South Carolina Gov. Haley endorsing Rubio’s presidential bid

Both have campaigned with Rubio across the state. She did, however, cite the qualifications she wanted in a presidential candidate.

The governor declined to say who is on her short list, but she ruled out backing GOP front-runner Donald Trump. It’s the latest searing attack from Cruz in the ongoing fight between the two senators as they look for a strong showing in SC.

“It’s unfortunate when a candidate comes into SC and doesn’t know South Carolina’s issues”, Haley said Tuesday, referring to Trump’s comments.

The support of the rising star in the national GOP has been highly coveted by several of the candidates remaining in the Republican presidential race.

Danielle Vinson, a Furman University political science professor, said one of the considerations Haley has to face is if she endorses a candidate who does not win. She gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union last month.

Fellow candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) told NBC News in an interview prior to Haley’s decision that her endorsement “would be the most powerful meaningful one in the state”.

“It’s just a pattern of people around his campaign that have continuously done things like that”, Rubio said as he campaigned in Mount Pleasant. His father and brother, both former presidents who won the S.C. presidential primary, have reached out to Haley in recent weeks.

But establishment hopefuls, who normally win the GOP nomination, have languished in an primary season dominated by insurgent candidates.

Speaking to reporters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, on Wednesday, the Florida senator continued to push a narrative that his senate colleague does whatever is politically expedient.

In South Carolina this week, Rubio has gained in polls to challenge Cruz for second.

“It’s all decided, we don’t have to go vote, I guess, it’s all finished”, Bush told the crowd in remarks circulated by rival campaigns.

More than 1,200 families in SC now receive intervention in the program that pairs registered nurses with first-time mothers on Medicaid. She also is considered unlikely to support Cruz, whose hardline social conservative views worry some mainstream Republicans concerned about winning the November general election.

Haley supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. There was no way she’d shank him like that, I thought, if she hadn’t already ruled out endorsing him before SC.