TED Cruz has said that he hopes Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey’s run for Texas governor “doesn’t happen” as he brands the actor a “formidable” candidate.
The Republican senator said on Thursday he hopes “Matthew decides not to run” as he put his support behind incumbent governor Greg Abbott in his Texas home state.
“I am a big fan of Greg Abbott, he was my boss for five and a half years, he’s a close friend and mentor,” Cruz said in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, the New York Post reports.
“He’s a very charming, very affable guy – he’s a movie star,” Cruz added of McConaughey.
“And a good-looking, charming, affable movie star can be a really formidable candidate on the ballot.
“I hope that doesn’t happen, but you know what? He’s going to have to make his own decision whether he’s going to run or not.”
McConaughey, who has publicly mused about running for the governor’s seat several times, is reportedly checking the temperature of the state’s business leaders to gauge his chances.
It is not clear if McConaughey would run as a Democrat or a Republican if he were to run for office.
Texas has had a Republican governor since the 1990s.
Politico reported last month that McConaughey has reached out to a “deep-pocketed moderate Republican and energy CEO” as he ponders whether to join the political arena.
He told CBS News that he would be a “fool” not to consider running.
“I’m giving it consideration,” McConaughey said. “It’s a very honorable thing to consider, you know, what that position would mean. What would it be for me, what would it mean for the people of Texas.”
While McConaughey is a beloved Texas icon, most political strategists warn against betting on his political future, saying they don’t see a viable path for him to win.
In a recent poll of Texas voters, 45 percent of respondents said they would prefer McConaughey to the incumbent Abbott.
The poll, conducted by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, showed that 33 percent would vote for Abbott and 22 percent would choose someone else entirely.
McConaughey has a history of being politically ambiguous, supporting both Republican and Democrat policies.
While it’s unknown whether he is registered to a political party, Texas voting records show McConaughey has only voted in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Gov Abbott faced opposition in his controversial response to Covid, in which he opted for as little mask mandates as possible and let Texas reopen sooner than was deemed safe by experts.
He also faced criticism for his response after a winter storm in February left swaths of Texas without power, heat, or water. Over 60 people died.
This week, Abbott announced that his state will be funding its own border wall along the Mexico-US border.
The Republican governor announced plans on Wednesday, saying the $250 million “down payment” would go to hiring a project manager and contractors to construct the wall, which would be partially funded by donations.
Abbott even made a website for people to send money to support the project, just a week after he pleaded with other governors for help on the border.
“My belief, based upon conversations that I’ve already had, is a combination of state land, as well as volunteer land, will yield hundreds of miles to build a wall in the state of Texas,” Abbott told reporters at an Austin news conference.
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On June 1, the governor announced a disaster in 34 counties surrounding the Mexican border, saying they were overrun by “dangerous gangs and cartels” and “human traffickers.”
He then blasted the Biden Administration for “abandon[ing] its responsibilities to secure the border and Texans are suffering as a result.”
The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election will be held on November 8, 2022.