A day after drawing thunderous applause from nearly 2,000 supporters in Little Rock, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gained the endorsement of Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

On Monday, Rubio's campaign announced that Hutchinson backed the senator's bid for the Republican Party presidential nomination.

"The more I've watched this election unfold, the more I've come to see that Marco Rubio is the only candidate who can unite our nation the way Ronald Reagan once did," Hutchinson wrote in a statement released by the campaign. "Not only is Marco uniquely capable of rallying Americans behind a conservative vision for the future, but he also fully understands what it takes to keep us safe in this dangerous world."

Hutchinson added: "I am endorsing Marco Rubio for president today because we need his optimism and strength in the White House."

The governor was the latest of Arkansas Republican officeholders to back the senator from Florida who so far is in third place in the delegate count. Arkansas and 10 other states hold primaries and caucuses next Tuesday; the elections have been dubbed the "SEC primary" because many are in Southern states.

Ouachita Baptist University political science professor Hal Bass said he isn't surprised to see the governor and other established names in state Republican circles line up behind Rubio.

But Bass said that so-called outsider candidates such as real-estate mogul Donald Trump and, to a lesser extent, Texas U.S. Sen Ted Cruz, have demonstrated an ability to upset the established order. Trump has the delegate lead with 67 and Cruz is second with 11. Rubio has 10. The first to get 1,237 delegates wins the nomination.

"It's been clear for several weeks now that Rubio would be the likely beneficiary of what might be called the establishment or party elite support. ... I think the calculation would be that [Rubio] has the biggest upside, he has the highest ceiling in a very polarized political environment," Bass said. "Having said that ... with the extraordinary success Trump has had with negligible, or nonexistent party support, there are issues here. It's not going according to plan."

"I think that [Cruz is] a constitutional conservative and what we need in this country to get us back on the right track," said state Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, Cruz's Arkansas co-chairman. "Under normal circumstances [Rubio] may make a fine president, but under the current circumstances, I just don't think he has proven himself to have the fortitude to get it done."

Ballinger added that Cruz is planning to visit the state on Sunday. The locations and plans aren't firm, but "he will probably be at a church in Northwest Arkansas and then we'll probably have an event in central Arkansas."

He added that endorsements for Cruz will be announced on Wednesday.

Trump is planning to make a campaign stop at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at noon Saturday. It will be his second visit to the state in less than a month. His first visit was to Little Rock after the Iowa caucus.

"[Trump's success] is flying in the face of what I call the received wisdom that we've developed [in political science]," Bass said. "I think you could make a plausible case at this point for any of those top three eking out a narrow victory."

Last year, Hutchinson and others in the state endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the presidential race. Since Huckabee's departure from the race in early February, many switched their endorsements to Rubio.

Rubio now has the backing of three of the state's seven constitutional officers. Former congressman and current Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, was the first to back Rubio.

"I applaud [Hutchinson] endorsing Sen. Rubio," Griffin said. "I think he sees in Sen. Rubio what I see, a conservative who represents the future of our party and who draws a sharp contrast with the tired old ideas of the Democrats and Hillary Clinton."

At Sunday's Rubio rally in Little Rock, state Auditor Andrea Lea -- who was the lone constitutional officer to not endorse Huckabee -- announced her support for the first-term senator.

Hutchinson's brother, former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, has also endorsed Rubio.

Secretary of State Mark Martin endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz earlier this month.

Bass said a lot of so-called "elites" have been slower to endorse this time around. Part of that, he said, was a result of having such a large presidential field.

Now, he said, more endorsements will come in an attempt to frame the election.

"What you're seeing with this deluge of endorsements is a clear attempt to put a thumb on the scales in Rubio's favor," Bass said. "Obviously, Rubio coming to town [on Sunday] is a signal that he thinks that he can make a move here. Cruz coming next Sunday ... I think this is one of those races in the SEC primary where it's still wide open."

More than two dozen Arkansas legislators, including Senate Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, have endorsed Rubio.

"It's an unconventional election. We obviously have some pretty colorful folks that are part of our primary process right now and they've had some surprising results in other states," Dismang said. "[Rubio's support] is a pretty good cross section ... A lot of different backgrounds and positions on particular issues. ... It speaks to the point that [Rubio] does have that [unifying] message."

Gillam said Rubio can win in November.

"I think it's a sign that leaders throughout the country are recognizing what Sen. Rubio brings to this country and to what we can look forward to as a country," he said. "I think when you look at the field, when you look at the folks who can win -- both the nomination and the presidency -- it comes down to Rubio."

A Section on 02/23/2016