South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy is expected to endorse Florida Senator Marco Rubio for president this week and has already announced that he will campaign with Rubio during his three-day visit to the state.

Gowdy’s announcement says:

“Marco is a rock solid conservative and a strong leader we can trust. I look forward to campaigning in Iowa with him, and introducing my good friend to voters across the state.”

This is not a huge surprise. Rubio’s campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, worked on Gowdy’s 2010 House campaign. The endorse is a critical get for the Rubio campaign as Gowdy is favorably viewed by conservatives and Republicans and, in the most recent poll, Rubio was was running in a distant third place in South Carolina, statistically tied with Ben Carson and Jeb Bush.