Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Endorses Ted Cruz For President

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Friday gave a tepid endorsement to Sen. Ted Cruz's bid for the presidency ahead of Tuesday's primary in his state. A Cruz victory in Indiana is seen as crucial to block Donald Trump from getting enough delegates to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

"I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary," Pence said during a radio show on WIBC Friday afternoon.

Before he announced the endorsement, Pence went out of his way to praise Trump, whom he said has "given voice" to the frustrations of Americans.

He also made sure to say that he "wasn't against" any of the Republicans running for president and that he would "work his heart out" to support whoever becomes the nominee.

Pence later added he was endorsing Cruz because the Texas senator has the "courage of his convictions," will rein in federal spending and has a commitment to the "sanctity of life."

Cruz has been making a hard push in Indiana, where he announced on Wednesday that businesswoman Carly Fiorina would be his running mate if he earns the GOP nomination. Ohio Gov. John Kasich also agreed to pull resources out of Indiana so Cruz could campaign there more effectively.

According to HuffPost Pollster, which aggregates publicly available polling data, Trump leads Cruz by about 7 percentage points ahead of Tuesday's primary.

This post has been updated with more details of Pence's announcement.