Evangelical broadcaster James Dobson will endorse Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president on Thursday,
National Review Online reports.
The move is part of a concerted effort by top conservatives to slowly roll out endorsements for Cruz, NRO notes. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins led a secret meeting with 50 leaders last week to plan the strategy to give the impression of a growing movement for the GOP presidential hopeful,
NRO reports.
Dobson has long been speaking out in favor of Cruz, saying that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is not conservative enough.
The endorsement from the popular Christian radio broadcaster comes ahead of the Iowa caucuses February 1 where voters are heavily evangelical. Cruz is currently leading or tied there with national front-runner Donald Trump, who has taken to telling Iowa voters that he is an evangelical himself while questioning Cruz's own bone fides.
"I am an evangelical. I'm a Christian. I'm a Presbyterian," Trump said. "I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba."
Cruz's father, a Cuban refugee from the early days of the Castro regime, is an evangelical minister.