Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson Benjamin (Ben) Solomon CarsonState AGs condemn HUD rule allowing shelters to serve people on basis of biological sex Biden cannot keep letting Trump set the agenda The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump heads to New Hampshire after renomination speech MORE officially backed Puerto Rican statehood in a speech on the island on Sunday.

“In a Carson administration, I will leave no stone unturned in my efforts to secure this important step in Puerto Rico’s history — establishing Estado 51,” Carson said, according to CNN.

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Carson said he viewed the issue of statehood as “settled,” the news network added, referring to a referendum to join the union backed by a majority of Puerto Rican citizens in 2012.

“Mis hermanos Americanos,” Carson reportedly said, “my campaign is built around the premise of ‘We the people,’ and through such lens, I view the statehood question in Puerto Rico as settled.”

The Carson campaign estimated that 3,500 people attended the rally for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Other Republican candidates for president, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), support Puerto Rican statehood, provided the island's residents vote to approve it.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has not endorsed statehood for the U.S. commonwealth but has supported economic relief measures for the island in the past.