Senate Nomination (Real Clear Politics, 2013). Sadler attended Baylor University and eventually graduated from Baylor Law School. He then practiced law in several federal courts, such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. SWOT Analysis of Cruz's Strengths: The fact that Ted Cruz is a Republican in the "Red State" had a significant impact on his chances of winning the 2012 Senate election. Weaknesses: Counties like Austin were very liberal in their opinions, so it would be harder to influence their vote and turn that county red. Cruz spoke about his ideas regarding immigration. The ideas and beliefs he held were disliked by many immigrants according to the Huffington Post (Republican Ted Cruz Set to Win Texas Senate Election in Landslide, Polls Show, 2012). Opportunity: The fact that Texas has steadily gone Republican has given Ted Cruz a fairly large lead in the polls. Threats: Ted Cruz did not support abortion and did not support the distribution of birth control to women, which could have influenced some of the votes cast by women. Cruz also does not support gay marriage, due to his tradition