Iowa based conservative talk radio host Steve Deace announced on his radio program today that he is endorsing Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) for the Republican Presidential nomination.

“He’s what we’ve been waiting for: an end to the false choice between our principles and electability,” Deace said of Cruz in his endorsement.

He has proven courage of conviction, a commitment to our principles, but he’s also raised the resources and put the sort of national campaign together on the ground that it takes to actually defeat the GOP establishment for the nomination. He is ready to run a national campaign. And we believe this makes him our best chance to offer the American people a real choice and not an echo for a change.

“Steve Deace is unwavering in his commitment to conservative principles,” Senator Cruz said in a statement released by his campaign. “He is a truth-teller, a courageous conservative, and a powerful voice for liberty. I am thrilled to have his support and look forward to him helping us reach millions of Americans.”

The Iowa caucus on February 1 will officially kick off the 2016 primary nomination process for both parties. New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary will be held one week later on February 9.

Deace, who is syndicated nationally by USA Radio Networks and is rated #63 in the 2015 “Heavy Hundred” list of Talkers Magazine, endorsed endorsed Mike Huckabee in 2008, who went on to win the Iowa caucus. In 2012 he endorsed Newt Gingrich, who finished fourth in the caucus.

As NBC reported Wednesday afternoon:

Influential conservative Iowa talk radio host Steve Deace has officially endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz for president. “The candidate we are supporting is Texas Senator Ted Cruz…He’s what we’ve been waiting for,” said the conservative host. The announcement, which Deace made on his radio program on Wednesday afternoon, came two days ahead of the candidate’s visit to the Iowa State Fair and about six months ahead of the Iowa Republican Caucus. He also tweeted about the endorsement after making the announcement on the air. The syndicated radio host has promised to fully put his weight behind Cruz’s candidacy on his air waves in order to push him toward a victory in Iowa. “My wife and I have decided we are going to back a candidate early again for 2016 and then do everything we can to help him win Iowa,” Deace told NBC News last week and has emphasized on his website continuously throughout the past year. The Christian host wields a large amount of influence among conservative evangelical Iowans and he demonstrated his reach in 2008, when he endorsed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee early in 2007. Deace promoted Governor Huckabee on his radio program for months leading into caucus season, and it is widely said to have played a considerable part in helping the governor win the Iowa caucuses. In contrast, Deace threw his support behind former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich less than a week ahead of the 2012 caucuses, and Gingrich finished in distant fourth on caucus night.

Deace’s endorsement of Cruz does not come as a surprise. As the Des Moines Register reported in March, “Iowa Christian conservative radio host Steve Deace has served as an informal, unpaid consultant, giving Cruz his take on the Iowa landscape and recommending connections with certain Iowans.”