald out for the mix up. In addition to calling him “a sniveling coward” and telling him to leave his wife “the hell alone”, he made sure to let him know that he didn’t post the pic. “Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought. #classless,” he wrote. Donald eventually deleted the original tweet.
5. She has suffered from depression.
When Heidi gave up her White House job in 2005, per Buzzfeed News, the transition to her life in Houston was hard on her. In Sep. 2005, she was found sitting near a freeway with her head in her hands. A redacted police report says she wasn’t intoxicated, but the officer believed Heidi was “a danger to herself.” Heidi used “prayer, Christian counseling and the love and support of her husband and family,” to overcome her depression.