“That report is false,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I have no reason to believe he’s anywhere near endorsing.”

WASHINGTON -- Senator Marco Rubio on Sunday morning denied a report that Mitt Romney had decided to bestow his coveted endorsement on the Florida senator.

Huffington Post, citing two anonymous Republican sources, reported on Sunday morning that Romney would soon back Rubio and that details were being worked out.

Todd Harris, a senior Rubio adviser said in an email the report of an imminent Romney endorsement was “totally false.” Romney has previously said that he is unlikely to endorse someone before there is a GOP nominee, and a source close to Romney said, “Nothing has changed.”


Speculation about whether the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee would endorse someone in the 2016 GOP primary contest has been rampant for months.

Much of the musing has centered on Rubio. He was on Romney’s short list for the vice presidential nomination in 2012, and some of Romney’s former campaign aides have worked for him.

But several other candidates also have pursued Romney’s favor, and some were pushing him to weigh in before the New Hampshire primary. Romney has a fond relationship with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, for example. And while he has not been personally that close with Jeb Bush, Romney was not eager to weigh in while he was still in the race.

Those two are now out. Christie departed after New Hampshire, and Bush quit Saturday night after a disappointing South Carolina finish.

Another candidate Romney likes, besides Rubio, is Ohio Governor John Kasich. Kasich is signaling he will remain in the contest until at least mid-March, when Ohio Republicans go to the polls.


Last June, when Romney hosted many of the candidates at his retreat in Deer Valley, Utah, Romney said he was unlikely to get involved until there was a nominee.

“Up until that point, I don’t expect to be becoming associated with any one campaign,” he said. “They’re going to have a long process to battle it out, we’ll see someone emerge and become our nominee. And I’ll then go to work for them.”

The only way he would endorse sooner, he said at the time, was if there was one candidate that he agreed with and one that he did not.

“There’s a possibility that there might be someone who emerges that is strong, that I happen to agree with on a whole host of issues. And then someone else comes along who I find not as attractive,” he said. “At that stage, I might jump in and say ‘Hey I’d like to go to work with the one who’s more in tune with the things I believe.’”

Many Republicans believe conditions may be ripening for that scenario, with the emergence of Donald Trump as frontrunner and Rubio as the strongest establishment choice.

At the Utah retreat last June, Romney said of Rubio, “There was a point in his remarks where I felt something in my heart and said, ‘Yeah that’s the America I know and love,’” Romney said then. “He has a very special capability of touching people's hearts and inspiring them.”

Matt Viser can be reached at matt.viser@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mviser.