Texas’ Tea Party darling Sen. Ted Cruz has lined up a $1.5 million book deal from HarperCollins, according to the Washington Examiner.
The top-dollar advance—the deal has not been signed yet—exceeds all other conservative politicians’ book advances in recent years, most notably Tea Party matriarch Sarah Palin’s $1.25 million advance on the heels of her failed vice presidential campaign, according to the report.
Cruz is considered a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, which may help explain why the publisher offered big bucks for the Republican senator to write about his controversial actions on Capitol Hill and his political vision for the future.
In just two years, the 43-year-old freshman lawmaker has made a name for himself as a conservatie firebrand who isn’t afraid to tackle his opponents—both political and legislative.
In October, he orchestrated a 16-day government shutdown and an overnight faux-filibuster (where Cruz turned to another HarperCollins title, "Green Eggs and Ham," to make a point—with debatable success) in hopes of stopping Obamacare in its tracks. The law's implementation was not affected.
Cruz's book has not been written yet; the release date has not been made public.