Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator, Renounces Canadian Citizenship

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks after meeting with Republican senators regarding a bipartisan solution for the pending budget and debt limit impasse at the U.S. Capitol October 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. The Senate announced that it had reached a bipartisan deal on funding the federal government and the extending the nation's debt limit after 16 days of a government shutdown. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Calgary-born U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is no longer a Canadian.

The Texas Tea Party favourite ceased to be a dual citizen last month after he took steps to formally renounce his status, a spokeswoman confirmed to The Washington Post on Tuesday.

Cruz, who has been the subject of speculation as a possible presidential candidate in 2016, released his birth certificate to The Dallas Morning News last August after debate persisted over whether, as a foreign-born American, he could run for the Oval Office.

Cruz was born in Canada in 1970 to a Cuban father and a mother from Delaware. The U.S. Constitution only allows "natural born" citizens to assume the presidency.

Most scholars believe the senator is still eligible to be president, but they admit it's not totally clear, the Post said.

Cruz wasted little time renouncing his citizenship, saying in a statement last August, "Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth and as a U.S. senator; I believe I should be only an American."

The Dallas Morning News posted a Scribd version of his Certificate of Renunciation of Canadian Citizenship:

Canadian Renunciation Letter