Jeb Bush endorses Mitt Romney for president

Former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush.

/ AP

Updated: 2:23 p.m.

Jeb Bush is endorsing Mitt Romney for president, he announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, the former Florida governor congratulated Romney for his primary win in Illinois Tuesday night -- and called on his fellow Republicans to unite behind the former Massachusetts governor as the party's presidential nominee.

"Congratulations to Governor Mitt Romney on his win last night and to all the candidates for a hard fought, thoughtful debate and primary season," Bush said in the statement. "Primary elections have been held in thirty-four states, and now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall."

How Jeb Bush's endorsement helps Romney

He continued: "I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our Party's nomination. We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed."

Bush, who is the brother and son of former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush respectively, had up to this point declined to endorse a candidate, including during the Florida primary, when he told Bloomberg he would "stay neutral."

"He has been watching the race and made the decision to endorse this morning. He called Gov. Romney this morning," a Bush spokesperson told CBS News on Wednesday. The spokesperson said Bush has no plans at this time to make a public appearance with Romney.

In a statement, the Romney campaign expressed "tremendous pride" at the endorsement, and praised Bush's "outstanding ability to bring people together."

"Jeb Bush is synonymous with good government and with conservative policies that yield results," the statement said. "He has long demonstrated an outstanding ability to bring people together. I therefore take tremendous pride in having earned his endorsement. This is a key moment in the presidential contest and Jeb's counsel and support will be critical in the coming months in my effort to defeat Barack Obama and turn around our country."

Last month, Bush said he found the rhetoric being touted in the Republican presidential debates "a little troubling" because the candidates were appealing to voters' "fears and emotion" rather than more overarching political concerns.

"I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are," Bush said after a February speech in Dallas.

The former governor, who has led efforts to forge a stronger relationship between the Latino and Republican communities, has also warned the GOP presidential candidates against alienating Hispanic voters ahead of the general election.

"That could be an issue in the general election that plays out in a negative way for Republican candidates," Bush told Bloomberg in January. "In swing-states, Hispanic voters are increasingly the swing voters, and if you, by your tone more than anything else, send a signal that 'you're not wanted on my team' -- and I'm not saying any candidate has done that -- you could alienate voters that could be part of the winning" equation toward winning the presidency.

In the same interview, Bush said "I don't agree with Mitt's views on immigration in their totality but that's OK."

"My not endorsing him does not relate to any particular issue," he said at the time.

Bush has supported immigration reform, and has gone so far as to say he is "supportive" of the goals outlined in the DREAM Act, an immigration measure that would give upstanding undocumented immigrants who were brought to America as children a pathway to citizenship.

Romney has said he does not support the DREAM Act as it currently exists, and has touted the concept of "self-deportation" as an alternate immigration plan. 

"The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here," he said in a January debate. "And so we're not going to round people up."

Following Romney's clear-cut victory in the Illinois primary Tuesday night, there is likely to be increased pressure on the candidate's rivals to drop out of the race, theoretically allowing the party to coalesce behind a single candidate.  

"It goes without saying, but if Romney is going to close the door on this contest he's going to need help from people like Jeb Bush, Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels," said CBS News political director John Dickerson. "There aren't many wise men left in either party but those three are the closest thing we have to modern day wise men who can weigh in and generate a few news cycles of coverage."

"Bush's endorsement is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the man Mitt Romney--'it's time to close ranks' is less powerful than 'we love Mitt'-- but it comes at just the right time," Dickerson added.

In remarks to reporters after Bush's announcement, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond suggested the campaign was not impressed by the endorsement.

"It's the completion of the establishment trifecta," Hammond said,  referring to to Bob Dole, former president George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush, all of whom have now endorsed Romney.

When asked by reporters Wednesday if he agrees that it's time for the Republican party to come together to support a candidate, Rick Santorum said, "I agree -- they should all start supporting me."

Caroline Horn and Sarah Husienga contributed reporting

[Peregrino2]

I won't give my 2 cents on the endorsement, but I must fault the reporter for claiming that Romney "doesn't support the DREAM Act as it is currently exists." He said he would VETO the DREAM Act if it crossed his desk.

That is not a trivial difference.

[credibility2]

It's apparent from the anti-Republican comments here that they will be supporting and voting for our president, despite his abysmal and ineffectual so-called leadership. No party can ever expect to elect its candidate without coalescing a singular candidate and getting all party members to vote for that candidate. I look forward to the debates...no teleprompters or script writers for our president.

[jeannettelj]

Duh!! Who cares who he endorses?

[verrz]

Kind of like the Godfather's kiss for America...

[DebbieCorona]

First of all he with the most money wins. (At least most of the time it didn't play out that way in California with Fiorina and Whitman.) Second, with the Etch a Sketch statement today by Fehnstrom on CNNN "Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again." that is going to anger ultra conservatives who backed Romney. Basically said the plan was never to really be conservative but moderate. Obama's money will buy the soundbyte ads where Romney declares not only flip flops but just how conservative he is. Last, Jeb has now "officially" backed Romney. It's common knowledge that Romney hired Bush advisors from the beginning and has the backing of GWHBush, Cheney, Rove, Daniels, Suneau, etc. Key here is Jebs official backing gives Romney the Southern vote he needs and the GOP base. It sets Jeb up to run for President in 2016 or 2020. Between Romney, Bush, Rove $$$ that's a lot of money. But it could end up like California where Fiorina/Whitman's money was a negative. It's going to be interesting do people stick with moderate Obama or moderate Romney and GWBush policies. It is going to be interesting.

[InGodWeTrustAllOthersNot]

Another endorsement for Mitt's family... Corporations.

[InGodWeTrustAllOthersNot]

Jeb WHO??? Did not all the Bushes retired? Florida, where they welcome everyone to relocate their money after retirement. As if Jeb's endorsement will change peoples minds to vote for the Ex-Massachusetts Governor, who taxed his state for money to build the BIG Tunnel into Boston and left the western half's infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.) in disrepair. Yep, the money goes to commerce, Big Business and his family... Corporations!

[Cru09]

Romney is the unfortunate nominee.

[expatriate2]

Does anyone know what "bush" means in baseball? Well, it's the same thing here.

[metsrangers]

Yet another empty Bush endorsing yet another empty politician.