Sen. Ted Cruz, second from right, R-Texas, his wife Heidi, and their two daughters Catherine, left, 4, and Caroline, 6, wave on stage after he announced his campaign for president, Monday, March 23, 2015, at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, in Lynchburg, Va. Cruz, who announced his candidacy on twitter in the early morning hours, is the first major candidate in the 2016 race for president. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Heidi Cruz, wife of GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz, will make an appearance in Tyler on Saturday. She’ll speak at a campaign rally at the UT-Tyler Ornelas Activity Center at 5:30 p.m.

There will be limited seating, so those who wish to attend will need to register through Eventbrite.

“People in our area have not been introduced to Heidi, and we’re glad to be able to bring her to East Texas,” said JoAnn Fleming, who serves as Cruz’s grassroots coordinator in Texas. “She’s a very able and enthusiastic supporter of the senator, and he introduces her as his best friend. She’s a great asset on the campaign trail.”

The Cruz campaign hopes to do well in the March 1 primary taking place in Texas and several other states. Mrs. Fleming says he’s positioned to win here, due to the strength of his “ground game” – campaign organization.

“We’re very strong in Texas, because we have the same infrastructure and grassroots support for Ted Cruz that we had in the Senate race (in 2012),” she said. “We have the same networks of Republican women, grassroots conservatives, and even libertarians. Some of (Sen.) Rand Paul’s supporters have come over to us. And there’s a roster of strong conservative leaders behind him, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. who is chairman of the state organization.”

There are similar organizations in other states, she said.

“Ted Cruz has campaign infrastructure in place in all 50 states, and those states are all heavily populated with campaign volunteers, all of whom are doing this at their own expense,” Mrs. Fleming said. “Volunteers are the best campaign resource money cannot buy. They’re the backbone of a very robust campaign. We have data, we have phone banks, we have door-to-door efforts in place, and we are very confident we will get our voters out.”

She added that Cruz has far deeper pockets than Sen. Marco Rubio.

According to the Associated Press, the Cruz campaign reports having more than $13 million in cash-on-hand, compared to Rubio’s $5 million in cash. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is a distant third with $1.5 million cash-on-hand.

Donald Trump, who is largely self-funding his campaign, lent his campaign $5 million in January, but the AP says it’s difficult to assess how much cash he has, or will spend.

“What we do know is that Ted Cruz has the funding he needs,” Mrs. Fleming said. “We’ve run a very fiscally frugal campaign, and he has the money it will take to get his message out.”

Mrs. Fleming, who participates in many of the national campaign’s efforts, acknowledged that the results in South Carolina were disappointing. Trump took first place there, and even won more evangelical votes than Ted Cruz did.

“Frankly, the senator did underperform in South Carolina,” she said. “And yesterday, we saw a course correction with staff. There have been some errors and missteps and some boneheaded mistakes, such as the incident yesterday that prompted the resignation of (Cruz campaign spokesman) Rick Tyler. But this campaign isn’t built on any one staffer. It’s about going forward now.”

The message Heidi Cruz will bring on Saturday is that her husband is the conservative alternative to Donald Trump.

“Ted Cruz has a consistently conservative record,” Mrs. Fleming said. “If we’re looking to revive the Rule of Law, embedded in the Constitution, if we’re looking to preserve law-and-order in the United States, Ted Cruz is the one who has the vision and expertise to do that.”

The Ornelas Activity Center is located at 3402 Old Omen Rd. in Tyler.