Ted Cruz wins Texas GOP Senate nomination TEXAS

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is backed by supporters outside a Houston deli as he answers reporters questions Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Dewhurst faces former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz in the Republican primary runoff election for U.S. Senator. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) less Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is backed by supporters outside a Houston deli as he answers reporters questions Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Dewhurst faces former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz in the Republican ... more Photo: Pat Sullivan, Associated Press Photo: Pat Sullivan, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Ted Cruz wins Texas GOP Senate nomination 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Houston --

Ted Cruz, an insurgent backed by the Tea Party, defeated the candidate favored by Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday in a runoff election for the Republican Senate nomination that revealed a wide rift in Texas between the party establishment and restless anti-incumbent activists on the right.

With the come-from-behind victory, he is heavily favored to win the Senate seat being vacated in November by Kay Bailey Hutchison and appears likely to become a star of the national conservative movement.

Cruz, 41, is the latest conservative rebel to bring down an established party leader, tapping into simmering anger within the Republican ranks nationwide.

Cruz, who is Cuban American, has drawn comparisons to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another youthful Cuban American who quickly became an icon of fiscal and religious conservatives around the country. Cruz's opponent was David Dewhurst, 66, a wealthy rancher and businessman who has held the powerful elected post of lieutenant governor for nine years and was endorsed by Perry and most other top party leaders as well as business and farm groups. Dewhurst will continue as lieutenant governor.

Dewhurst has a deeply conservative record, and often during the campaign the two candidates seemed to mimic each other on the issues. But Cruz relentlessly portrayed his opponent as a creature of the establishment who is too quick to compromise.