Late last night Rick Santorum officially endorsed Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination in an email to his supporters, according to CNN. 

Santorum wrote in the email, "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Governor Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime."

Santorum refused to endorse anyone up until this point as he said it would be, "completely impossible for me to even consider an endorsement until after a meeting to discuss issues critical to those of us who often feel our voices are not heard by the establishment: social conservatives, tea-party supporters, lower and middle income working families," Santorum wrote.

In the email Santorum ensured his supporters that while he may not be in the race for president, he will continue to fight for their "shared values."

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According to The Washington Post, Santorum and Romney once strong rivals in the race, met last week in Pittsburg, in what Santorum called a "productive"meeting. In the meeting Santorum pressured Romney to ensure he would hire conservatives for his cabinet if he won the election. 

Romney finally won Santorum's support because they found common ground on issues like government spending and marriage rights, according to the BBC. In the email Santorum said, "We certainly agree that abortion is wrong and marriage should be between one man and one woman."

You can read the email in its entirety on Santorum's election site. 

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