Tom Ridge Endorses Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney announced an endorsement Wednesday from former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who had previously backed then-candidate Jon Huntsman.

Ridge's endorsement of Huntsman didn't help much; the former Utah governor gained little traction and dropped out a few months later.

Romney, though, needs all of the help he can get in the upcoming Pennyslvania primary, where 72 delegates are at stake and which heavily favors Rick Santorum, who lived in and represented the state.

Also a former secretary of Homeland Security, Ridge praised Romney's work for the Olympics in 2002, the first games after Sept. 11. Ridge said in a statement that Romney "demonstrated a genuine ability to command in facing the security problems that cropped up for the Games in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks."

He said Romney's Olympics experience, which the candidate references frequently, also showed he could turn around the economy.

"Given the economic problems that America faces, including Pennsylvania, where high unemployment continues to cause such hardship, his experience turning around failing enterprises makes him precisely what the country needs," Ridge said.