Romney said set to endorse Rubio as Republican race tightens

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in the 2012 race against Barack Obama, will endorse presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio in the close Republican primary race.

The endorsement is a significant boost to Rubio’s campaign, which is arguing the 44-year-old Florida senator is the most electable among the top three contenders leading the Republican pack. The other two are controversial billionaire Donald Trump, who won two of the three primary contests thus far in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who won Iowa.

Citing “two Republican sources,” The Huffington Post said the details of Romney’s endorsement were still being negotiated, but that Romney was committed to backing Rubio.

He had held off doing so, the sources said, only because Romney did not want his endorsement to hurt former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

Bush withdrew from the race after a poor showing in South Carolina, where he came in fourth.

The Republican race moves to Nevada on Tuesday, where Romney’s support could count for something. He handily won the state’s Republican caucus in both 2008 and 2012.

According to The Huffington Post, Romney’s endorsement “is the clearest signal yet that the party’s establishment is ready to coalesce around the Florida senator as its last best chance to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump.”

Rubio said Sunday he was in good shape to more directly take on Donald Trump as a smaller Republican field moves on after South Carolina, telling CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the choice for Republicans is becoming “clearer and clearer” now that Bush is out of the race.

Rubio said it’s time for Trump — who won in South Carolina on Saturday — to start spelling out clear policy positions on national security matters, health care and more.

“If you’re running to be president, you can’t just tell people you’re going to make America great again,” he said.

AP contributed to this report.