Tea Party-backed Ted Cruz wins Senate race in Texas

Nov. 6, 2012: Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Ted Cruz thanks the crowd during a victory speech as he is joined on stage by his wife Heidi, right, in Houston. (AP)

Tea Party darling Ted Cruz will take his no-nonsense, small-government message to Washington as the first Hispanic elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas.

Cruz's win against Democrat Paul Sadler Tuesday night allows Republicans to keep the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

The race gained national attention when Cruz beat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who was backed by the GOP establishment.

The outcome of the two-year campaign for U.S. Senate was a foregone conclusion as Democrats haven't won statewide in Texas since 1994. His challenger Sadler had about 5 percent of what Cruz raised, and was unable to afford to run even a single TV ad hitting all media markets in the state.

Cruz, a domestic policy adviser on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and solicitor general of Texas from 2003 to 2008, is considered a skilled legal scholar. But this will be his first job in elective office.

The son of a Cuban immigrant, Cruz favors legal immigration and opposes amnesty for those without legal documents.

Cruz, a Harvard educated lawyer, was a domestic policy adviser on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and served as Texas' solicitor general from 2003 to 2008.

The senator-elect's number one priority is staging an "epic battle" with other Republicans to repeal ObamaCare. In addition he wants to focus on cuts to spending, deficit reduction, ending over-regulation of small business and tax reform