ted's cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz scuttles back to Texas after getting busted on Cancun getaway

Ted in line at Houston airport with police escort.

Twitter

In the midst of a historically awful winter weather event in which millions of people across Texas were without power, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was caught trying to make a tropical getaway to Cancun.

Cruz and his family were photographed by fellow travelers at the George Bush Airport in Houston on February 17, as well as onboard United Airlines flight #1020.

"The confirmation is from multiple eye witnesses of @tedcruz and @heidicruz in Cancun," noted journalist David Shuster, while Fox News reported that it was true.

According to the New York Times, not only did Cruz and his family make the flight but a member of Cruz's staff contacted the Houston Police Department personnel at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday afternoon requesting "assistance upon arrival" — while the city of Houston was gripped by freezing weather.

Cruz's trip caught the attention of Dan Rather, who tweeted "There's an old Texas saying: When the going gets tough, the tough go to Cancun. (No, there actually is no such saying)."

Some wondered whether Cruz's abandoning Texas with 6+ counties declared disaster areas, people freezing, without power, drinking water, burst pipes flooding homes, and dying wasn't cause for a charge of malfeasance.

Cruz was definitely aware of the crisis. On February 16, he tweeted "A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good."

Cruz criticized Austin Mayor Steve Adler when he went to Cabo in December, tweeting that Democrats were "complete and utter hypocrites."

By February 18, Cruz was saying he did it for his kids.

"With school canceled for the week, our girls asked us to take a trip with friends," he said. "Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon."

However, the flight showed he was on Standby, and a source at United Airlines said that Cruz was originally scheduled to return on Saturday but rebooked his flight back to Houston on Thursday morning at 6 am.

The skeptical comments responding to a theory that he would claim he planned to fly back the next day are fun:

CinPA @Cinder_Blue2020
Sure. I always fly to Cancun in the middle of the night, then fly right back the next day.

Andrew Smith @andosmith
Yeah when my family goes on vacation without me I always fly there with them to make sure they get there safely, then fly home. Who doesn't?

Jonathan Cornick @jonathancornick
His wife is a Goldman Sachs executive. Surely she’s been on a plane before?

Mass for Shut-ins (Podcast) @edburmila
Sounds extremely plausible to me, a person who was born an hour ago

Rachel Barkow @RachelBarkow
He deliberately flew there up and back to burn extra fossil fuel and dunk on the Green New Deal.

Mrs. Betty Bowers @BettyBowers
"The enormous roller bag was for Mr. Cruz's one pair of fresh underwear and the enormous duffle bag was for his toothbrush."

b-boy bouiebaisse @jbouie
who among us doesn’t immediately blame our kids when we get roasted for a bad decision

"One imagines there will be some reporters waiting for this arrival flight today back in Houston," Shuster tweeted. "Please post photos of Cruz with his tail between his legs. As for Heidi and the kids, enjoy the rest of your Cancun vacation."

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moms deserve better

New report ranks Texas as 9th worst state for working moms

Working mother, best and worst states for working moms in 2026

Photo by Filipp Romanovski on Unsplash

Texas is far from the best state for working mothers, the study determined.

A new national study comparing the best and worst states for working mothers has painted a bleak picture for Texas. The Lone Star State earned a disappointing rank as the ninth worst state for working moms in America.

WalletHub's 2026 report compared the work-life balance, childcare, and professional opportunities for working mothers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the rankings. Metrics analyzed include the quality of daycares, childcare costs, school system quality, gender pay gaps, the share of families in poverty, female unemployment rates, a parental leave policy score, the average length of a woman's work week (in hours), and much more.

The top five best states for working mothers in America are all located in the Northeast, according to the study. Connecticut claimed the top spot nationally, and Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Vermont respectfully rounded out the top five.

Texas ranked as the 43rd "best" state overall. The bottom three worst states for working moms are Louisiana (No. 51), Alabama (No. 50), and New Mexico (No. 49).

Texas' best ranking was in the national comparison of states with the best median salaries for women, adjusted for the local cost of living. The state ranked No. 22 overall, but it earned middling and poor ranks across numerous additional categories.

The average length of a woman's work week in Texas is the fifth-worst in the country, and the state's female unemployment rate is the 11th worst nationally. The ratio of female executives to male executives in Texas is also the sixth-worst in the U.S.

Here's how WalletHub ranked life as a working mom in Texas in other categories, where a No. 1 rank is considered the best and No. 25 is considered average:

No. 26 – Childcare costs (adjusted for the median women’s salary)
No. 26 – Pediatricians per capita
No. 27 – Parental leave policy score
No. 33 – Daycare quality
No. 35 – Gender pay gap (women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s)
No. 38 – Percentage of single-mother families living in poverty

Unfortunately, Texas' poor livability for working mothers may not surprise some. Earlier this year, Texas was dubbed the No. 4 worst state for women in a separate study by WalletHub. It shouldn't be a stretch to expect better for women — who make up nearly half of the workforce — yet still get paid 82 percent of what men make per hour.

"The U.S. still has a lot of work to do when it comes to improving conditions for working moms, given the wage gap and the lack of representation women have in certain leadership positions," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.

He said the best states for working mothers offer equitable pay, strong career advancement, strong parental leave policies, top notch school systems, and high quality childcare and healthcare.

wallethub texas reports women's equality