Cruz press secretary Catherine Frazier told NPR she believes New York conservatives “know exactly what Ted Cruz was talking about. What he’s talking about are the liberal values of New York politicians who have embraced gun control; they haven’t respected those who have the values of pro-life. This is about the politics and the values of the politicians that run the state, and we think Republicans in New York realize that, and I think that is something they can absolutely get behind.”…

A former Republican congresswoman from New York, Nan Hayworth, said in an email to NPR that she believes Cruz’s “New York values” comment will hurt him in her state. She had backed Carly Fiorina, who got out of the race and eventually endorsed Cruz.

“While I very much admire Sen. Cruz for having had the gumption to inform Iowans that he opposes ethanol subsidies — a fiscal position that is, like most of his fiscal positions, correct — when it comes to his previous assertions about New York, his boldness was unwise,” Hayworth said.

Hayworth also said that some of Cruz’s policy positions, including his votes against Hurricane Sandy relief and compensation for 9/11 victims, “will sit very poorly with New Yorkers.”