Ted Cruz supports Chris Herrod for Jason Chaffetz's former seat

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is all in for congressional candidate Chris Herrod, R-Utah.

Herrod, a former state legislator and real estate developer, is running for the seat vacated by Rep. Jason Chaffetz in Utah’s 3^rd congressional district. He endorsed Cruz for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 before Utah went for Cruz. On Saturday, Cruz attended a rally for Herrod’s campaign, KSTU reports.

“The reason I’m supporting Chris here is we need real conservatives," Cruz told the press. "We need conservatives who know what they believe and who will do what they say they will do. So many of us are frustrated out of our minds with candidates who will give a great talk on the stump and then go to Washington and become somebody else."

Herrod describes himself as a platform conservative Republican. "If you look at the Republican platform, I believe in all those planks," Herrod, told the editorial board of the Deseret News.

He was raised in Provo, Utah. In 1990, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a double major in international relations and family living. He holds a master’s degree in organizational behavior from the Marriott School of Management. After graduation, Herrod taught at Karkov National University in Ukraine, where he met his wife, Alia.

"My wife grew up in the Soviet Union, and she's greatly concerned, as I am, that we seem to be headed down a path that does not work," Herrod said. "That system, whether it be socialized medicine or a socialized system in general, does not work."

During his six-year service in the Utah House, Herrod staked a position as a consistent conservative, contrasting himself with Republicans who run as conservatives at election time and betray their supposed principles once in office. He co-founded the conservative Patrick Henry Caucus.

"I always got beat up on [Utah's Capitol] Hill for being conservative in the off year. But whenever we would have an election, then everybody is conservative," Herrod said. "Everybody wants to use that term."

"My primary focus is to restore the original intent of what I believe the Constitution was."

According to KSTU, Herrod is currently running last against two primary opponents also vying for Chaffetz’s seat. The other Republican candidates, Provo Mayor John Curtis and Alpine lawyer Tanner Ainge, a former Democrat and a political newcomer, respectively, are both campaigning as conservatives.

Senator Cruz’s endorsement of Herrod may stake him out as the true conservative in a primary where many Utah Republicans remain undecided.