Indiana Gov. Pence to endorse Cruz: report

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will endorse Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Friday, ABC’s Jonathan Karl reported.

Mike Pence will endorse @tedcruz today, a source familiar with his plans tells me.

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 29, 2016

{mosads}The popular Hoosier State governor is slated to make a “significant announcement” on a radio show hosted by Greg Garrison. 

Speaking to the media in Indianapolis on Friday morning, Cruz did not confirm an endorsement was coming. But he called Pence an “optimistic, positive, unifying force” and a “strong leader that I respect.”

“I’d enthusiastically welcome his support,” Cruz said, adding that he looked forward with anticipation to the radio announcement. 

He went on to tout endorsements from other Republicans and former GOP rivals in a call for the party to “unite.”

Carly Fiorina, Cruz’s newly announced running mate, slammed rival Donald Trump for touting the endorsement of boxing legend Mike Tyson, who in 1992 was convicted of rape in Indianapolis and spent three years in prison.

“I think it says a lot about Donald Trump’s campaign and his character that he is standing up and cheering for an endorsement from Mike Tyson,” Fiorina said. 

Indiana and its 57 delegates are essential to a plan by Cruz and third-place candidate John Kasich to deny Trump the 1,237 delegates needed to lock up the nomination. Kasich has pulled out of Indiana to clear a path for Cruz, and Cruz is doing the same for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.

Fiorina said she sees no reason for any Indiana voters to support Kasich, arguing that “a vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump.”

“If you want to beat Hillary Clinton and you want a conservative who is going to stand in the White House for you and fight with you, you’ve got to vote for Ted Cruz,” she said. “John Kasich is throwing your vote away.”

– Updated at 10:58 a.m.