Pierson says Cruz’s campaign functioned as a sort of boot camp for grassroots activists, who built a support network that’s only grown since the campaign ended. And Cruz’s involvement in the effort to defund the Affordable Care Act has spurred more Texans to volunteer, according to Pierson.

“We’ve got a lot more people reaching out, saying how do I get involved, what do I do, how do we stop this,” she says. And she thinks that response has helped her primary campaign.

Konni Burton, who is running in the Republican primary for Wendy Davis’s state-senate seat, tells me she’s also benefited from her volunteer work on Cruz’s campaign.

“Attending all meetings, reaching out to all stripes of political people, setting up meetings, talking to everybody — you just don’t stop,” she tells me. “You just keep going. And I remember thinking about that with Senator Cruz, ‘How does he have the energy and stamina?’ I remember thinking that. And now that I’m in it, you just do it. It’s just what you’ve got to do.”