Washington CNN  — 

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee snagged the endorsement of Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, Huckabee’s campaign announced Tuesday.

Rounds is the second sitting senator to endorse Huckabee after Arkansas Sen. John Boozman announced his support earlier this year.

“Gov. Mike Huckabee has the right combination of executive experience, electability and conservative convictions we need to take back the White House and take America from Hope to Higher Ground,” Rounds said in a statement provided by the Huckabee campaign, citing Huckabee’s campaign slogan.

Rounds, a freshman senator who previously served two terms as South Dakota’s governor, said he and Huckabee became friends when they were both governors and touted Huckabee’s work to cut taxes and fend off the Clinton political machine that once dominated Arkansas politics.

“He’ll make a great president for the same reasons he was a great governor: he knows how to lead and solve big problems,” Rounds said.