A Look At Ted Cruz’ Record With The Truth As He Visits California

Republican Ted Cruz will bring his conservative campaign for president to California on Monday, with stops scheduled in Orange County and San Diego.

As presidential candidates arrive in the state, PolitiFact California is highlighting their records with the truth. We will also be fact-checking the statements they make while on California soil.

As of Friday, PolitiFact, the national and independent fact-checking website, has examined 102 statements made by Cruz.

It rated 67 percent of his claims either Mostly False, False or Pants On Fire. The last designation is reserved for only the most wild falsehoods.

Below is Cruz' PolitiFact scorecard. Click here for a dynamic look at his record.

One example of a Pants On Fire earned by Cruz was his January claim that Obamacare "is the biggest job-killer in this country -- millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have been forced into part-time work."  

After speaking with experts and researching data on the topic, PolitiFact found: "The government’s employment surveys show no sign of that occurring. By every measure, millions more people are working and millions fewer are stuck unwillingly in part-time work since the time the Affordable Care Act became law. The law might have affected part-time work for certain kinds of people, but that didn’t change the improvement in the overall numbers."

The Texas senator, who has pledged to repeal Obamacare, trails Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in the delegate race for the GOP nomination. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich is a distant third.

Still, the nomination is far from decided, making California a pivotal state. All three Republicans are expected to campaign heavily in the state leading up to its June 7th primary. The Golden State offers the most delegates, 172, of any state. The delegates will be divided proportionally.

A win by Trump could clinch his nomination. A Cruz victory, meanwhile, could lead to a contested Republican convention this summer.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) meets with attendees Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, during a campaign stop at Granite State Indoor Range in Hudson, N.H. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Cruz trails in California GOP voter poll

Trump was ahead of Cruz 39 percent to 32 percent among likely California GOP primary voters, according to a Field Poll released April 7. Kasich was the choice of 18 percent of those surveyed.

The poll also found that 54 percent of likely GOP voters viewed Cruz favorably while 39 percent hold an unfavorable opinion. Voter ratings are slightly worse for Trump – 53 percent favorable and 43 percent unfavorable, the poll found.

The state’s overall voting electorate has a much different view: Sixty-four percent had a negative view of Cruz and 25 percent had a positive view. Seventy-four percent reported holding an unfavorable view of Trump, while just 22 percent had a positive impression of the real estate tycoon, according to the survey.

Not all false claims

Cruz’ PolitiFact scorecard doesn’t offer a scientific examination of the candidate’s accuracy. But it can be compared with his competitors. Trump, who has labeled Cruz ‘Lyin’ Ted,’ has received Mostly False, False or Pants On Fire ratings on roughly three-quarters of the statements examined by PolitiFact -- a higher percentage than Cruz. Kasich, by contrast, has earned those ratings only 33 percent of the time.

PolitiFact hasn’t found fault with all of Cruz’s claims. It rated 33 percent either Half True, Mostly True or True.

The website, for instance, rated Mostly True the senator’s January claim that "We have the lowest percentage of Americans working today of any year since 1977." Cruz was referring to the civilian labor force participation rate, which measures both those who have jobs and those who are seeking them.

The claim’s Mostly True rating means it’s accurate, but has left something out.

Here’s how PolitiFact explained it: Cruz "put his finger on a trend that worries economists of all stripes, but his wording was sloppy. In addition, it’s worth remembering that this particular trend is being driven at least to a degree by demographic trends beyond the control of any president. We rate the claim Mostly True."