Cruz Campaign Press Release - Cruz Hires Additional Early State Staff

HOUSTON, Texas – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today announced the hire of Jake Dagel as Iowa senior field director and Steven Wright as South Carolina low country field director. They both join their respective state directors, Bryan English in Iowa and LaDonna Ryggs in South Carolina, to support and continue building a strong, grassroots coalition in the early caucus and primary states.

"Both Iowa and South Carolina are critically important states to our campaign, and I am thrilled that both Jake and Steven will be joining our team," said Sen. Cruz. "Jake is a strong principled conservative who has demonstrated his ability to motivate youth voters. Steven has repeatedly fought on behalf of conservatives and has significant experience working on numerous South Carolina grassroots efforts. Adding their talent to our campaign, we will continue to advance on the path to win the Iowa caucus and South Carolina primary elections."

Jake Dagel most recently served as field director for the Iowa branch of Turning Point USA. In his time there, he has identified more than 2,300 conservative college students, helped launch and manage chapters at nine colleges throughout the Midwest, and strengthened the networks of various conservative groups. Jake has also worked as a contractor for pro-life organization Save the Storks. Prior to that, he was a legislative clerk for the Iowa House of Representatives. He was also the communications director and social media director for the 2014 movie, Unfair: Exposing the IRS.

Steven Wright has volunteered for numerous local and state level campaigns in South Carolina, most recently for Congressman Mark Sanford's campaign and State Senator Lee Bright's campaign. Steven has also led the fight to defeat a local option sales tax hike in Dorchestor County, which was defeated with over 67 percent of the vote. He previously served on the Dorchestor County Republican Party Executive Committee for two years.

The Iowa GOP Caucus is scheduled for February 1, 2016 and the South Carolina GOP primary is scheduled for February 20, 2016. In the general election, Iowa has six Electoral College votes and South Carolina has nine.