Updated: 11:54 a.m.
Jeb Bush is endorsing Mitt Romney for president, he announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the former Florida governor congratulated Romney for his primary win in Illinois Tuesday night -- and called on his fellow Republicans to unite behind the former Massachusetts governor as the party's presidential nominee.
"Congratulations to Governor Mitt Romney on his win last night and to all the candidates for a hard fought, thoughtful debate and primary season," Bush said in the statement. "Primary elections have been held in thirty-four states, and now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall."
He continued: "I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our Party's nomination. We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed."
Bush, who is the brother and son of former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush respectively, had up to this point declined to endorse a candidate, including during the Florida primary, when he told Bloomberg he would "stay neutral."
"He has been watching the race and made the decision to endorse this morning. He called Gov. Romney this morning," a Bush spokesman told CBS News on Wednesday.
Last month, Bush said he found the rhetoric being touted in the Republican presidential debates "a little troubling" because the candidates were appealing to voters' "fears and emotion" rather than more overarching political concerns.
"I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are," Bush said after a February speech in Dallas.
The former governor, who has led efforts to forge a stronger relationship between the Latino and Republican communities, has also warned the GOP presidential candidates against alienating Hispanic voters ahead of the general election.
"That could be an issue in the general election that plays out in a negative way for Republican candidates," Bush told Bloomberg in January. "In swing-states, Hispanic voters are increasingly the swing voters, and if you, by your tone more than anything else, send a signal that 'you're not wanted on my team' -- and I'm not saying any candidate has done that -- you could alienate voters that could be part of the winning" equation toward winning the presidency.
In the same interview, Bush said "I don't agree with Mitt's views on immigration in their totality but that's OK."
"My not endorsing him does not relate to any particular issue," he said at the time.
Bush has supported immigration reform, and has gone so far as to say he is "supportive" of the goals outlined in the DREAM Act, an immigration measure that would give upstanding undocumented immigrants who were brought to America as children a pathway to citizenship.
Romney has said he does not support the DREAM Act as it currently exists, and has touted the concept of "self-deportation" as an alternate immigration plan.
"The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here," he said in a January debate. "And so we're not going to round people up."
Following Bush's announcement, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told reporters the endorsement was "the completion of the establishment trifecta," referring to to Bob Dole, former president George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush, all of whom have now endorsed Romney.
Re: Jeb likes Mittens.
"I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are," Bush said after a February speech in Dallas."
That quote is why a part of me still loves Jeb. I just can't help it. I don't agree with him on everything, but he is pretty centrist.
I feel like Jeb kind of got the shaft. I feel like he would've been better than W, but now that both Daddy and Big Brother have been president, I can't imagine the country going for another Bush. Poor Jeb.
He was the chosen one. The smart brother. The articulate one. He was supposed to be President...but he became governor too late so they pushed the brother. Boo.
Bob Dole makes the trifecta?? There wasn't anyone else?
I am no Republican strategist, but I could see Jeb making a bid in 2016. There seemed to be a strong but brief push for him to jump in this time, and the same happened in 2008 IIRC. He's only 59, so he has a couple of cycles of viability left. The further we get from 2008, the Bush name might not be such a blemish, especially after the sad bunch we have this time around.
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.