Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has landed a major endorsement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott less than a week before the GOP primary in the Lone Star state.

Abbott Endorses Cruz

Abbott was scheduled to formally endorse the Texas senator at an event Wednesday afternoon in Houston, which could potentially help boost his campaign just days before an expected tight primary race in Texas, reports CNN. This will mark Cruz's highest-ranking political endorsement thus far in the election. No other current governor or any of his colleagues in the U.S. Senate has backed Cruz's run for the White House.

"After 8 years of relentless attacks on our values from this White House, it's our duty as Texas conservatives to support a leader we can trust to restore our values and move this country forward. That's why I'm supporting Ted Cruz for president," Abbott said in a video message released Tuesday.

The Republican governor went on to describe the freshman senator as "principled" and "fearless," and Abbott praised Cruz's work as his former solicitor general back when he was the state attorney general.

"Ted is a constitutionalist, whose judgment I trust to appoint the right judges to the United States Supreme Court," Abbott said of Cruz, who finished third in the Nevada caucus Tuesday night. "To my fellow Texas conservatives, I say this: We need to deliver. This is our time. Ted Cruz is our candidate. Now let's do our part to take this country back."

The Battle for Texas

In addition to Abbott, dozens of state legislators and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are also expected to offer their support to Cruz in the final days before the Texas primary. Meanwhile, GOP front-runner Donald Trump has since spoken of beating Cruz in his home state, while a super PAC backing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio recently invested $1.5 million in Texas as a way to weaken and embarrass Cruz.

Abbott's Fight Against Obama's Executive Action on Immigration

While working as the Texas attorney general, Abbott, along with a coalition of 25 states with Republican governors, filed a lawsuit to stop President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration. Under Obama's proposal, up to 5 million undocumented immigrants would be protected from deportation through the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The president also sought to protect parents of American-born children and DREAMers through the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program. However, Abbott argued that the president was abusing his executive power while imposing a financial burden on the state government.

After Abbott was elected as governor last year, Ken Paxton continued pushing the lawsuit as the new Texas attorney general.

Watch Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's video announcement endorsing Ted Cruz below.

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