Senator of Texas Ted Cruz announced on Monday, March 23, that he will be running for president in 2016. He is the first major candidate from the Republican party to announce his bid. The common misconception about candidates is that they must be born in the United States to be president, but this isn’t the case. While Cruz constantly questioned Obama’s birthplace, he wasn’t even born here. Cruz was actually born in Calgary, Canada. With this in mind, it poses an important question. Why can Ted Cruz run for president?

“Honestly, I think he should have the chance,” said Zane Leslie.

Let’s start with the constitutional requirements. It states that the candidate must be at least 35 years of age, have lived in the US for at least 14 years, and be a “natural born citizen”. The first two requirements fit Cruz, but the “natural born citizen” part is not set in stone.

So what exactly qualifies as a “natural born citizen”? Not even the constitution specifically defines it. The common consensus is that they are naturally born if they have citizenship at birth, and don’t have to go through any legal process. Cruz’s mother was born in the United States so he had her citizenship. By this definition, Cruz is eligible to run. Without a constitutional ruling or a ruling by the Supreme Court, nothing is known for sure.

Therefore, Ted Cruz can legally run for president in 2016, despite his birthplace of Canada.