Washington: Nikki Haley endorses Ted Cruz for White House

Nikki Haley, currently the only Indian-American governor in the US, on Thursday backed Ted Cruz in the race for the White House, boosting his campaign against Republican front-runner Donald Trump after Marco Rubio bowed out of the contest.

Haley, the 44-year-old South Carolina governor, had earlier endorsed and campaigned for Senator Rubio, who dropped out of the race on Tuesday after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Trump in his home state of Florida.

Haley, who has not yet made an official announcement to endorse 45-year-old Cruz, told reporters that she hoped that the Senator would emerge as the Republican presidential nominee.

“Ask me when the time comes again, but as of now I strongly believe I will support the Republican nominee,” Haley was quoted as saying by a local newspaper. “The only thing I can say now is my hope and my prayer is that Senator Cruz can come through this. That's who, privately, I am fighting for,” Haley said.

Cruz is currently lagging far behind front runner Trump in the delegate count and unlikely to cross the half way path of 1237 delegates but Haley thinks otherwise.

“I do see a path for (Cruz), because I think he’s been solid and strong the entire way. I think that he has been disciplined in the way that he has done it,” the popular Indian American Governor said.