Sen. Cruz Announces Key Senior Staff Hires and Promotions

HOUSTON, Texas — Sen. Cruz (R-Texas) today announced several staff updates in his Senate office.

“I’m excited to be bringing in an outstanding new Deputy Chief of Staff in Victoria Ellington, and to announce the promotions of several key staffers,” said Senator Cruz. “Omri Ceren has served as my National Security Advisor since 2018, and will take over as Legislative Director. Tim Dill will become my National Security Advisor after serving as my Military Legislative Assistant since 2022, and Samara Brown will become Domestic Policy Advisor after serving in multiple roles in the office since 2019. I’m also pleased to welcome back Cassy Garcia as my Deputy State Director. Cassy and I have worked together for many years and I’m excited to have her back. I look forward to working with this talented team and continuing the mission to fight for 30 million Texans.”

VICTORIA ELLINGTON hired as Deputy Chief of Staff. A Houston native, Victoria joins Sen. Cruz’s office from the DeSantis presidential campaign where she served as Director of Operations. Victoria was previously a longtime aide to Secretary Mike Pompeo, including in the Trump Administration as Special Assistant to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of State. Early in her career, Victoria was a fundraiser for the Congressional Leadership Fund, worked on a successful gubernatorial race, and worked in the office of Congressman Pete Olson (R, Texas CD-22). Victoria is a graduate of the University of Houston. 

OMRI CEREN promoted to Legislative Director. Omri has been Sen. Cruz’s National Security Advisor since 2018. Before joining Sen. Cruz’s staff, he was programmatic director at The Israel Project, a nonprofit focused on working with journalists and the public on Middle East issues, and before that was a political blogger and writer. He received his doctorate in Communication from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

TIM DILL promoted to National Security Advisor. Tim began his career as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, eventually joining Special Forces as a Captain. After deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries in Africa and the Middle East, Tim attended law school at Duke University. After graduating from Duke, Tim served as an associate at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington DC. He then joined Sen. Cruz’s office as the Military Legislative Assistant, a post he has held since 2022. Tim and his wife Andrea are the proud parents of baby girl Naomi.

SAMARA BROWN promoted to Domestic Policy Advisor. Samara started her career on Capitol Hill in former Congressman Tom Reed’s (R, New York CD-23) office as Legislative Correspondent, then Legislative Assistant. After that, she joined Sen. Cruz’s office as a Legislative Correspondent. Samara rose through the ranks as a Legislative Aide, then Legislative Assistant, and most recently as the office’s Senior Legislative Assistant. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

CASSY GARCIA returns as Deputy State Director. Cassy, an Edinburg native, began her career as a Regional Field Representative for the Texas Agriculture Commissioner. After that, she served as Sen. Cruz’s South Texas Regional Director and then Deputy State Director. During her time in Sen. Cruz’s office, Cassy was appointed by President Trump in 2020 to serve as Commissioner for the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, and then in 2022 ran for Congress in South Texas. Most recently, she served as President of the Hispanic Republicans of Texas. Cassy received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg. She is married to the 26th Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Jason Owens.

“It’s an honor to manage the best team in Congress, and these new promotions and hires will only increase our performance and effectiveness,” said Chief of Staff Aaron Reitz. “I’m proud and energized to work with colleagues who selflessly fight for Texas every day. I look forward to what we can accomplish together.”

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