Jan Brewer says she’ll likely endorse before Arizona primary

Reporting from Washington —  Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer indicated Saturday that she’s likely to endorse one of the Republican presidential candidates before her state’s primary election on Tuesday.

Speaking with reporters at the National Governors Assn. meeting in Washington, Brewer first said that she would definitely announce an endorsement before Tuesday, perhaps even as soon as Sunday. But then she hedged, saying, “If I get all my answers.”

“I’m pondering,” she said. “It’s always a difficult decision when you know all of them so well.”

Brewer said she spoke with each of the four major hopefuls before Wednesday’s nationally-televised debate in her state. She said she would have liked to have seen a more thorough discussion of illegal immigration during the event, and that the candidates “are pretty much saying the same thing.”

But she did single Newt Gingrich out for his statement that he would want to work with border governors to deal with the issue.

Brewer is scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday, along with California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brewer said she would not be attending a formal dinner at the White House that night being hosted for all of the governors, one month after a heated tarmac discussion with the president when he visited the state. But she would attend a working meeting with her fellow governors at the White House on Monday.

Asked if she would seek an opportunity to speak again with the president to smooth over any hard feelings from their previous meeting, Brewer said: “I will always look for an opportunity to sit down with the president, always.” She also said that the way the incident was reported was “distorted,” but would not elaborate.