Tony Cook, Stephanie Wang, and Jill Disis

IndyStar

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz Friday afternoon, just days before Indiana's critical Tuesday primary.

But he stopped short of calling on others to vote for the Texas senator, praising Republican front-runner Donald Trump too.

"I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary," Pence said on a conservative radio talk show hosted by Greg Garrison on WIBC-FM (93.1).

"I see Ted Cruz as a principled conservative who has dedicated his career to advocating the Reagan agenda," he said, citing the Texas senator's opposition to out-of-control spending, efforts to repeal Obamacare, devotion to the U.S. Constitution and "strong and unwavering stand for the sanctity of life."

“It’s not a popular thing in Washington D.C. to take on the leadership of your own party," Pence, a former congressman, said. "I know that firsthand. I did it when I was there. I opposed runaway federal spending whether it was a Republican administration or Congress or a Democratic administration. He’s been willing to do that.”

Cruz is facing a must-win situation in Indiana. The state represents perhaps his best shot to stop f Trump's momentum and a major step toward preventing the billionaire real estate developer from securing enough delegates to win the nomination outright.

Pence emphasized that he liked all three GOP candidates and went out of his way to commend Trump for giving "a voice to the frustration" with Washington and for taking "a strong stand for Hoosier jobs."

“I urge every Hoosier to make up their own mind," he said. "But for me I’ve always thought to lead is to choose, and here at this time of choosing when people all across America are looking to Indiana to make a decision, I just wanted to make my decision known.”

In a statement, Cruz said he was honored to receive Pence's endorsement.

“Mike has been an important voice for conservatives during his time as governor," he said. "The success of Indiana shows that conservative ideas work. I look forward to working together to continue to coalesce Republicans around this campaign.”

Polls released last week showed Cruz trailing Trump by 6 to 8 points in Indiana. And Trump is coming off big wins in New York and five northeastern states.

Trump's campaign downplayed the endorsement.

"I don't think this changes a single vote," said Tony Samuel, vice chairman of Trump's campaign in Indiana. "If anything it could add votes for Donald Trump. And the only real political impact this will have is that it could hurt the governor's reelection effort."

Indeed, the endorsement carries some risk for Pence, possibly alienating his party's presidential front-runner and Trump's many Indiana supporters. About 12,000 people showed up for a Trump rally in Evansville Thursday.

But the governor has been under intense pressure to endorse from Cruz and anti-Trump forces who see Indiana, with its 57 delegates, as one of the last, best hopes for blocking Trump from attaining the 1,237 delegates he needs to lock up the nomination and prevent a contested convention.

All three GOP presidential contenders met privately with Pence in recent days as the governor considered an endorsement in the race. Trump even brought Pence's friend and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the governor's residence.

But Pence is most ideologically aligned with Cruz, who shares the governor's conservative views on hot-button social issues, limited government and rolling back federal regulations.

It's not clear how much Pence's endorsement will impact the race. His popularity has sagged since a national firestorm last year over Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but he remains well-liked among Republicans, especially religious conservatives.

That's a key constituency for Cruz, who is trying to replicate wins in Wisconsin and Iowa, where evangelical Christians gave him a big boost.

“I think it will help the senator significantly here in Indiana," said Curt Smith, a Cruz supporter and president of the Indiana Family Institute. "I’m also very pleased, but not surprised, that Gov. Pence is leading in this regard. I think Sen. Cruz’s positions on the issues align with Hoosiers quite closely.”

Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association, compared Pence's endorsement to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's decision to back Cruz a week before that state gave Cruz a double-digit win and breathed new life into his campaign.

“Whenever Gov. Pence follows in the footsteps of Scott Walker, it’s probably a good thing given his record in Wisconsin," Clark said.

But it could spell trouble for Pence in areas of the state heavy with Trump supporters.

"Down here that’s just going to reinforce that Trump is the outsider," Sullivan County Republican Chairman Bill Springer, a Trump backer, said. "If I was smart and giving (Pence) political advice — if it was me personally — I would have stayed out of it. All he’s going to do is make people mad."

Pence is also close with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, but Kasich announced Sunday he would abandon his campaign in Indiana to focus on western states where he is expected to perform better. Cruz has said he would not campaign in Oregon or New Mexico in exchange. The non-compete agreement quickly frayed, though, after Kasich encouraged Hoosiers to still vote for him and Cruz told reporters yesterday there "is no alliance."

Trump has characterized the agreement as "collusion" and a sign of "desperation."

Pence has publicly criticized Trump in recent months after he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and suggested women should be punished for seeking illegal abortions.

Pence's announcement on Garrison's show also drew attention to Trump's embrace of an endorsement from boxer Mike Tyson. Garrison was the attorney who successfully prosecuted Tyson on rape charges in Indianapolis in the early 1990s.

Trump touted Tyson's endorsement as recently as Wednesday.

"But when I get endorsed by the tough ones, I like it, because you know what? We need toughness now. We need toughness," Trump told a crowd of about 5,000 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Trump supported Tyson after the rape conviction, saying that "to a large extent" he was "railroaded." Trump had a financial interest in the case because Tyson's fights made money for his hotels.

Carly Fiorina, Cruz's running mate, characterized Tyson in a different way. "Sorry. I don't consider a convicted rapist a 'tough guy,'" she said Friday morning in Indianapolis.

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IndyStar reporter Mark Alesia contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.