“At the end of the day, we truly believe that Ted Cruz is the most consistent and principled conservative who has the ability to not only win Iowa but I believe to win the (Republican) nomination,” Vander Plaats, the president of the Family Leader, told The Des Moines Register in an interview Wednesday.

It’s a triumph for Cruz, a Texas U.S. senator whose stances on abortion, same-sex marriage, illegal immigration, religious liberty and foreign affairs align with the most hardline conservatives in Iowa — the voters who are expected to dominate the first-in-the-nation presidential vote on Feb. 1.

And it’s a blow to the other candidates who auditioned for the endorsement, including Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Lindsey Graham…

“I would label him as a conservative,” Vander Plaats said of Rubio, a Florida U.S. senator.

“However, I do believe the one issue he decided he was going to lead in Washington, D.C., with (Democratic New York U.S. Sen. Chuck) Schumer and (Republican Arizona U.S. Sen.) John McCain and the ‘gang of eight’ gave and gives everybody a little bit of cause for pause. And with immigration being such a big issue today, I think that’s going to be a hurdle that’s going to be a very steep for Marco Rubio to clear.”