DALLAS (July 27, 2012)—Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz Friday ripped the attack ads run by his GOP runoff opponent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and said he won't respond with personal attacks.

Cruz spoke Friday morning in Dallas, flanked by local tea party leaders and three U.S. senators known for their tea party support.

Cruz again raised a Dewhurst flier sent to his father's home outside Dallas that has Cruz's likeness in front of a Chinese flag, a reference the Chinese company Cruz's Houston-based law represented in an intellectual property dispute.

Cruz called the mailer "gutter politics" and said it questions his patriotism.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says the attack ads show Dewhurst is unfit for the U.S. Senate.

A Dewhurst spokesman says Cruz has run a negative campaign from the beginning.