--- title: Ted Cruz Campaign Under Fire for Controversial Mailer description: Ted Cruz's campaign is under fire for a mailer they sent out in Iowa that is designed to look like an official government document. canonical: https://time.com/4201323/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-30T23:07:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:38.139Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cruz Campaign Under Fire for Sending Iowans Controversial Letter og:description: It looks like an official government document. og:url: https://time.com/4201323/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a8573170c40371/69887b64bc6cfc53d13db7fc/ted-cruz5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4897 og:image:height: 2755 og:image:alt: Ted Cruz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cruz Campaign Under Fire for Sending Iowans Controversial Letter twitter:description: It looks like an official government document. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a8573170c40371/69887b64bc6cfc53d13db7fc/ted-cruz5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cruz Campaign Under Fire for Sending Iowans Controversial Letter > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson / Des Moines, Iowa](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Des Moines, Iowa Jan 30, 2016 11:07 PM UTC  Ted Cruz listens to a question from the crowd at a campaign event in Ottumwa, IA on Jan. 26, 2016. Ted Cruz listens to a question from the crowd at a campaign event in Ottumwa, IA on Jan. 26, 2016.Jae C. Hong—AP  by [Tessa Berenson / Des Moines, Iowa](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Des Moines, Iowa Jan 30, 2016 11:07 PM UTC Ted Cruz’s campaign is under fire for a mailer it sent out in Iowa that is designed to look like an official government document. The mailers tell the recipients they have a “voting violation” for failing to caucus in previous elections, and grades them on an A to F basis, [Politico reports](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa-official-slams-218459). The paper has the words “official public record at the top,” and also includes actual names of the recipients neighbors. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate slammed the campaign, saying the mailer “misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law.” “There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting,” he continued in a statement. “Any insinuation or statement to the contrary is wrong and I believe it is not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa caucuses.” Iowa election officials aren’t the only ones upset by the tactic. One recipient of the mailer [tweeted a picture of it](http://journal.ijreview.com/2016/01/252498-said-undecided-iowan-received-controversial-mailer-ted-cruz/?utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=Social&utm%5Fcontent=entry-meta&utm%5Fcampaign=Sharing), since deleted, saying the mailer turned him off of Cruz’s campaign and that he will caucus for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio instead. He later clarified on Twitter that he was never a Cruz supporter: > [](https://twitter.com/TomAhink/status/693516058003517440) But that he was still very upset by the mailer: > [](https://twitter.com/TomAhink/status/693522421102440449) > [](https://twitter.com/TomAhink/status/693522618759053312) Another angry Twitter user? Cruz’s opponent, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: > [](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/693543160434196480) Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said the notice is “a standard mailer that folks at the Iowa Republican Party and other get-out-the-vote groups have used to help motivate low-propensity voters,” according to Politico. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201323/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201323/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa/"},"headline":"Cruz Campaign Under Fire for Sending Iowans Controversial Letter","datePublished":"2016-01-30T23:07:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:38.139Z","description":"Ted Cruz's campaign is under fire for a mailer they sent out in Iowa that is designed to look like an official government document.","url":"https://time.com/4201323/ted-cruz-mailer-iowa/","keywords":["ted cruz","2016 Election","Iowa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a8573170c40371/69887b64bc6cfc53d13db7fc/ted-cruz5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson / Des Moines, Iowa"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a8573170c40371/69887b64bc6cfc53d13db7fc/ted-cruz5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ted Cruz","caption":"Ted Cruz","creditText":"Jae C. 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