Ted Cruz, Seeking Converts to His Campaign, Rallies Iowa Evangelicals

Senator Ted Cruz on Friday night drew one of the largest crowds in Iowa of any candidate this year: some 2,300 Christian conservatives, who turned out for an unusual program featuring people Mr. Cruz called “victims of government persecution.”

The eight people included bakers, a florist, wedding planners and others from several states. All of them said they had been sued, fined or fired for refusing service to same-sex couples or for expressing opposition to homosexuality. Several of them were well known to audiences of right-leaning news media.

Seated in a chair facing Betty Odgaard of Iowa, Mr. Cruz listened as she fought back tears recalling how she and her husband had been publicly attacked after refusing to rent their wedding e