Vander Plaats endorses Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for president

DES MOINES - Three conservative leaders of an influential family- and religious-values group announced Thursday that they plan to endorse Republican Ted Cruz for president and be 'all in” to aid the Texas senator's effort to win the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses and go on to land the GOP nomination in 2016.

Bob Vander Plaats, Chuck Hurley and Robert Cramer told a Statehouse news conference that Cruz is their personal choice among the 2016 GOP field, but the board of the Family Leader has chosen to remain neutral in the presidential selection process, given the quality of the candidates and the organization's focus to transform American culture, as opposed to serving as a 'king maker.”

Vander Plaats is the president and CEO of the Family Leader, Hurley is the organization's vice president, and Cramer serves as board president for one of Iowa's leading Christian conservative groups.

'We live in extraordinary times and it demands extraordinary leadership. We need an extraordinary leader today,” said Vander Plaats, a Sioux City Republican and former GOP gubernatorial candidate who backed Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012.

'I happen to believe that the extraordinary leader that we need for these extraordinary times is your senator, Ted Cruz,” he added. 'We will be going all in for Sen. Ted Cruz.”

Vander Plaats called Cruz a 'likable” conservative with an impressive campaign style who has surrounded himself with a strong team of advisers and demonstrated the character, competence and ability to raise resources that will be needed to win in Iowa and early selection states en route to becoming the GOP nominee 'to take on and defeat Hillary Clinton and the leftist agenda.”

The Family Leader trio praised the quality of the 2016 Republican field, but Vander Plaats said he hoped Iowa conservatives would 'coalesce” behind Cruz's candidacy to avoid fractionalizing their influence in Iowa and beyond.

'Our goal is to unite conservatives around Sen. Ted Cruz, and I believe you're starting to see that happen already in the state of Iowa, but I also believe around the country,” Vander Plaats said. 'We have believed for a long time that if we're united, we will win. If we're divided, we're going to repeat 2008 and 2012.”

In a statement, Cruz called the support of Vander Plaats and other top Family Leader officials a key endorsement from influential conservatives who backed previous caucus winners and represent a constituency 'that is highly coveted” in Iowa's competitive caucus process.

'This is an endorsement that simultaneously sends a signal to political observers and motivates active caucus voters,” said Cruz. 'It's more evidence that our campaign has momentum and is gaining ground heading into the final weeks of the caucus.

'This endorsement also speaks to the grassroots activists who have delivered for the past couple of Iowa caucus winners, that the time has come for us to coalesce,” the Texas senator added. 'If we as conservatives come together in Iowa, and across the country, we will win.”

Vander Plaats said it would be up to each GOP candidate to decide their plans going forward, noting that he talked with Huckabee, Santorum and New York entrepreneur Donald Trump in the past two days and planned to contact Cruz to discuss putting 'meat on the skeleton” of his Iowa bid with their backing.

'It can no longer be politics as usual. We have serious issues at stake and we need serious leadership,” Vander Plaats added.

Following Thursday's news conference, Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Sam Lau released a statement saying 'Ted Cruz may have won the coveted Bob Vander Plaats endorsement, but the sad truth is that it's Bob Vander Plaats' divisive, regressive policies that are dominating the 2016 GOP presidential field.

'Just like Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bob Vander Plaats would deny gay couples the ability to marry, restrict a woman's access to health care, and pursue xenophobic policies that only strengthen terrorist organizations abroad,” Lau added. 'This endorsement might be a win for Cruz, but the shared backwards Republican policies are a loss for Iowa's families.”