WASHINGTON -- Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for the GOP presidential nomination Tuesday.
The Montana Republican is the second senator to endorse Rubio's presidential bid. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), a freshman senator like Rubio and Daines, announced on Monday that he was backing the candidate, calling him a "generational choice for all Americans" and "our best opportunity to defeat Hillary Clinton."
Daines, a former congressman from Montana, belongs to the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
The endorsements come in the wake of Rubio's standout performance in last week's Republican primary debate in Boulder, Colorado. A plurality of GOP voters named Rubio the winner of the debate, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov survey.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Daines.