Ted Cruz is out there searching for greener pastures … because he was just spotted flying to sunny California while his home state of Texas braces for a winter storm.
A photo posted on X by political strategist Shea Jordan Smith Tuesday, appears to Cruz waiting in the aisle of a crowded commercial flight. Smith wrote the plane was heading to Laguna Beach, California.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front. pic.twitter.com/lVTcqP8LR4
— Shea Jordan Smith (@shea_jordan) January 21, 2026
@shea_jordan
Although the weather in Laguna Beach is forecast to stay in the low 60s throughout this week, much of Texas is preparing to deal with a massive ice and snow storm set to arrive Friday.
Cruz’s team claims he’ll be back for the storm … a spokesperson for the senator told KDFW-TV Cruz was “on pre-planned work travel that was scheduled weeks in advance.”
This isn’t the first time Cruz has skipped town prior to a major weather event … the politician caught heat in 2021 when he took his family to a resort in Cancun, Mexico, while Texas dealt with a brutal winter storm that took out power and water across the state. The senator cut his trip short and returned to the Lone Star state amid the controversy.
He later called the trip a mistake and said he wouldn’t have traveled to Cancun in hindsight. Maybe he forgot.