--- title: Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz Are In A Heated Election Fight description: After Donald Trump's decisive victory in Nevada, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are still locked in a bitter battle for second place. canonical: https://time.com/4235366/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-election-video/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-24T15:11:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:02:11.029Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's What the Rubio-Cruz Fight Means og:description: Watch this helpful video. og:url: https://time.com/4235366/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-election-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f17ff5abbd33a41/69887b2f2dce0143a09e7919/republican-presidential-debate-gop-jan-28-photos-13.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-REPUBLICANS-DEBATE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What the Rubio-Cruz Fight Means twitter:description: Watch this helpful video. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f17ff5abbd33a41/69887b2f2dce0143a09e7919/republican-presidential-debate-gop-jan-28-photos-13.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What the Rubio-Cruz Fight Means by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) and [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/) Feb 24, 2016 3:11 PM UTC  Republican Presidential candidates Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz during the Republican presidential debate Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. Republican Presidential candidates Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz during the Republican presidential debate Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) and [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/) Feb 24, 2016 3:11 PM UTC After Donald Trump’s [decisive victory in Nevada](http://time.com/4235035/nevada-caucus-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-win/?9&xid=homepage), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio are still locked in a bitter battle for second place. Their fight has only intensified after Iowa, where Cruz won while Rubio surged to a surprising third-place finish. Cruz bested Rubio in New Hampshire, but they flipped places again in South Carolina where Rubio eked out second place over Cruz by just 0.2%. Rubio maintained his lead over Cruz in Nevada Tuesday night, but the two are desperately trying to wound each other and their other rivals before they turn to topple Trump. Watch the video above for a primer on what is really going on in the battle between the two young Senators. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4235366/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-election-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4235366/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-election-video/"},"headline":"Here's What the Rubio-Cruz Fight Means","datePublished":"2016-02-24T15:11:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:02:11.029Z","description":"After Donald Trump's decisive victory in Nevada, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are still locked in a bitter battle for second place.","url":"https://time.com/4235366/marco-rubio-ted-cruz-election-video/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Sen. 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