One of the folks I got to meet last Thursday at FreePAC won big tonight as the Tea Party shows the stories of their demise are greatly exaggerated:

Former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, a tea party-aligned conservative once regarded as a long-shot candidate, has won the Republican runoff in Texas, where he will be the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate in the November election. The Associated Press has called the race for Cruz over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Cruz will be a heavy favorite over Democratic nominee Paul Sadler, who also won a runoff on Tuesday.
Cruz, an emerging conservative star whose father emigrated to the United States from Cuba, has drawn comparisons to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and has been lauded by national conservative political pundits and groups for over a year. His victory is a major blow to the Republican establishment in Texas, which lined up squarely behind Dewhurst. It’s also a victory for the tea party and national conservatives who lined up behind Cruz even when a surprise win appeared unlikely.

Cruz’s win is a remarkable political feat and arguably the Senate upset of the cycle.

It bears repeating:

His victory is a major blow to the Republican establishment…

Not just in Texas. Everywhere.

As Goldberg used to say: