Mike Huckabee, a longtime ally of Tony Perkins and other conservative leaders who last week secretly voted to endorse Ted Cruz for president, says it’s “disappointing” the group decided to back a relative newcomer like Cruz.

In a brief interview here following Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate, Huckabee says he was made aware of the group’s decision, but wasn’t given any explanation.

“For reasons I don’t fully understand, years and years of actually doing something and getting things done didn’t matter,” Huckabee said of the group’s deliberations. ”And I don’t understand that.”

Perkins said in an interview last fall that he ultimately expected the competition for the support of conservative movement leaders to come down to Cruz versus Huckabee, both of whom have personal friendships with the Family Research Council president and had already begun courting prominent activists ahead of their 2016 bids.