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TYLER, Texas — Disillusioned with the regular cast of Lone Star State conservatives, a tea party crowd of about 400 gathered at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene and paid rapt attention to the

man campaigning to be their next senator. “Do the grass roots matter? This race is a test,” Rafael “Ted” Cruz told the applauding crowd as he prepared for a July 31 runoff against fellow

Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. “The Republican establishment has circled their wagons around David Dewhurst.” Cruz, 41, has been likened to Marco Rubio, another young Cuban American and

tea party star who entered the Senate last year after beating moderate Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. Cruz has been endorsed by Sean Hannity, Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin. Like

Rubio, Cruz sells himself as a fighter up against not just President Obama but a spendthrift Republican establishment — including Dewhurst, 66. In recent Senate primaries, tea party

favorites defeated GOP incumbents in Indiana and Nebraska. Will Texas follow suit? “There are whole counties in Texas, some up by Dallas or in rural areas, where the tea party dominates, but

they haven’t taken over,” said Bruce Buchanan, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “It will be an interesting test of the tea party, given the civil war going on in

the Republican Party right now.” Cruz’s father is an immigrant who settled in the Houston area, where Cruz attended high school. He went to Princeton University, where he competed in

college debate tournaments before attending Harvard Law School. After graduating and clerking for U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Cruz returned home to serve as Texas solicitor

general. At the recent Tyler gathering, Cruz charmed J. Ashton Oravetz, 68, a retired community college finance professor who leads the county’s Republican Party and helped organize the

event with a local tea party group called Grassroots America — We The People. Before the event, he and Cruz met with local businessmen, including some former Dewhurst supporters. Oravetz

said they considered Dewhurst “a compromiser,” and that electing Cruz would send a powerful message to conservative leaders. “It will terrify Texas and Washington,” he said, grinning. In the

May primary, Cruz captured 34% of the vote, which helped force Dewhurst, with 45% of votes cast, into the runoff. Cruz bragged in Tyler that he and Dewhurst had raised about the same amount

of money before the primary, but that he had relied more on grass-roots donors. Cruz also garnered significant out-of-state support from conservative “super PACs,” including $2.5 million

from the Washington-based Club for Growth. But that’s a pittance compared with the deep pockets of Dewhurst, who runs an energy company on the side, has an estimated net worth of $200

million and support from in-state super PACs. Overall, he leads Cruz in fundraising $18.4 million to $5.8 million. The candidates have similar takes on most issues: both promise to repeal

Obama’s healthcare law, secure the border and lower taxes. With little to fight over besides who will cut taxes more, both have turned to personal attacks. Most experts agree the candidates’

first televised debate last month was a draw — which, given Cruz’s debate experience, was a win for Dewhurst. A second debate is scheduled for Tuesday. Public Policy Polling found Dewhurst

leading ahead of the runoff and more likely to snap up supporters from third-place primary finisher and former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. Republican strategist Corbin Casteel was skeptical

that Cruz would be able to peel off enough Dewhurst and Leppert voters to win. “It’s a firm Republican state and there is a strong tea party contingency here, but I don’t think this is going

to be a race that’s a litmus test for the tea party,” he said. “It’s going to be who do the voters trust most. There is a sense of comfort in David Dewhurst — he is the lieutenant governor,

knows how to run our state and looks like a senator.” Dewhurst has served as lieutenant governor, arguably the most powerful position in Texas politics, for nine years. He is a veteran of

the Air Force, State Department and the CIA — government service Cruz can’t claim that plays better here than Ivy league degrees. Plus, he has the backing of Gov. Rick Perry, Austin

lobbyists and the state’s moneyed elite. “He has a lot of money but he doesn’t come across as someone who’s out of touch,” said University of North Texas associate political science

professor Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha. “He can tell that Texas story, and I think that resonates with a lot of people.” During a recent appearance in his hometown of Houston, Dewhurst reminded the

local Realtors’ association about the “Texas Miracle” of job growth he says he and Perry helped orchestrate. “The reason I’m in this race is the rest of the country isn’t doing as well as

we are,” Dewhurst said. “Washington is a mess. We need adults, we need people who can get along and know what we’re doing.” Afterward, Dewhurst said he stood by his record of working across

the aisle to pass conservative legislation. “You don’t always get what you want,” he said. Realtor Shad Bogany, 53, is not affiliated with a party, but plans to vote for Dewhurst in the

runoff. Bogany said tea party promises were unrealistic. “When these guys get to the Legislature, they realize they can’t just cut, cut, cut,” he said. “This runoff is a referendum on

middle-of-the-road politics versus extremes.” That’s exactly what Cruz and the tea party crowd in Tyler are banking on to drive their base to the polls. Before he closed his speech at the

church in Tyler, Cruz exhorted the crowd to donate even a little bit — if not money, then time recruiting voters. Dewhurst may have more power and influence, he said, but “runoffs are

grass-roots battles.” [email protected]_ MORE TO READ